How to get rid of bad real estate in Nevada?
I'm not interested in cheating anyone or breaking any laws! I'm able
to make the mortgage payments and cover all other expenses, so even if
I were to "walk away" from it I think I'd get sunk in the resulting
suit. My salary covers expenses, but I don't have enough surplus to
make another mortgage payment.
The property was appraised at $60k when I bought it as our first home
3 years ago for $49k, but the fact is I don't think anyone else is
dumb enough to buy it! Looking back I'm shocked it appraised so high!
The current balance is $42k. I could probably get $10k just for the
lot, but the home is worthless.
The only good characteristic is it's commercially zoned in a
residential area. The lot is too small to put a new home on; the
current one butts against the boundaries on 3 sides as it was expanded
before set-back codes came about here. It's very poorly constructed.
Electrical is ungrounded. Foundation (where it exists) is crumbling.
Plumbing is shot and there's no access underneath; the crawl space is
full of dirt and rock (don't know why). I could go on; it just gets
worse.
The mortgage on this property prevents me from financing a new and
reasonable home. I just don't have the extra income. Friends have
advised I should just walk away, but then I'd get sued, right?
Screwing the bank doesn't seem morally acceptable anyway. I've even
been told to try arson and insurance fraud!
Is there some acceptable recourse for recovering from moronic
first-home buying decisions like mine, or are we stuck here?
(note: the more useful the answer, the bigger the tip $) |
Request for Question Clarification by
denco-ga
on
05 Sep 2003 14:16 PDT
Howdy stuckfly,
The approximate dimensions of the lot and the type of commercial
zoning (retail, manufacturing, etc.) that covers it might help
researchers with your question.
Thanks! denco-ga
|
Request for Question Clarification by
serenata-ga
on
05 Sep 2003 16:51 PDT
Hi Stuckfly ~
Did you have a buyers' insurance policy against hidden defects? And if
so, how long was the period of time to discover the defects before
expiration?
Was the home inspected prior to purchasing it? Who did the inspection,
and what did they say about the defects, or did they notice them?
Think along those lines to see if someone didn't guarantee the
condition of the house as habitable. Ungrounded electricity sounds
like a major defect that any lender would be loath to finance as it
is.
Just some "off the top of my head" ideas.
Serenata
|
Clarification of Question by
stuckfly-ga
on
06 Sep 2003 20:18 PDT
denco-ga: Clarification as you requested:
The lot is 50 ft. x 70 ft. and it's a corner lot, the long side being
on a busy street. A dumpy trailer home on one of the other sides and
a decent brick home on the other.
The lot is zoned General Industrial, Legal nonconforming
(grandfathered use). Formerly a clock repair shop and owner's
residence a couple owners before us.
Also, it's is a FEMA special flood hazard area, zone X. The area is
protected by a fairly new dike.
|
Clarification of Question by
stuckfly-ga
on
06 Sep 2003 21:44 PDT
Serenata: Clarification as you requested:
I have no record or memory of buyer's insurance policy against hidden
defects. There was a disclosure by the seller of known defects, but
the seller disclosed (knew) only minor things like broken appliances.
Waiving or repairing those things was a precondition of the sale.
I have title insurance, home insurance, and private mortgage
insurance, but I see nothing in any of these that addresses hidden
defects found after transfer of title. I'll remember to get buyer's
insurance next time!!
The home was appraised and inspected prior to sale, but neither
noticed the defects that make this place such a lost cause. We felt
we could repair it, but there's just nothing to work with here.
Maybe more detail about the defects that (in my opinion) make this
home uninhabitable will help somebody supply an answer:
The electrical defects, noted on both the appraisal and the
inspection, were deemed not to impair the safety or condition of the
home. I had electrical contractors here and they said the whole place
should be rewired starting with the service box all the way to the
outlets and fixtures. I crawled under the house and found the main
electric source for half the house actually plugs in to an old outlet
box attached to an old cable lying on the ground the length of the
house to the service box!!
Plumbing defects are even worse. The inspection noted pluming to all
outlets is copper tubing, but most of it is actually hose, not even
pvc. Hose! And it's old! I'd have to trench under the home to
access it, but then the foundation would fail. One bathroom is built
less than a foot over a concrete slab. The plumbing leaks underneath,
and it stinks of rotting wood, but there's no way to fix it without
dismantling the whole room. In fact, that's the case with everything
that needs to be fixed. I'd have to rip it out and start over.
And the foundation: Picture a singlewide trailer (1958), then half a
modular was stuck next to it on a good foundation, then additions were
built over front and rear porches on concrete slabs with no
foundation, then the whole thing was covered by a shell with a new
roof, and that shell is on a mixed foundation of blocks, slab, and
nothing. Brick was added to parts of two sides without footings. I
found the hitch of the trailer when part of the brickwork fell away
this year. Under all, that old trailer sits on blocks and railroad
ties! Excavation material (rubble) for the modular was chucked under
the trailer, hiding the biggest defects and making them inaccessible.
I really need to get my family out of this home (and preferably move
to a place where railroad ties are not a common foundation method!)
|
