Buying or Selling a Home/2nd Lien

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Question
My wife and I sold a house to a gentleman for approx. $100k in Aug of 2006.  In order to get the deal done we had to owner finance $10K of which we never received one payment.  I noticed on the county tax roll that the deed was transferred to a foreclosure bank around Jan 15th 2009.  My question is can we expect to get paid the $10k or are we out of luck now that the house is in foreclosure?  Thanks in advance for any help.  By the way, all of this is taking place in Texas.

Answer
Hey, Alan.

The answer varies widely in all states. You might not necessarily be out, but you might also have to fight hard for it.

The best thing you can do at this point is to contact a good real estate attorney. Most attorneys in Texas provide either a 30- or 60-minute free consultation, so take advantage of that. When you go to see the attorney, make sure you take whatever public records you can get and your own second lien document. If you by chance have a copy of the first lien that was foreclosed, take that, too.

Don't delay. Every day that you delay could affect your rights.

Hope that helps.

Russel (Texas A&M Class of 1977)

Buying or Selling a Home

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Russel Ray

Expertise

Through home inspections, I provide an education about real estate. I'm one of those rare home inspectors who has been involved in real estate in many different capacities: as a Realtor (in Texas), as a property investor/flipper, as a teacher, and as a marketing expert (for Realtors and home inspectors). I believe that my experience as a Realtor and property investor provides me with a different viewpoint about home inspections in that I work for my Clients, but when there are other people involved in helping my Clients, then I firmly believe in helping them, too. That includes Realtors (both the seller's and the buyer's), repair professionals (e.g., plumbers, electricians, etc.). If I can get all the players (seller, seller's Realtor, buyer, buyer's Realtor, and repair professionals) playing in the same sandbox together to accomplish goals as a TEAM (Together Everyone Accomplishes More), then I believe I have succeeded in my job as a home inspector. My profession is, in my opinion, much more than simply documenting the condition of a property and then take the money and run. I am also a rare breed in that I don't believe that one inspection fits the needs of all Clients, and I have led the industry in understanding that fact. For example, the goals of a property investor are far different than the goals of someone buying a property to live in. The goals of a seller (a pre-listing inspection) are far different than the goals of a buyer (a pre-purchase inspection). To that end, I offer 14 different types of inspections, e.g., STANDARD, LIST, RENTER, BASIC, MAINTENANCE, SPOT, and more. I believe in giving the benefit of the doubt to all professionals in whatever industry they represent until they prove me wrong.

Experience

Over 42 years in all aspects of real estate--building homes, renovating homes, inspecting homes, Realtor.

Organizations
National Association of Certified Home Inspector, Better Business Bureau of San Diego

Education/Credentials
Graduate of Texas A&M University; College Station, Texas

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