My dad walked away from his last house. He owed approximately 70k, and had an ARM that adjusted too high, so he simply stopped paying. He lived there for approximately 2-3 years without paying rent. Then he eventually moved out into another place. The property was run down and falling apart, and was not properly maintained, and then he moved out and left it unattended for 2 years. Apparently the mortgage company eventually gave up on it and turned it over to the county, who has scheduled a foreclosure hearing. It said he could take ownership of the property if he paid the back taxes which are $1800.
The roof is leaking and needs to be replaced, and has leaked in and caused part of the ceiling to collapse. Numerous other problems with the house too - the flooring would need to be replaced, the bathroom and kitchen would need to be partially replaced, etc.
The house is a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 880 sq ft with a garage and no basement. The neighborhood is shitty and comparable houses (except in living condition) seem to be going for around $25-45k.
Zillow gives a zestimate of 41k, but I think they are assuming it's fixed up and in livable condition - even if it was I don't think we could get much more than $30k.
Is it worth it for me to buy it from my dad for the $1800 in back taxes, and have him sign the deed over to me, and fix it up? My first inclination was to say it's a nearly free house and I should jump on it, even though it will require a ton of work and a new roof, but i'm not sure I would be able to sell it or rent it out. I'm thinking I could take the summer of 2015 and do the work myself, including the roof - even though I have no experience. My wife and family say it's not worth it and just let the county deal with the head ache - but they don't know dick about real estate.