Who is an Absentee Owner in Real Estate?

Real estate agents hold absentee owners with a lot of value. They see them as people who are willing to sell if an opportunity arises. This is because they may not have an emotional attachment to the property as compared to owners who live physically in their property.

Skeeter Imisa Skeeter Imisa
Apr 12, 2021 - 19:28
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Who is an Absentee Owner in Real Estate?
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An absentee owner owns a real estate property but does not actually occupy or manage it actively. Landlord and owners of rental properties can also fall in this category however the term is used to refer to owners who let their properties sit vacantly.

Real estate agents hold absentee owners with a lot of value. They see them as people who are willing to sell if an opportunity arises. This is because they may not have an emotional attachment to the property as compared to owners who live physically in their property.

There are circumstances that can make one an absentee owner:

  1. The owner might have inherited the property. The fact that they have their own property may make it challenging for them to manage more than one property, especially where there are payments or levies needed.
  2. People relocate due to one reason or the other including work-related duties. After the relocation, the owner might decide to rent but takes time to get someone to rent it.
  3. The owner bought the property for capital appreciation and is unable to sell it due to market conditions.
  4. The property has suffered poor management by the on-site manager. Also, the owner may be going through hard financial times and therefore fail to keep the property maintained.

Real estate agents can develop a list of absentee owners in  various ways:

Buying Absentee Owner Lists

There are list providers who compile information on absentee owners. Due to the hustle involved in coming up with the list, they will give them out at price. Expensive lists guarantee the most updated properties that have been neglected or up for sale.

 Checking Rental Listings

Rental listings provide properties up for rent. An absentee owner can be someone trying to rent out a property. Therefore, check the duration the property has been up for rent. One that has been listed for a long period of time may definitely belong to an absentee owner.

 Driving around

You can drive around your town and look for houses or properties that look vacant. Look out for signs of neglect or unmaintained properties such as broken windows or doors, neglected lawns, and peeling paint. Note down the addresses and later on, search for the owners from the records available.

 Using a Mashboard

Mashboard is an online tool that enables one to search for property owners. You can search by the addresses you already have to get the owner or work from the addresses provided in the mashboard.

 Checking Tax Records

Another way to find an absentee owner is through tax records. Tax bills are normally sent to the current address of the taxpayer. So any property that doesn’t match the physical address is likely to be owned by an absentee owner.

 

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