Success Stories

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Although our company has evolved over our 30 years in business, we still honor our core value of serving and helping others with compassion. 

With a sold background in the First Responder mentality, we have learned how to rapidly assess crisis situations and events to determine the necessary solutions that bring about positive and beneficial results for all parties involved. 

Countless Homeowners, Lenders, Accountants, Attorneys, Government Agencies, have searched us out for our unique style of rapid intervention.  

We would like to share with you several of our “Success Stories" and the way our team handled them with some of our unique strategies. 

At request, some names and specific details have been withdrawn as we respect their request to keep private.

How a savvy estate attorney solved a stalled estate sale once and for all.

A prominent estate attorney contacted us about an open case that he just couldn’t seem to get the heirs to close. This case seemed to just drag on due to one heir daughter living on the west coast and the other one on the east. Selling the house was the last item to wrap up for the attorney to close out the estate, so he was very open to having me purchase this house. 

We met at the property, and I was greeted by the attorney and the two sisters. The condition of the house didn’t seem too bad until we went upstairs. The three bedrooms upstairs were filled, floor to ceiling, with furniture, clothes, and debris. One couldn’t even walk into the rooms. I peaked in and saw some ladies on top of a heap of debris picking though each item. This clean-out effort apparently had been going on for well over a year. 

When the ladies came down off the pile and we discussed the situation and how I could make things work smoother for them. We discussed a price, they accepted, and we all came to an agreement. I could have had this settled in two weeks, but the daughters said would need three to four months instead. Hmmm, when I hear something like this, I am sure there are other issues going on.

As it turns out, they were searching the entire house to find a little metal box. Whatever was in it had to be extremely special! The west coast sister was slated to head home in the next two days, so I swung into action. I suggested bringing in my cleanout crew with two dumpsters. We all could pick through items and my men would haul the rest out. If we worked together, we could likely have this done in a day and a half. They agreed this plan would be very helpful and efficient. We went into motion. 

As we were picking through, I heard one sister yell, “Hey, I found it!”. Everyone was quite as  they opened the box, but it was empty! Both sending out with a long sigh! To this day I still don’t know what was supposed to be in the elusive box. After this, the cleanout quickly as the sisters lost interest and decided everything left was junk and went to their respective homes.

When I stopped back later, everything was gone except a dresser. On top of it were two boxes and a small metal vase with a photo of a cat and a tag that said, “Muffin Puff”. It was an urn! I looked closer at the other two boxes and written on one was “Uncle Arthur”, and on the other was “Grandmom KiKi.” They left me with their uncle, Grandmom and Muffin Puff! I informed the attorney, and he couldn’t believe it. I drove around for two weeks before settlement with them all in the back of my car. Finally, settlement went smoothly with the attorney and our newfound silent friends. This is the first and only time I ever had a settlement with a cat in an urn and an Uncle Arthur and Grandmom KiKi in a a box!

Here, we provided fresh set of experienced eyes, ideas, strategies and a solution to this troublesome situation.  The heirs allowed us to take control and provide the needed resources to move this process forward in a matter of hours.  The estate was closed and the attorney paid within a few weeks.

A simple but powerful technique to sell and get cash when others won’t sign off.

Martin, a local dentist, divorced his wife. In the final divorce decree, he and his wife were to sell the family house, which was vacant, and split all proceeds. Although their three daughters were grown and his wife no longer lived at the property, she would not work with him in any way to sell. Marty was getting frustrated as the house was deteriorating and local kids broke in and vandalized the house. He was also paying all the property taxes and any other expenses that came up. Marty eventually contacted us for help.

He learned that our specialty was in conflict resolutions and negotiations with these types of issues. We got his wife’s contact information and reached out. She was abrupted and would not discuss anything with a sale. We had our work cut out for sure. 

After 3 months, Marty said he didn’t want this problem anymore so we decided that he should transfer his interest in the house over to us and we would handle everything from then on. He agreed and said that although she is “Crazy”, do not hurt her, which is how we do business anyway. So now, we owned a house with a Crazy Ex-Wife whom I never met!

As you can imagine, she wasn’t happy that we were who she had to work with now. Again, very adamant in not discussing a sale. After two years, and us paying all the taxes, maintenance, upkeep, etc. we, along with her daughters, were finally able to get her to agree to sell and put this behind her once and for all.

The day of closing, I was able to sit and talk with her face to face for the first time and found that she wasn’t Crazy at all. She was just a loving mom who wasn’t quite ready to close out all the memories she had there from years past. 

The technique of stepping into and becoming a party to the transaction, made the personality dynamic and emotions change.  By being professional, respectful but firm with this seller, her attorney and family allowed us to move confidently to a closing.  

How a smart father sets up his family for maximum benefits and profit – Creative financing at its best! 

While on the road, I received a call from a man with a deep raspy voice. He heard I may be interested in buying his home, so we set a date and met. This was his family home where he and his wife raised their daughter. His wife had passed, daughter got married and his mother became ill, all in a short matter of time. He was a retired state trooper and had decided to move into his mother’s house to take care of her. He had been renting his home and now the lease was ending. He didn’t want to continue to rent, didn’t owe any money on the house and was ready to sell it and be done.

When I hear these circumstances, I know many times the money a seller gets is either blown on something not needed or sits in the bank not growing. In the world of real estate, we call that “Lazy Money”.  We settled on a purchase price based on our previous discussion on him not knowing what to do with his cash, I asked how he felt about becoming my bank. I would make monthly payments to him instead of one lump sum. I offered 7% interest for a term of 15 years. He counter offered 12% interest only payments for a one-year term and smiled. I asked him where he got that idea? And he responded that he read it in my very own published newsletter! We both laughed.

We agreed to terms. I bought the house, cleaned it up, put in a good tenant and started making my payments to him. After 2 ½ years, I told him I was going to refinance and pay him off. But when I told him I was going to get a 7% loan for 15 years, he said, “I’ll do that!”.  Now wait a minute! That was my original offer! What a deal on his part!! He received 2 ½ years of 12% interest and is now going to receive 15 years of 7% on a solid real estate note that will transfer to his daughter.

In the end, he received almost twice as much for the house than the original purchase price. And a few years later, I got a call from him. He said he had another $100,000 and can I use it? I sure could! What a smart man to have set his daughter up with several good long term mortgage payments that she can relay on for years to come.

Seller or private financing can be one of the best passive income investments.  Unlike the stock market, a good real estate note secured by a good piece real estate and a solid borrower is hard to beat.  Many people know little if any about this powerful strategy.  Too Bad!

How to make an IRS tax lien disappear

I saw a small Cape Cod house on my travels that desperately needed renovation. I truly enjoy the pride of taking a rundown house and making it shine with life again. I tried to contact the owner’s son, who oversaw the house of his mother, for almost two years with no response. Out of the blue I got a phone call from him, he sounded a little desperate and wanted to set up a meeting at the property.

I met the son, Frank, and his wife. They told me I was welcome to go in and look around the house, but they were staying outside. Hmmm, my antennas went up! Inside, the house was in horrible shape. A total disaster. Aside from the old worn-out furniture and abundance of dirt and grime, what really caught my eye were the gnaw marks on the furniture legs and holes in the bottom of the basement door where rodents had been coming and going.

Frank explained that his mother would not let anyone in the family inside the house for years. She was very adamant about that. Baltimore County was somehow alerted to a health concern with her living conditions, and they took Frank’s mom to a healthcare center. That is when Frank and his family realized that their mom and started to lose it and was hand feeding the rats that were entering the home as if they were her pets. The rats had full run of the house!

Frank was told he had two days to clear everything out and clean the place up or he would be heavily fined. He was in a tough spot. He definitely wanted to sell the place to me and right there in the gravel driveway we agreed on a price. Even though I didn’t own the place yet, I put my crew into act6ion to handle all the cleanup all at my own expense.

Frank, however, unintentionally forgot to tell us that his mom had cashed in thousands of dollars’ worth of stocks and never paid the taxes. The taxes plus the fines and fees totaled roughly $35,000! That was more than the house was currently worth! So, I just paid out $780 to have the house cleaned up plus title work and attorney fees to close on a house that I didn’t own and maybe could never buy.

Frank, who was the finance manager at the local Mercedes dealership was sly, sharp and a standup guy. He clearly was affected by this revelation. He suggested that we try to have the Federal Government waive those taxes and fees and remove the lien on the house. I was skeptical when we went to the Federal Courthouse and explained how his elderly and sickly mother needed the funds, and that’s why the taxed were not paid. But Frank and I worked hard and after one and a half years of back and forth, the IRS agreed to release the liens. We were able to then close the property and Franks mom received the funds from the house that she needed to get treatment and housing. With help from my team, we saw this complicated situation through to the end and resold the house to a lovely young couple who could then raise their family there, as Frank’s parents did.

There are certain instances when a lien should be reduced or removed.  Private, organizational or governmental liens all are handled differently.  Being experience in all can be the determination if or when a reduction or release could occur.   

How a dead estate was awakened.

During one of my daily travels, I noticed a beautiful house that was overgrown and obviously abandoned. When I walked closer, I could smell the protruding musty odor and noticed the front door was ajar. When I peaked inside, I saw the house had been ransacked. Items and debris were everywhere.

Through some research, it seemed the owner had passed away 12 years prior. He had three children, and one son had been living in the house until he passed away within the last five years. Since then, the house sat vacant and was continually vandalized. The county was also citing the house for the lack of yard maintenance and those fines and fees kept adding up.

There were five heirs. One surviving daughter of the owner and four grown grandchildren. Three of them lived in Maryland and the other two in Colorado. We were able to contact two of the grandchildren, a brother and sister, who were living together in Colorado. They were very interested in selling so I started my title work.

A few weeks later, I received a phone call from my title attorney who gave me the bad news. There were multiple liens filed against the old owner and the property. Six medical liens totaling $278,000 and real estate tax liens totaling $48,000. The property itself was not worth more than $50,000 as it was! My initial thought was to just walk away from this situation. One of the heirs had already tried to open this estate but once they learned of these liens, they too walked away. Then I remembered a previous transaction where the IRS had forgiven the liens to help the sale.

My attorney and I built our case based on an estimate of repairs needed to bring the property up to today’s livable standards and a reputable real estate agent’s opinion on what the house would be worth after repairs. In the letter that was composed to the State of Maryland, we sent supporting information and explained that if these existing liens could not be reduced, the property would continue to decay and not produce any tax revenue.

Our correspondence went back and for the for 12 months until finally we received our authorization that all the $278,000 would be released from the property. However, the $48,000 would not. This gave me the clearance I needed to move forward. 

After several months of back and forth with the heirs, they all agreed to a lump sum each to release their interest to me to become sole heir. Once that was done, I was able to become the Personal Representative and reopen the estate. The estate could be liquidated, estate taxes paid, the house sold, and estate closed. With two years of work, the State of Maryland now has a cleaned-up house producing revenue. 

My mantra has always been, “How can it be done?” instead of “It can’t be done” has made all the difference for me and my client’s lives throughout the years. 

Again, having these State liens release were very smart by the State of Maryland.  They realized that to clean up the neighborhood and to start receiving tax revenue, it was in the state's best interest to release.   With our experience, we have the know how to proceed quickly and successfully.