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For six years, Lisa Even has worked specifically with distressed properties in the Phoenix market. Weird clouds on the title or city violations don\\u2019t scare her because those usually mean that the seller is having a harder time getting rid of the property.

This particular property was vacant and had a number of city violations, which made it a hot lead because it meant that it wasn\\u2019t being taken care of at all. At the time, Lisa went and physically knocked on the door of the woman who filed for probate because that\\u2019s how she operated at the time. Up until this time, she\\u2019d always operated under the assumption that someone who filed probate was an heir to the estate.

Except for this property. The long-time tenant had attempted to quit claim a deed from herself to herself, and you cannot actually do that. Well, you can go buy a form from Office Depot and pretend, but the title company isn\\u2019t going to go along with your plan.

And yet, even though the quit claim deed wasn\\u2019t valid, the long-time tenant did have a verbal agreement and one other very important ace in her sleeve: she\\u2019d paid the property taxes for years.

Finding the real heir to the property and dealing with another heir that had dollar signs in her eyes was a challenge. And even though the roof was caved in on the property and the house would have to be bulldozed, there was enough potential money in the deal that Lisa kept at it until she had it under contract.

What\'s Inside:

\\u2014Don\\u2019t be scared of visibly distressed properties, or properties with tricky legalities, as long as the spread is big enough.

\\u2014Why more than one violation makes a property a hotter lead.

\\u2014How a long-time tenant can gain a claim on a rental property, even if they have no legal contract.