The house was owned by a church. It had been bought years earlier as a rental — a sensible way to turn a spare property into steady income for the congregation. Every document connected to it had been signed by their pastor.
Then the pastor died. And because he had been the sole signer on everything, the congregation was left holding a house it owned on paper and could not actually sell. Nobody remaining had the authority to convey it.
Meanwhile the rental side had gone the way rentals go when nobody wants the job. No one at the church wanted to be a landlord. The tenants stopped paying and stopped caring, and by the time we saw it the place had been thoroughly worked over. The basement had water coming through the walls and mould through the lower-level drywall.
So the congregation had a damaged asset, no income from it, and no legal route to sell — and a building of their own that needed the money.
You cannot list what you cannot convey, and that was only the first problem.
We went to our local title partner and asked them to work out what it would actually take to put the surviving clergy in a position to sign. It was not a quick answer, and it was not free.
Good Land carried some of that legal expense ourselves, on the sellers' behalf. Not as a credit against the price and not as a loan — we paid for part of the work needed to unlock their own property, because otherwise the sale simply could not happen and everyone stayed stuck.
Once authority was established, the rest was straightforward. We bought the property as-is, with the tenant damage, the wet basement and the mould all accounted for and none of it the church's problem to fix.
The congregation sold a property it had effectively been locked out of for years, at no legal cost to itself, and put the proceeds into improvements at the church — which is what they had wanted the rental to fund in the first place.
If you are weighing routes, our side-by-side comparison of selling options lays out the numbers honestly, and cash buyer vs. realtor in Milwaukee goes deeper.
Title deadlocks are more common than people think, and they are usually solvable:
We buy property with liens and title problems, rentals with or without tenants, inherited and estate property and houses needing full renovation across the Milwaukee metro.
Our market is Milwaukee and the nine counties around it — Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine, Kenosha, Walworth, Jefferson and Dane. That includes Wauwatosa, West Allis, Greenfield, Franklin, Oak Creek, South Milwaukee, Waukesha, Brookfield, New Berlin, Menomonee Falls, Mequon and West Bend. See every area on our locations page, or read how the process works.
Often, yes — that is exactly what happened here. The route depends on how the property is titled and what kind of entity owns it, but a deceased officer, trustee or signer is a paperwork problem rather than a permanent one. Start with a title search so everyone knows what the actual obstacle is, then we work with our title partner on the fix.
It varies, and it is worth asking every buyer directly. On this sale Good Land carried part of the legal expense on the sellers' behalf, because the congregation could not fund it and the property could not be sold without it. We would rather solve the obstacle than walk away from a deal that works for both sides.
Yes. Tenant damage, holes in walls, missing fixtures, waste left behind, mould and basement water are all things we price in rather than reasons we decline. You do not need to clean, repair or restore anything before selling to us.
We buy houses with both. Wisconsin basements leak, and a wall that shows seepage staining or drywall that has gone mouldy is a normal find for us. We inspect it ourselves and account for it in the offer — you are not asked to remediate it first or to warrant its condition.
Yes, provided the entity's own rules on disposing of real property are followed and the right people sign. That is usually a matter of the bylaws plus whatever the title company needs to see. We are happy to work alongside your attorney and to move at whatever pace the governing body needs.
Longer than a standard purchase, because establishing signing authority is not something anyone can rush. The important part for the sellers was that the waiting cost them nothing and the closing date moved to suit the paperwork rather than the other way round.
No. We buy occupied, and we take on the tenancy as it stands. Handing over vacant possession is not a condition of our offer.
Nothing out of pocket. No commission, no listing fees, no repair credits and no cleanout invoice. The offer is the number you walk away with, minus any liens or taxes paid off at closing.
