Wanted a home for homeless friends

PQ, you didn't say what area of KY they want to stay in.

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Ive helped people like that before, I always got burned in the end.

buying them a house is like giving them a fish, not a fishing pole and a users manual.
I will assume these are terribly handicapped homeless people.

I know I dont know the situation, only from your OP.... BUT....

you and they would be better off, renting, getting them on their feet and letting go for them to walk, run or fall down again.

I dont understand the idea of BUYING.
they will be strapped with a ton off maintenance costs, taxes, utilities......

renting would be a better option for the really down and out, you pay the rent/utilities and the landlord takes care of the rest.

and you said...... "homeless", so to me this means "I need to not be picky and maximize my resources"
then paying property taxes and other homeowner expenses is gonna really be impossible.

I now your heart is in the right place, but I think MAYBE you need to put the brakes on andd think for a day.

for you to pony up a security deposit, 1st and last months rent and buy them a 500 buck beater car to get to work in (or 2 if needed) will be VASTLY cheaper than buying a home.

what?

it might be different in KY, but in PA, the salvation army has wonderful setups for temp housing for displaced families.

squatting in a powerless leaky unheated building seems kind of......

I dont want to be rude or mean but as I said I dont know who these folks are, but it sounds a little "crackhead-ish" to me, honestly.

I'm no stranger to this desperate situation, so bear with me and believe me I aint being a butt head.

this really just doesnt sound kosher.
desperate times call for desperate measures, an you chuck your pride and go seek assistance.... its there.
not 20 miles from me is a small city and they have several excellent programs to feed and care for anyone who walks in and asks for help.... not many do!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE this is a desperate situation, you pack your photos and your clothes in a duffle bag and start moving.

what stuff? furniture? bedding? old appliances?
CHUCK THE STUFF and run light.

heck I know a guy here who just got in aa real bind, his house payment was over his head since his wife ran off....
he packed his tools, his clothes and rented a 50 buck storage unit for some other stuff and abandoned the house, full of stuff.

he lived in his work truck for 3 months till he got a 1 room& bath flop where he can rest and go to work from.
He is getting it back together.... slowly.

Point being, its stuff, they are 30 days from freezing nights.... and they are waiting for help?

I wish I know more so I dont sound like an ass.... but I dont, only what your posting up.
rent a car... why not take a months worth of rental fee and BUY a car?
I just passed up one for 300 bucks, it was inspected and in nice shape. ran great. Look around!

ok... more info thats good.
what are they sick from and how old is the teen?

you should have posted that first.... really.

even still, we are talking about 3 adults then, their odds for success just went up.
so do they care for or support these other family members?
If not, you go where you can survive the winter and save some bread and go back later.

I really really hate to sound like a ass here but I can sympathize with these people more than you can know.
Ive been desperately poor and disabled (one leg one arm working and half a brain disabled poor) and with 2 other adults, we made it.

it is GOOD you are helping them dont get me wrong, but I have been helped and help others enough to know some cold real facts.

Most of time, your gonna get burned as the helper.
or of not, you will end up the bad guy for running out of money and then "suggesting" how for them to stretch a buck.

Gods help you the day you tell em to stop smoking or buying beer, if thats one of their "habits".

20grand can buy an awful lot, it can buy rent, working cars, decent clothes and with those, you can make it on your own.

unless as I said if the are hopelessly handicapped all 3 then thats a whole different ball game.

whats the deal with their health status?

I think 20 large can be spread very thin for a very long time.
I know, I've done it.
I've done it crippled and hungry.

Dont be so quick to buy a home for them, since home ownership requires alot of money to just possess, let alone live in.

it is far and beyond economical to rent, and let the landlords deal with the expenses.

in PA we have mobile home parks. (doesnt everyone? lol) Ive moved my nephews into several with next to no money... its the cheapest route to go for the poor and still have your own separate house from everyone else.

jeeze, 20K is 3 1/2 yrs income for me.

think a while and maximize the money you have to give to these people, not just for you but to give them the most out of it and the least problems later on.

not to mention, you are going to buy a 20K home for them, and give them title to it?

they will instantly have 20K in equity?

sounds like a forclosure waiting to happen once they get some credit cards on it

please think this one out.

heck... I have a 97 grand prix 4 door in my driveway, runs like a top, has about 8 deer impact craters in it and a busted door.
I'll get about 150 bucks from it if I drive it to the scrapper.

come get it, you can have it. KY has no emission testing?
even better. please come get it.

you can safely drive it to CA if you need to, its a good car.
but has no resale value with dents and some rust and a bent door.

I would have KILLED someone once to have a running car like this.

these things are all over the place..... sometimes free.

like mine!

its going to the crusher next week.
my nephews car, he is going to drive it there.

no one wants it.
not even the poor people he knows.

fussy fussy.

lol

dont take any of that as mean.....

you need to rethink this plan. really.

I think you make really good points Comfey.... Southern Ky being as they think they are in the south has an abundance of mega churches who are more than capable of reaching out to a family in need. If a person wants to help they can start a fundraiser or make a donation to a church in the families name....then the donation is a tax write of and the church is suddlenly aware of the situation......donations can also be made to government charities if the church is unwilling to help. Life can be hard and throw us all curve balls..... there are too many situations where people take advantage of the help that is offered to them and then the help runs out.

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CN makes all kinds of sense in this situation. Do re-think this, and find them a good rental, and I'd go for the free car, too. If you don't want to make a trip to PA, look in the Virginia or Kentucky Craigslist under "free" for cars and things for them. Plenty of free things out there.

You are wonderful to help them out, just don't get yourself in a bind to do it. Setting them up in a nice rental home or trailer is more than fair.

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put an ad in craigs list as "wanted- old cars any condition, will haul for free"

and wait a few days.... youll be shocked at the cars you can DRIVE HOME people just want to get rid of.

some people I know scrap cars for a living and they put out ads like this.... he drives a reallly nice dodge stratus he got for free, the old guy hot a deer and it needed a windshiled and a grill, THATS ALL.

its beautiful car! the old man just said "eh, I'll go buy a new one"

LOTS of people are like that, to much money and no brains!

Thanks for the Craig's list idea guys.I'll suggest they go to the library and post a want ad. They've got lots of things from Freecycle before.
You do have some good points ComfortablYNnumb and I'll give them some thorough thought.No smokes or beer involved! Regards their health dad has health and mental health problems. He can do odd jobs at times but not always. Mom can't walk and won't be getting any better. She has severe rhuematoid and oseteo arthritis. Son tries to help out when he can but where they are now isn't the best or safest place to find part time work. he's still in school. Plus he has medical issues too.
Why buy...rent just keeps disappearing and with what we could afford the landlord probably wouldn't fix it like the one they have now. The man of the family is able to fix anything. When you rent you are paying all the costs for the landlord, you still pay them all just in your rent..taxes, insurance,repiars etc and you pay for his house to boot.They would just love some security, somewhere of their own that no drunk landlord throws them out of.
No we aren't just giving them $20,000 in equity. We are hoping to get something cheaper than that if we can. A $13,000 mobiloe home just fell through. Then we will sell it to them a bit cheaper than we paid on a long mortgage. That will give them pride in homeownership and a reason to try. We can always repo it if we have to. No one willl give them credit cards and they wouldn't be able to get a home equity. They just don't have the income.
Honestly guys of these folks weren't personal friends it would smell odd to me to.
It's easy to know what to do when you aren't living it. We've been trying for months to get them some help. They keep getting told about places to rent and then when they call there is nothing available or it's a dump like they are in now. We offered them a car from VA but DMV want an out of state car to have an expensive inspection for some crazy reason. You guys have given me some good ideas though. These aren't church going folks but I can encourage them to go to local churches and even contact them myself asking for help. I think I'll reread all your posts and take some notes. Maybe there is another way.

PQ

Thanks for the Craig's list idea guys.I'll suggest they go to the library and post a want ad. They've got lots of things from Freecycle before.
You do have some good points ComfortablYNnumb and I'll give them some thorough thought.No smokes or beer involved! Regards their health dad has health and mental health problems. He can do odd jobs at times but not always. Mom can't walk and won't be getting any better. She has severe rhuematoid and oseteo arthritis. Son tries to help out when he can but where they are now isn't the best or safest place to find part time work. he's still in school. Plus he has medical issues too.
Why buy...rent just keeps disappearing and with what we could afford the landlord probably wouldn't fix it like the one they have now. The man of the family is able to fix anything. When you rent you are paying all the costs for the landlord, you still pay them all just in your rent..taxes, insurance,repiars etc and you pay for his house to boot.They would just love some security, somewhere of their own that no drunk landlord throws them out of.
No we aren't just giving them $20,000 in equity. We are hoping to get something cheaper than that if we can. A $13,000 mobiloe home just fell through. Then we will sell it to them a bit cheaper than we paid on a long mortgage. That will give them pride in homeownership and a reason to try. We can always repo it if we have to. No one willl give them credit cards and they wouldn't be able to get a home equity. They just don't have the income.
Honestly guys of these folks weren't personal friends it would smell odd to me to.
It's easy to know what to do when you aren't living it. We've been trying for months to get them some help. They keep getting told about places to rent and then when they call there is nothing available or it's a dump like they are in now. We offered them a car from VA but DMV want an out of state car to have an expensive inspection for some crazy reason. You guys have given me some good ideas though. These aren't church going folks but I can encourage them to go to local churches and even contact them myself asking for help. I think I'll reread all your posts and take some notes. Maybe there is another way.

PQ

well that does put a bend in the pipe.... have they all applied for SSI?

depending on where you buy, ownership doesnt offer much security either!
plaus with 2 cripples and one child, you wont get much in the way of maintenance done, "paying the landlord" is often worth it.

and you have to find a good landlord.... they are few and far between but they are there, and a good one is worth the money paid of your crippled up.

dont bank on that.
if the man has mental problems, and the woman has pain indiuced depression noting is really going to motivate them to do much, and that is understandable.
all the more reason to rent.

why dont YOU buy the trailer and rent it to them?
less risk for you, more perks for them.

a repo is way more work than an eviction.
who will pay utilities and taxes?

think about the long term here, the 2 adults wont be getting "better", only steadily worse.

if it was me, and I had the choice i would do this:
find a good affordable clean mobile home in a park for sale.
I would buy it as an investment, and rent it to these nice folks..... on the condition they both put in applications for SSI.

once they have that ataus they can qualify for more public support programs, such as energy assistance, better medical and often, renters assistance.

I would rent it to them utilities included, with a set utility cap. anything over that they have to pay.

Ive seen this done and looked into it, my one nephew did this with his mom who was hurt at work and was disabled.
he bought the trailer in the park, rented it utilities included with a price cap. once she moved on a few yrs later he sold the mobile at a profit still parked in the lot.

if your aim is to help them, then make it easy for them and lessen the stresses, but at the same time dont "give the cow away".

at worst, you would have to evict them and re rent the mobile or sell it, at best, you would have a stable tenant and a + cash flow going on.

Mobiles are pretty maintenance free if the renter is not a pig in a china shop kinda person.

this could work out good for both of you in the end.

I dont know how KY works but we have food banks all over the place here.... allthey need to do is prove income level and pick up a weekly truckload of food, and here, you can hit several banks a month, since some are county run, some are church run and some are community run banks.... and they dont ask questions.

The food isnt all that great but free food..... who can whine about free food?

KY has a commodity program that is surplus food and donated food and is a state run thing. you can check with social services or thru the sherrifs dept to find out the time and place that they do the give away. here is ohio county you can go once a month and the amount they give varies with the size of your family. all you have to have is a pic ID of the family members Also, they should be able to qualify for over $300 in food stamps since no one is working. that goes a long way if you are careful where you shop

I don't have anything to add...CN summed it up!

Have you considered trying to get them on emergency section 8 until you can find a place?

Around here it takes a day at most to be qualified and then just go through rentals and approach the owner and offer to rent it on section 8. Most have no idea about it and will try and back away but when you explain the rent check will be mailed directly to them from the feds and they still retain the right to kick you out if they want to and the feds make regular inspections and have tight rules about live ins, drugs, etc they usually jump right on it.

It would be based on their income. Ive known people to pay three fourths of the rent and some none at all.

Im trying to get several nice mobile homes set up myself with intentions of renting only to section 8 people. Some call that a slum lord. I figure a nice home for them and guaranteed rent for me. Win win for everyone.

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