Introduction
Several years ago, being totally new to real estate investing, I stumbled across a way to purchase real estate for little money and no credit–buying property at County Tax Sales. With my newly discovered information I purchased a single family house for $100. Yes, $100!
Some may say buying a house for $100 is a stroke of good luck. I agree it may appear that way, but what would you say if I told you after buying the first $100 single family house, I purchased a 3-family house for $100. Not bad huh!?!
I thought to myself EUREKA! I finally found the gold I’ve been searching for in real
estate investing.
I wasn’t as fortunate on my third Tax Sale purchase because I paid $700 for a 2-family house. =) But even though I paid more money on my third purchase than my first two Tax Sale properties, I’m sure you agree that $700 is a very low amount for a house.
Now, I wouldn’t say that I was lucky, but I do believe I was in the right place at the right time, armed with the right knowledge: the knowledge that I’ve posted on this website.
I’ve taken the info posted here from my personal notes and my email replies to interested individuals. I really like researching this Tax Sale stuff and sharing it with others.
And there is no shortage of Tax Sales. As I searched for more County Tax Sales to attend, I discovered over 300 U.S. Counties conducting Tax Sales in 27 States.
Now, keep in mind as you read the info posted on this website, that these are general statements.
Every state has different (but similar) Tax Sale laws and every county within a particular state may interpret the laws slightly different. Because of this, some investors who use a “cookie cutter” approach to real estate investing, may shy away from Tax Sales.
This is an opportunity for you because if you are persistent in gathering the right knowledge of Tax Sale Law, in your particular area, you’ll be ahead of the competition. You will also have a better understanding of how to value a prospective purchase.
By having many different state and county laws, it indirectly keeps investors like me from going to all known Tax Sales and grabbing all the deals.
Could you imagine me thoroughly learning all the different Tax Sale laws in all of those jurisdictional districts that I’ve personally tracked? Then after learning all the laws, taking on the formidable task of researching every single prospective Tax Sale purchase in the area. That could be very overwhelming.
That’s why I personally focus on investing in a short list of areas.
These are the overall steps I take when purchasing a Tax Sale property:
(1) Locate the place and time of the next Tax Sale. (2) Before I attend the Tax Sale, I find out if it is a “Lien” sale or a “Deed” sale. Since my main interests in Tax Sales are acquiring title to the properties, I almost always choose “Deed” sales. After I find some properties that are good prospects to purchase at a “Deed” sale, (3) I’ll acquire property profiles. Next, (4) I’ll call the “code enforcement department” to see if there are any outstanding or pending code violations. If the Tax Sale property is Vacant Land, I’ll ask if the land is buildable? After which, (5) I do a curb side inspection of the property and snap a photo. The next step is to (6) take a trip down to that particular County Recorder’s office in order to locate any recorded documents filed against the property. (7) I attend the Tax Sale Auction prepared with the pre-determined price I’m willing to pay for the properties.
The answer to many of your Tax Sale questions may be available right here on this website.
-Glen Williams Jr. (TaxSaleGuy)
