I really need your opinions and experiences. I'm in the process of buying a piece of land but the seller inform my realtor that she only has a Sherrif's title for the property. I really want this land. Any suggestions or previous experiences?
Real Estate Broker · Coppell, TX · Member since 2011 · 5k+ posts · 4k+ votes
4y
What state are you in?
Here are some questions I would ask....
#1 Can you get title insurance? You want title insurance.
#2 Is there a redemption period. You probably don't want to buy if there is still the possibility of redemption by the original owner....unless you full understand the consequences of that.
#3. You might want to know why it was sold by the Sheriff? How did Sheriff get it? Tax Sale, Forfeiture, etc....and why did previous owner let it get the the sheriff?
#4. On any vacant lot you also want to know availability of sewer, water, electric. Seems like about 80% or more of the lots I see at Sheriff sale don't have access to water. Local water system not adding more meters. If there is no electric, that can be expensive. If there is no sewer then you want to know the county restrictions on installing and does this lot qualify. Sometimes they may want it to be 1-2acres, so if it is smaller, maybe you can't install septic.
#5. Depending on the city and county you want to know what if any restrictions they have in place. I've seen some with for example road frontage minimums...like 150ft.....so no thin lots. Or no mobile homes....things like that. So you want to know what you can do with it and also if you ever want to resale in the future, what the next person might want to do with it. Always have an exit strategy.
Insurance Agent · Norwalk, CT · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
Terri,
Remember to contact your Insurance Agent before your purchase the land. If it is owned in your name it may be eligible to have your Homeowners Liability extended to it. That may depend on the Insurance companies guidelines for # of acres and amount of development (what has been done - trees cleared, utilities on site, etc). If it not so elibible or if you own it under a business, you should get quotes for Liability coverage.