Determining Occupancy/No-Inspection Issues

[Solomon Solomonov]

Hi all,

First off, I am new to BiggerPockets and a novice investor. This site has been incredibly valuable in my education and I am very thankful. More to the point:

I am currently conducting due diligence on some improved properties being sold at a tax deed auction in Butte County, California. There are two issues I need to resolve immediately before digging deeper and dedicating more time for due diligence:

1) Occupied vs. vacant? The auctioneer (**************) does not provide information relating to whether an improved property is occupied. I tried contacting the county offices. They too said that they do not have such information, nor can they recommend any courses of action.

a. Do I rely on a drive-by to determine occupancy?

b. If I cannot definitively determine that a property is vacant, how do I account for that in my decision-making analysis?

c. How can occupancy affect acquisition costs (both monetary and duration)?

2) No inspection: unlike other auctions I've attended, there are no property showings for this auction. Obviously, I can get an idea of the interior condition by observing the exterior (maybe even peak through a window), but the condition of the interior is still very unpredictable.

a. How does the lack of interior inspection affect my decision making analysis? Should I make certain assumptions?

Thanks all,

Sol