Rental Property Investor · Charlottesville, VA · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 726 votes
I am very new to tax lien investing. I bought a couple last year to see how the process worked and I'm now going through the legal process to get clear title on them.
Our county is having an auction next week to sell off all of the properties that no one bought at the tax auctions over the last couple years. The county seems to buy the lien on any properties no investor bids on.
The auction says the county will convey their interest in the property via quit claim deed and they haven't taken any title action to take ownership in the property. I have researched the properties and have found a couple with small houses I am interested in. Some of them seem to be occupied.
So my question is this, if I buy the property from the county at this auction, do I have to go through the legal notification and title process before I take possession? This is taking me about 6 months on the liens I currently have.
I'm checking this with my lawyer just wanted to see if anyone here has experience with it.
Rental Property Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2012 · 256 posts · 64 votes
13y
Hi Jeff, I am planning to buy some deeds in Gwinnett and Rockdale county. I am also new, is there any reason why it takes so long for the legal process to take possession?
Also, from your experience, how did the face price of the lien amount compare to the condition of the property you acquired?
I had heard long ago most inexpensive liens are basically empty lots and run-down trash properties, but i am now hearing from other investors that isn't always the case.
Sorry, didn't mean to get off-topic, just saw a fellow georgian!
Rental Property Investor · Charlottesville, VA · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 726 votes
13y
Hi Morris,
The process takes so long because there are a lot of legal loopholes to jump through to notify people who have an interest in the property. And then you have to file a quiet title motion in court to get the title clear. Part of the notifications is public notices in the newspaper that have to run a month. I'm very much in learning mode on this too though.
What you've heard is correct from my experience, 95% of the properties are just land and a lot of that is junk land that has no access or is not buildable.
I had fun driving around finding all of the properties though and the two I bought had abandoned houses on them but were so overgrown I don't think anyone at the auction knew they were there. So I got lucky. One of them will have to be torn down, the other I'm going to attempt to rehab. Both are nice buildable lots close to town though.