OTC tax deeds info ?

Question

Is there a list of which states offer OTC tax deeds?

I have no experience with OTC, they are not offered in my state. In Louisiana, any property that is not sold at the annual property tax sale will be adjudicated to the parish. After 5 years the properties are offered via auction to the public. The majority of parishes in Louisiana use civic source to list all of the available adjudicated properties and conduct the online auctions.

My understanding of OTC tax deeds, you buy them directly from the county without having to compete with anyone else or go through an auction. (That sounds much better.)  Our adjudicated auctions start at the amount owed and then are bid up from there. Who ever bids the highest amount wins the auction. Many times the amount bid is close to or equal to retail value, which in my opinion is crazy because you can not inspect the property beforehand and the properties are still affected negatively when it comes to title insurance. We do have company that writes title insurance on the adjudicated properties but its a small company and the vast majority of the larger, mainstream companies wont write on them in most circumstances.  IMO, the bidding shouldn't go over 50-60% of the retail value, but in most auctions the bidding goes over 90% of retail value.

Wayne Brooks · Answer

@Will Sifert Agree with @John Underwood The stuff that gets to OTC is the stuff that no one wanted even at the taxes due....what does that tell you?

John Underwood · Answer

The problem with most OTC tax liens or deeds is that a room full of people at the main auction didn't want these. So they are usually not any good.

Ned Carey · Answer

@Will Sifert I don't think it is necessarily a state issue but a county one. In MD it is up to the counties as to whether they offer OTC liens. Some here in Maryland do offer, them some do not.

Baltimore city does, Sometimes thousands are left over but few have any value and the list getw worked over pretty hard by locals.

I agree that there can be some worthwhile liens leftover but it takes a LOT of work to find them.

You may have seen another tax sale thread where a guy's property went into tax sale because it crossed a county line, and part of his yard and driveway were in a county where the taxes were not being paid.  A person may let a tiny corner of the back yard go, but if you have a lien on their driveway you have some real leverage.

John Underwood · Answer

All true.

Generally they have to go through the auction first before they can legally be offered OTC.

If no one bid against you at the auction you can buy for the opening bid or often just the back taxes.

I have bought some stuff OTC that was marginal at best and later did turn into gold as gentrification took hold of the downtown area. Now I don't let anything go to OTC as I will bid the minimum on it at auction so I know my county has no good OTC properties. I make sure if it.

Will Sifert · Answer

That you are not looking hard enough.

I understand how the properties make it to OTC and I know the vast majority of them are not worth much. However markets change, areas change.

One the parishes I buy tax liens at, back in 2008 through 2016 there were several lots there were worth about 3-5k during that time. No one bid on them at the tax sale including myself. Starting in 2017 to current there has been a lot of new construction in that area. The lots that got passed over at tax sale 5+ years ago have been selling at adjudicated tax sales recently anywhere from 15-30k. I kick myself for not buying them at the tax sale, I could have bought 100s of them and be making a fortune selling them right now. The problem with our adjudicate sales is that it’s an auction and goes to the highest bidder. Where as OTC you purchase directly from the county and don’t have to compete with others

OTC tax deeds info ?

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