Overdue property taxes on SFR

[Jeffrey M.]

Hi folks, newbie here so apologies is this is in the dumb question category. :)

I'm looking at an interesting SFR here in Spokane as a potential second home as a REI property. I have been doing some research about the property and I noticed on the Spokane County Assessors site that the current owner has been a little lax in paying property taxes in the past few years. Several line items list late fees assessed in 2017 and 2018 and the current amount owed exceeds the amount due for 2019 so if I am reading things correct, the homeowner is probably behind in property taxes by about $1000, give or take, with another payment due in 6 weeks.

How would this work if I were to close on this SFR? Would this create a tax lien situation or does the homeowner usually pay the taxes in full by or at closing for the deal to happen?

[Aaron Farr]

Hey Jeffrey, the property taxes are taken care of at closing and typically comes out of the sellers' proceeds assuming they have equity.  If they do not have equity then I've seen it negotiated where the buyer will pay the back taxes.