All Forum Posts by: Denise Evans

I offer classes and resources for tax sales investing, and foreclosure investing, in Alabama.  I also provide free advice on my blog, which you can access at my website, and am willing to provide short answers to common questions posted here, if you'd like. Please check out my website, www. ButlerEvansEducation.com. REAL advice from an investor, broker, and attorney, all rolled into one person!

I think you should classify the deferred maintenance repairs as an acquisition cost on your books, but then do book-to-tax adjustments for your tax returns, in order  to expense those items.  On your business books, repairs necessary immediately upon acquisition are truly part of the acquisition expense, and unnecessarily skew historic repair expenses if you account for them as repairs and maintenance.

In Alabama, the three year right of redemption does not start "ticking down" until you take possession. If the property is occupied, and they don't leave voluntarily, you have to send written notice and then wait 6 months before you can file the eviction suit.

Regarding condos, the personal property in the condo does not pass with the tax sale. If it was furnished, you are not entitled to use the furnishings. This means that if the owner redeems, and wants a credit for the reasonable rental value of the furniture, you have to give that. Or, if the owner demands their furniture but without redeeming. Nobody ever asks for that, but you need to know when you are on weak ground in an argument, just in case it happens.  Never antagonize the redeeming owner into the arms of a lawyer if you are on weak ground.