All Forum Posts by: Judy Raymond

I had to have a car removed from my property after evicting a tenant. I was told that if the property is yours you can have any unwanted vehicles removed from your property by simply calling a local tow company. They will take it to their impound lot and then process the legal matters. I never saw the car again and it didn't cost me anything.

Great. Thank you. I will check it out.

Great information. Thanks for the response. I recently went to a tax deed sale to watch and I was talking to a gentleman and he told me a story of how a guy bought a tax deed property that had a foreclosure filed on it before the tax deed sale, he bought it and 2 days later lost it and his money, because of the foreclosure. I don't know if it was an HOA or bank that filed the foreclosure. Have you ever heard anything like that?.

Never pay upfront and negotiate how they want paid. Many will ask for draws at certain points of completion which is typical. They need to get money back to keep the job going. If you are working with a contractor that will do the whole job before asking for money he is probably charging too much. Make sure you work with someone that you have gotten good recommendations on. Make sure they pull a permit. It's not recommended to pay by the hour unless they are working with you all day. You have an advantage in Tampa, there are some good investor clubs you can participate in and learn a lot through them. Good luck.

I would negotiate that issue out and I would try to renegotiate a different price because now you are no longer buying a turn key cash producing property you now have to find all new tenants. You may have intended to evict everyone but you had options as occupied, now you don't. Good luck. 

I haven't in Philly but I had to once in Florida. It wasn't too painful. It took about 30 days which included the 2 weeks of posting a classified ad in the paper. It was well worth it and it cleared the title to sell. Cost me about $800.00 but I don't know what the going rate is now. Your title company should cover it though, that's why you had title insurance.

Hi I am new to this forum but I have been a rehabber for years. I am looking at purchasing my first house through a tax deed sale. The house is located in a 55+ community where the owners own the land and have an HOA that maintains the community. This house was owned by a woman who apparently died and may or may not be occupied by an heir.

My questions are these: Is there a way of finding out if there are HOA fines? There are no liens listed in property public records. If the deed is purchased at the tax sale do these fines, if there are any, get superseded like most other liens or can the HOA still foreclose afterward? If the house is occupied is there an eviction entitlement at the tax deed or is there another legal step that has to be sued for? Should I get a quiet title before I try entering the house after I purchase it? I have read much on the tax deed sales but I try to be as prepared as I can be before putting a plan into action.

Thanks for any input regarding these questions. Judy

Be careful. You are buying a property with a building that you are going to have torn down than turn around and flip it to a builder for them to build or split the lot and build? If you tear the building down you are creating some issues that you may not have thought through. One is your lot right now has water, sewer, power etc. If you scrape you have now created new issues that you have to overcome with the building department and Public Works and the Utility provider. You are also potentially making it more difficult for someone to get financing on a vacant lot. If you plan to buy the property and hire a builder to come in and build it for you, you are losing all the profit. You may be splitting the profit but the builder is still going to be paid during construction of this project which bites into the profit. If you keep the existing building, possibly do the leg work to split the lot and market the empty to a builder/developer and the lot with the house to a rehabber or builder, you could probably make the same profit or more in half the time. New construction can eat a professional's lunch and rehab can destroy rock solid marriages. If you go into a project like this without much knowledge of construction or dealing with the govt entities involved you could be eaten alive.  That 50k profit quickly goes negative. I recommend the first thing you do is get a contract contingent on getting approval from the Building Department to be able to do what you think you want to do then go from there. The Building Dept, Planning Dept and Zoning Depts favorite 5 words are, "No you can't do that".  Good luck