All Forum Posts by: Ryan Snelson

@Colby Lee Bodoin

Thank you for the advice, that is sort of what I expected, the lien would be cut off but still be another hurdle to clear to get marketable title.

@Boyd McClean

Great tips!  Could you explain what issues could arise from an owner in bankruptcy?  In a tax deed state (Texas) Would BK give the owner any additional recourse besides the standard redemption period?

@Colby Lee Bodoin

Since you offered, I do have a title question for you.  I recently purchased a property that was struck off to the county after no one bid on it at the auction.  The previous owner had a $9500 lien (deed of trust) for some siding installation in 1993.  The deed of trust was then assigned to a bank, then the bank was bought and changed names a couple of times.  The current note holder was added as a party to the tax suit.  Does this effectively remove the $9500 lien from the property when the tax lien forecloses, or do I still need to get some sort of a release filed with the county?  

@Anthony Yannucci  I'm not sure what you mean by the end result.  What I meant was doing your own title research on the properties you are interested in before the auction so you know about any liens that will remain after you buy the property.  

I made the mistake one time of bidding on an empty lot without doing my research after all the properties I researched got pulled or bid up too high.  I justified it by thinking that maybe there would be a few hundred in city liens for cutting the weeds.  Big mistake, the city had been cutting the lot for years at $500 a pop and charging 10% interest on the balance. There were over $9000 in liens that I was responsible for.  

@Alex Gaw @Randon B.

I got started by purchasing a course called Texas Houses for Pennies by Darius Barazandeh.  I think it was about $150 (that was 4-5 years ago), but I thought it was definitely worth it.  If you are seriously thinking about bidding on properties I would highly recommend it.  It covered the entire tax sale process and also covered how to do your own title research.  That course will teach you 90% of what you need to know, the remaining 10% is just finding out what you can actually buy at the auctions in the counties near you.  In my experience the auctions at larger counties like Travis are not worth attending unless you have a lot of money and can tolerate very thin margins. Also, if you are looking for Fix and Flip deals I don't think you are going to find many good candidates with tax deeds especially because of the title insurance issues. However I have seen a fair amount of rural lots with some good acreage sell for only 10-40% of appraised value so if you are looking for something like that to buy and live on, I think you could probably find some great deals at the tax sale, just know that you will have to look at a lot of duds before you find a deal.

@David Tipton

Yes, the podcasts are great!

@Alex Gaw

I got into tax deeds after a friend who was server at a restaurant told me that they bought a house for $5000 just by paying the back taxes.  Those deals do exist but not anywhere close to Austin.

P.S.  What exactly does the @"Persons Name" do?

Is the 2 year contestability period a law/statute or just a title company standard?  I purchased a tax deed in August of 2013, I then sold the property with owner financing after the 6 month redemption period (this was not homestead/agricultural).  The people who purchased from me are now trying to refinance and are being told that they cant get title insurance for 4 years from the tax sale date because they can't prove that a mortgage holder prior to the tax sale received proper notice of the foreclosure.  I have talked to some other investors who have been told similar timelines for tax foreclosed properties.

If anyone has used a title company recently to write a policy 2+ years after the tax sale date please PM me with the details.

I have been a landlord since 2008 and have been investing in Texas Tax deed properties since 2013.