All Forum Posts by: Ed Tamayo

@Jon Mark

As of the last two years I get all my leads from tax sales lists and I can tell you it’s never too late to do something with those properties.

Now about your specific questions:

Each jurisdiction have its own rules but in my experience they will take payment for taxes until the very last minute. In some auctions I have been, the auctioneer announced that taxes can still be paid.

You also mention a bank. If the property has a mortgage, the banks will take the money anytime.

I think another question would be if you can get a contract with the owner and a cash buyer between the time the list comes up and the auction which is normally 4 weeks. I don’t do wholeselling but I guess it’s possible.

Nevertheless, and this is the key, the opportunity does not end with the auction.

If the owner does not pay and the property sales, the former owner, in most states, still has the right to redeem and you can work with that. If the owner does pay, you have an owner that might be motivated to sale the property as they can barely pay the taxes.

@Denise Evans

Very informative. Thank you very much

@Mike Dymski Funny! :)

@Danny Price

In Georgia, self-redeeming would mean to give up all the money paid for the property and it would consist in signing a quit claim deed to the former owner.

I suppose that could make sense only if the property is truly worthless or it is a  liability as you point out and there is no point in keep being liable for it. Also, some lenders want to make sure you are paying taxes in all your properties and deeding that property would take it out of your “books”.

Still, the former owner could say that you can‘t dump a property (and its liability) on them.

Finally, yes, the former owner is entitled to the overage in case they redeem or not. (in GA, not true in other states like South Carolina) 

In GA it  would only be a failsafe to prevent losing more than your original investment. 

@Brett Abamonte

If studying is an option go for it but if college does not appear to be in your future, I would suggest you get a job in a company involved in real estate.  It can be renting/selling houses or remodeling. That will give you a lot of insight.

@Cody McGuffie In my experIemce there Is not a sIngle, cover all, answer. I have sold properrIes In multIple ways: craIglIst, With no agents on eIther sIde, usIng a MLS lIstIng only agent ( you pay a couple of hundred dollars to be lIsted but the agent does nothIng else for you,) usIng a dIscount agent and a tradItIonal agent. I also have gIven optIons to buy and I have worked wIth wholesalers. My inclination, In general, Is to use a dIscount listing agent as you do need to be on the MLS. i decIde how I am goIng to sale each property based on how much work It mIght take me versus how much i would pay a lIstIng agent. If I have a 200k house In a very good shape, In a B area, I most definitily don’t see the need for a full service lIstIng agent.

@Pat Noyes I have seen great suggestions so far and mine satisfies the passive requirement too but it probably involves more risk (and reward) I started doing RE investing while working and I was going to use a Self Directed IRA that only allows passive investment. I went with buying properties at tax sales. I did the research work over weekends and I did have to show up at the tax sale auction on the day of the tax sale (Which as 9 to 5 employee with occasional work travel it was challenging at times.) After that, in my state, there is nothing to do for a year (other states have different times). Once that year passed, I handed the “cleaning “ of the title to a lawyer. A few months later, the property could be listed for sale. To make things even easier, I started with land as buying houses will require more knowledge about the cost of rehabbing.

How long counties wait to put a property in a tax sale varies from less than a  year to a couple of years and tax authorities might be speeding things up.  This year I have bought 5 properties that owned taxes just for last year 

Now, about the original question  inquiring about tax sales lists versus tax delinquent List, i want to point out that the Tax Sale List can be seen as an "Extremely Tax Delinquent  List " and its a great source of leads and  I have had much better response rates using the Tax Sale List.

Originally posted by @Jason Triano:

I am looking to start researching OTC.

 I have not seen a single county in Georgia that does "over the counter" tax deed sales.   Even if they had them. I would not look into them as whatever is not picked up on the tax sale is most likely a really bad vacant lot as even houses that need to be demolished and unbuildable lots are very often purchased.   

Also, since you are thinking in covering NJ, TX, GA, and IN I have to say that in order to succeed at tax sales, you not only have to get information in the property but really have to eyeball it.  

"Buying on the courthouse steps, Sheriff Sale, Tax Sale, etc."

There are in fact multiple real estate related items sold at the court house steps.  

You might not be able to find a single educational source for all of it. So I would recommend you start your search in two main areas :  

1) "bank foreclosure sales"  These are for properties foreclosed by the banks that hold mortgages in houses where the owner is not making payments.

2) "tax sales". These are for properties that have failed to pay property taxes to the county. About 50% of the states conduct tax sales were they convey title (tax deed states)  other 50% have auctions were they just auction a lien on the property (tax lien states). 

It is my firm belief that in order to succeed in the business of real estate, you have to be able to learn on your own, and the best source is a $20-$30 book that you can find in Amazon.