All Forum Posts by: Ed Tamayo

@Walker Diallo

First of, check if you need the Legal description for a contract. In my state, Georgia, it is not needed.

Once you know what you need, the best source for the information, including legal description, is the owners deed. You can find the deed at the courthouse for the county or online (most likely for a fee)

You might be able to find the information needed for the contract on the tax assessors website for the county. ( most likely for free)

The other kind of deed would be a warranty deed  but that would mean that the would require that all taxes and liens be paid before the owner can sign it.

If you are open to pay the taxes, a Warranty deed would be the way to go.   I mentioned the quit claim in the understanding than 15K in back taxes was too much to pay for the lot and you wouldn't do it. 

As for this  

"I could simply pay off the taxes (there isn't a lean yet) as a part of the sale and then give the owner some nominal amount of money for selling?"

The short answer would be Yes. 

One think you need to ask the city is what would the opening bid be it they were to put it up for auction. In Georgia, the opening bid is never below the taxes owned plus a few hundred dollars that are added due to the auction itself. (Not thousands like might be the case in Kentucky)  If the opening bid its more that its worth even for you, then the auction wouldn't be a solution. 

You could get quit claim from the owner and pay him a few hundred bucks for it, and then deal with the back taxes. It looks like the county is Ok with never collecting them so you may never have to pay them.  Although, in my experience, if they think they can make you pay they will try with you.  

If you can't get a quit claim from the owner, you could take possession of the lot and do an adverse possession claim in 15 years.  You will want to inform yourself very well of this option before proceeding.   Also, for this method to be effective, you have to inform the owner that you are taking possession.   So, there might be a catch 22 there as well. 

- I am an investment fund manager, not a lawyer :)  

@David L Foreman

I have an SDIRA account and I have used it for passive real state investments and it has worked wonders for me.

Buy and hold is considered a passive investment so it will match your goal of having a number of doors.

My more important advice would be to make sure you get a SDIRA with checkbook control. You don’t want to get the custodian of your money have to sign every purchase you make.

That would be crazy but that was offered by some companies when I created my SDIRA.

@Marcus Auerbach

I was actually thinking the same thing.

A 7% inflation is something to take into account when making decisions in real estate and while that inflation rate is unlikely to repeat itself in 2022

It will be most likely higher than the 3.5 % you would pay for a conventional loan.

To spell it out: one can get a loan today which will be essentially interest free for at least a year.

I haven't but I don't see why it couldn't be done.   

@Owen Dashner

I paid 15k for a house in Cumming, GA at a tax sale. I sold it “as is” for 38k a year later. This was

Several years ago. You can’t dos

Those deals anymore.

I mostly work in Georgia.   I have made purchases in  Tennessee and South Carolina but Georgia works out much better for me. 

Sorry, I can't recommend a particular source. I learned by investing with a lawyer friend of mine who had been doing Tax deeds for many years in Georgia.  I have read a couple of books on the matter and while today I make a living doing tax sales, I think the books don't tell you about all the  problems you may run into. Also, each estate has different laws and i have not seen a book that has accurate information for Georgia where I live and work.  

In any case, a well rounded tax deed business is not just about the Tax Deed process but its about the whole Real Estate cycle  of recognizing value in a property, buying it, making improvements and selling it.  There are plenty of books on that. 

I Georgia, some counties have informational print outs that are a great start to understand the laws and regulations. Some have them on line, others give them away during the auctions they run.  I would recommend to  check with the counties where you want to invest.

I keep an eye on business news but I make sure to check weekly publications to get a view with more perspective than the daily ups and downs of the economy. 

As far as indicators. Trends on interests rates and trends on days on market tell me where we are heading as far as housing demand.