I am a college student just starting to look into the idea of real estate investment, so please bear with my lack of knowledge. I was looking into the concept of tax deed sale and could not find much in regards to the delinquent property owners. If you are buying the deed at auction, has this person already been evicted from their house and is the house now owned by the state or county? Or are you in effect buying the house out from under them? It seems rather ruthless. I apologize for my naivete, I just don’t want to make a change in major without some professional opinions.
I was looking into the concept of tax deed sale and could not find much in regards to the delinquent property owners…Every county publishes a list of the delinquent property owners.
If you are buying the deed at auction, has this person already been evicted from their house and is the house now owned by the state or county?..NO, almost all states, CA being an exception, have redemption periods following the sale during which the delinquesnt owner can redeem the propety.
Or are you in effect buying the house out from under them?..If indeed it is a true tax deed state with NO redemption period, yes.
It seems rather ruthless…Seems ruthless, but having done this for a large number of years, I can tell you that whatever is up for tax deed sale is there for a reason…MOST of it is NOT worth bothering with. You hve been watching the late night guru’s. It does NOT happen that way. Chances of hitting the lottery are about as good.
I apologize for my naivete, I just don’t want to make a change in major without some professional opinions…Do not consider myself a professional, have no degree of any kind, lots of hard knocks education, been doing tax liens for years and years.
Like all other aspects of any investment program…YOU CAN get badly burned in the tax deed business.
BE certain you THOROUGHLY understand what you are getting into BEFORE you start.
Good Luck,
Bill H
I have been in this business for many years, and the only way to get hurt is by not investing wisely. You can always get hurt in RE, but usually because you did not do your homework. I have made much money here and on one deal paid $25k for a tax lien, foreclosed on it and then sold the building 6 years later for $540k. Guess I hit the lottery.
Tommy
I’m also interested in purchasing forfeited taxes and I have a couple questions. I’m located in cook county, IL.
Where should I go inorder to find a list of deliquent property owners? How do I find out where deed auctions are being held? I have read some of the regulations regarding redemption rights and notification requirements, should I look for a lawyer to handle the legal stuff or is it relatively easy to do everything yourself?
Thanks.
In Virginia all you have to do is call the tax office and ask when the next tax sale is. Here they take the property from the previous owner if they haven’t paid a tax bill within the past 2 years. Most often the house is vacant and in desperate need of repairs. They charge you a 5% buyers premium at the auction that goes towards paying the auction company and the city lawyer who handles everything.
For bogdan430,
Buy a Tribune today (June 4th) for the list that you are looking for.
If this is your first time out, of course get professional help. Not everything can be done right the first time out.