TaxSaleResearch Ok
TaxSaleResearch Ok
TaxSaleResearch Ok
Research Manual
If You Do It Right
Tax Sale Research Manual: How to Use an Investment Strategy That is Guarantee to
Make You Money If You Do It Right copyright 2016 by American Tax Lien
Association. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this
book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission
except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.
Jacober, Marcos
Tax Sale Research: How to Use an Investment Strategy That is Guarantee to Make You
Money If You Do It Right / Marcos Jacober. - Rev. ed.
ISBN10: 1-682735-12-5
ISBN13: 978-1-6827-3512-1
1. Real estate investment. 2. Tax lien certificates. 3. Tax Deeds. 4. Real estate
investment-United States. 4. Tax lien certificates-United States. 5. Tax deeds-
United States. I. Title. II. Title: Tax Sale Research Manual
Ordering Information
Disclaimer
2
Table of Content
Introduction ....................................................... 5
Getting Started ..........................................................7
Tax Deed Sales: the basics ............................... 9
Tax Liens: How of they work? ...................................9
What if the property owner never pays for the
delinquent taxes? ......................................................10
Tax Deeds: How of they work? ..................................11
Tax Sales - Auction Format .......................................12
Tax Sales - Struck-Off List .........................................13
Before the sale ..........................................................14
What to do next .........................................................15
After the sale .............................................................16
Gathering Information From the County ............ 18
Some things you should ask the county staff: ...........19
Different Departments Within the County .......... 21
County Recorder's Office: ..........................................21
Planning & Zoning Department: ................................23
Septic/Water/Road Access/Power Associations: ......25
Mapping Department: ................................................25
Research the Property ....................................... 29
1. Size Matters...........................................................29
3
2. You Cant Build on a Train.....................................30
3. Environmental Hazards .........................................31
Case Study - Robinson Road ............................ 33
Example from Robinson Road Property: ...................33
Final Remarks .................................................... 37
Are these strategies safe? .........................................37
About the Author ............................................... 41
4
Introduction
5
Again, we would like to emphasize that this booklet will be
focused on teaching you HOW the system works. With the
right information, you can invest safely knowing that you
didnt purchase a worthless piece of property.
6
Getting Started
In this book, we will try to be as direct as possible,
however, we will give a few examples of our own
investments just so you can see that there are deals hiding
everywhere, and we will also teach you to spot problems.
Just remember that this is an adventure, and the reward
you receive from it is beyond compare. Reselling your tax
sale property for a humungous profit is amazing and really
worth the time you spent researching it!
7
8
Chapter 1
Whoever buys the lien has the right to the interest on the
amount owed.
9
What if the property owner never pays
for the delinquent taxes?
The owner has a redemption period (a grace period the
county gives to the property owner to pay for the
delinquent taxes). The period varies by state, from 6
months to 3 years. If the redemption period has expired
and the owner has not made the payment, you will contact
the county and tell them you want to apply for the deed of
the property.
10
2. All of the other liens will be wiped out (e.g. the
mortgage) and eliminated.
11
After you have the clean title for the property, you can sell
it at wholesale price for 60% of the fair market value.
12
experiencing an upswing and real estate values are high,
there will be more people bidding at a tax sale.
13
Buying properties over-the-counter allows you to purchase
properties quietly and privately, and you are not competing
against anyone else in an auction bid situation. You can
usually purchase the struck-off properties for the minimum
dollar amount, rather than paying a higher amount at an
auction when the prices go up after every bid. The county
will also be more receptive to accepting a minimum dollar
amount offer to purchase these properties that are just
sitting there. Some people make a lot of money only by
purchasing and reselling properties bought from the
struck-off list.
14
If you want to borrow money to participate in a tax sale,
find out exactly what your banker (lender) will or will not
allow you to do with the money. If it's ok with your lender
also contact the selling entity prior to the sale day to see if
they need and will accept a line of credit letter from your
bank. Be sure the selling entity receives the letter.
What to do next
RESEARCH THE PROPERTIES GOING UP FOR SALE
15
major problem discovered by the appraisal team affecting
that particular property or area.
16
there are exceptional attributes to the property that the
comparable sold properties do not have.
17
Chapter 2
Gathering Information
From the County
18
Some things you should ask the
county staff:
Ask them to give you the struck-off list (properties that
were not sold in previous auctions). If they do not have
such a list ready, ask them the cost to compile the list
19
This is important and will affect what steps you may
have to take to clean up the title if you ever decide to
sell or build on the property. This usually requires
additional expense.
20
Chapter 3
Different Departments
Within the County
21
the proper legal description is accurate and properly
appears on transfer documents back through time.
22
Often these problem documents are not discovered until a
sale occurs or the owner applies for a loan and a title
examination is done. Sometimes, the problem is not
discovered until decades later when the property goes to
sale to a stranger. Run away from these properties!
If you did take the chance and purchase the property, and
attempt to clear title through the court system, you could
be subjecting yourself to every heir that crawls out of
nowhere thinking they may have a claim on the property. It
can get ugly and expensive.
23
They are reluctant to just answer yes or no to the
question Is this property buildable?, but they can tell you
their requirements to issue a building permit. Show them
the Assessors Office property record sheet of the property
you want to bid on so they can look the property up in their
records. Here is how you should phrase your questions:
24
Septic/Water/Road Access/Power
Associations:
This department issues septic permits (if the area is not
sewered) and the well log service (if there is no community
water system).
Mapping Department:
In your research, youll need to become proficient in
"reading" legal descriptions in order to determine if that
property is right for you or not. Reading a legal description
is difficult for some and surveyed metes and bounds
descriptions can be very lengthy and technical. However,
its worth it to take the time to learn how to do this.
25
describe land that is not as developed as land in cities or
towns. This method uses a system of degrees, minutes
and seconds and distances described in feet. Learning to
read legal description may be harder than you think, so
stop by this department to ask them:
26
Aliquot Parts descriptions are much simpler; they read
something like the Southwest Quarter of the Northeast
Quarter of the Northeast Quarter of Section 10, Township
50 North, Range 3 West. This method is fairly easy to
understand. All you have to do is read it backwards:
HELPFUL TIP: There are some excellent websites that explain how to
read a surveyed metes and bounds descriptions, aliquot parts
descriptions and government lot descriptions. Look for a website owned
by your local title company for helpful information.
27
28
Chapter 4
Size Matters:
Parcel size will most likely be shown on the tax sale list
and on the assessors parcel map as acres or a fraction of
an acre. To figure out the size of the property, get the
square foot area by multiplying the length by width, then
divide the square feet by the number of square feet in one
acre (43,560).
29
each map for its scale, some are 1 inch= 200 feet and
some will be 1 inch = 400 feet, etc. The acreage and lot
size should be showing somewhere close to or within the
parcel's boundary lines on the map. This is important
information. It will help you eliminate no value properties
and assist you to decide whether the propertys ownership
is complex or not, the owners are reluctant to work with an
individual or even a real estate attorney unless it may
involve litigation that they could be involved in.
HELPFUL TIP: You may see tax sale parcels that are only two or three
feet wide. Many of these parcels had to be created by the assessors
mapping department to comply with law. We referred to them as "gaps"
and "overlaps". They are most often created because of a problem in the
legal description on a deed that was recorded and never corrected by
the owner. This type of problem can also result on a break in the chain
of owners who deeded away their interest leaving a bad call in the legal
description. These parcels are not worth purchasing.
30
relinquish ownership and right of way are often very high.
This is partially due to the time and research involved, as
well as document preparation by their legal staff to release
an unused portion of their system that you may be
interested in.
Environmental Hazards:
Here is a special caution for properties that could be
harboring something nasty in their soil. Sites that were
once gas stations may have leaky rusting tanks deep
underground. Sites that were once part of an industrial
company, lumber company or junkyards may have toxins
in their soil. These conditions will pass on to you should
you purchase the property. It is just a matter of time before
the local branch of the EPA (Environmental Protection
31
Agency) will be knocking on your door wanting to take soil
samples. You will be responsible for the cleanup and fees.
HELPFUL TIP: Dont bid on these properties! Also properties that had
a Meth Lab at one time may have a HAZMAT note with no county, state
or federal acceptable methods for clean up. This is a deal killer if you
hope to resell the property some day and cannot get the Meth Lab
notice released.
32
Chapter 5
33
settlement, moreover, back then the properties were
transferred by a handshake.
Lucky me, you might say. But I have to say thats not the
case. There are a lot of excellent deals just waiting for
somebody willing to go the extra mille and make an
amazing profit. The only thing you need to know is how to
properly do the research.
34
OTHER EXAMPLES
LEE COUNTY- FLORIDA TAX DEED
Fair Market Value: $59,938.00
Bought for: $9,800.00 (online auction)
Sold for: $16,200.00
Profit: $6,400.00
35
VOLUSIA COUNTY FLORIDA TAX DEED
Fair Market Value: $436,000.00
Bought for: $178,400.00
Sold for: $350,000.00
Profit: $171,600.00
36
Chapter 6
Final Remarks
YES, because it is
GUARANTEED RETURN
37
NO, if you do not
38
After attending many tax sale auctions over the years, I
can tell you this: Some times, you will put in a lot of hard
work researching properties and come away with nothing.
You will second-guess yourself with should haves and
could haves after the sale. You will wonder if you just
walked away from thousands in profits because you did
not bid, or did not bid high enough. Your focus should
always be on the facts. You made the decisions based
on your best effort; you did your homework and set your
top price to pay.
39
40
About the Author
41
approximately US$1,500,000 (more than 300 properties
that were otherwise accumulating debts to the county) in
taxes owed. American Tax Lien Association and its clients-
investors bring to the county the money it needs to deliver
services to the community.
42