How Risky Is This Business?
I am going to my first tax deed sale (in Georgia) next Tues. and I am planning on bidding on at least one very cheap unimproved piece of property. I have done basic research on several properties that I am considering (site visit, assessed value, google earth), however I do not plan to run a title search. How likely would it be for me to run into problems?
Tax deed sales usually wipe out everything ex. municipal assessments & possibly old utility bills which may be your problem. Also IRS and state tax liens may encumber the title, so check for those; if properly notified, IRS has a 120 day redemption period. Typically they pass on small parcels, not worth it for them to take them over. Be sure the property lines and legal descriptions are accurate, or you may get a swamp, a toxic waste dump, or worse.
how did it go?
Unfortunately, all the properties on my personal list were bid out of my price range. It is clear to me now that I went about this with the wrong strategy: I have a very low budget ($5000), yet I had only considered properties that appeared to have great appreciation popential. There were other properties that I had not researched that went for close to or below my range. These properties were not perfect investments, however most of them were still worth far more than the purchase price. For this next sale, I am going to broaden my pool of researched properties, and be ready to bite on properties that have imperfections that I can live with. Am I on the right track?
That seems like a very small budget, you must plan on adding a lot of sweat equity!
Where do you compile your list of the tax deed sales?
Sounds like a good track to me. Starting with smaller properties and smaller dollar amounts is the way to go - move up from there.
Anything that you could resell for 4 or 5 times the purchase price is definitely worth a look.
How risky is it?
Very!
But, I would invest my money no where else.