Tax Sale Prep

[Nghi Le]

I'm planning on attending my first tax deed foreclosure sale/auction in a couple of months in Seattle, WA (King County).  Just wanted to see if anyone has been to this specific auction before, and what was your experience like?

Some general questions about tax sales:
I'm considering driving by all of the properties to check them out (after I narrow down the list online).  Would you guys recommend that, or is that a waste of time?  Do the majority of them not make it to the auction?  If so, is it because investors are reaching out to them before the auction (and is that legal)?

[Christopher Gilbert]

@Nghi Le 

To answer some of your general questions, we ALWAYS at least do a drive by of any property that we are willing to put a bid in on.  We have come across many burned out houses, flood houses, landlocked lots (no road access) and places that were in such bad condition a good wind will bring them down.  You cannot get all the information driving by but at least you can get an estimate to help you determine if you should even bid and if so, how much.

Past experience has shown that at least half of the houses get pulled.  Some are for legal reasons or the owner paid the back taxes and some are probably other investors getting in touch with the owner and putting a deal together before the auction.  Of the ones that make it to auction half are not worth bidding on and the remaining ones generally have no clear "owner" as the previous one passed away and had no direct heirs or will to give the house to.