Vacant Lot Buyers Pensacola

[Kwambe Smith]

Greetings BP members. I'm a first time real estate investor looking to buy vacant lots and homes in the Pensacola Florida area. My strategy for doing this will be to purchase properties via a tax deed sale. Are there any members that have gone through this process that can shed some light or share their experience?  I would love the opportunity to learn from you what your experience has been like.

Thank you!!

[Erica Osborn]

Hello @Kwambe Smith! Some food for thought when dealing with tax deed sales. It's my understanding that the tax deed (actual type of deed you receive, other examples general warranty, special warranty, etc.) is not marketable or insurable, meaning you can't get title insurance on it and neither will anyone else until the title is clear and someone will issue title insurance on it. 

If you are looking to wholesale these deals, just know that your buyers are going to have to put a quiet title process (quite a few thousand dollars depending on the deal complexity) into their calculations to get the property's title clear, marketable and insurable for their end retail buyers. If you are holding them for your own purposes (and do not plan on refi-inf them at any point) it's less of a worry or selling to cash buyers who are aware of the type of deed they are being sold and costs associated with it.....then to each their own. If any lending is going to be placed on the property though, the lender will require that title insurance and clear title. 

I know this from experience, having purchased a tax deed myself in Pensacola, FL! Good luck, those online auctions are fun (be careful :))