Purchasing property back that was lost in a tax lien

[John Paul Schreiner]

Looking for advice...and I’ll try to keep it short.

My grandfather owns a small mobile home park in Texas. The land itself is divided into 8 lots. One of the lots was supposedly sold to my grandfather, but the title was never filed and the taxes ended up not getting paid on it. This is a key part of the property because the driveway for the rest of the court is on it. But it has no structures on it.

Five years ago that property was sold by the county for a tax lien. The current owner purchases these liens and has several 100 properties. He has probably spent close to $13,000 on it for the purchase and property tax. I approached this investor and asked if he would be interested in selling the land. (Pretty sure he has never stepped foot on it and my grandfather has kept it up) Since it was not listed for sale, he eventually told me the price was $25,000. We agreed to pay and sent the contract to his office. He then told us through his secretary that the price was $27,000. When we called today to verify this, he said the property is no longer for sale. Wouldn’t even give us a price.

I’m trying to figure out this guys motivations? Are we SOL? It’s a key component of the property. It has potential devastating impacts to growing the business or even the property value as a whole. Would a property attorney be worth looking into? Any referrals for one?

The property in question is outlined in red. 62P4