Question about Memphis Land Bank

[Sylvia Castellanos]

I have a few questions about how the Memphis Land Bank operates in practice.  Yes, I have read all the rules, but that doesn't always give you the whole picture of how the institution operates in practice.  I would appreciate it very much if someone who is involved in real estate in Memphis, either as a realtor or as an investor, would private message me so I could have a text conversation and ask my questions.

[Jordan Ray]

Quote from @Sylvia Castellanos:

I have a few questions about how the Memphis Land Bank operates in practice.  Yes, I have read all the rules, but that doesn't always give you the whole picture of how the institution operates in practice.  I would appreciate it very much if someone who is involved in real estate in Memphis, either as a realtor or as an investor, would private message me so I could have a text conversation and ask my questions.

The land bank is an interesting place, currently there are 2,770 properties for sale in the land bank which almost half of what is currently active in the local MLS. There is definitely more options for investing opportunities on the open market than on the land bank. Another thing to note is that the land bank has a ton of cheap property but they are not worth investing in even though it may look enticing because they can be much "Cheaper" but the ROI is not there unless your a heavy cash investor with a ton of experience basically building from almost nothing. (Lots of banks will not lend on properties like this due to the fact that your rehab will typically be more than your purchase). Another fact about the land bank is that as soon as you bid on a property, the city will market your bid and try to get other investors to bid out of FOMO. It's just another grab for the city to make up lost taxes. I am happy to show you a better way to get into the BRRRR method with as little as $10,000 in the bank and invest in Memphis TN real estate the "normal" way.

[Sylvia Castellanos]

Your comments make me realize there is a detail I should have included--I am looking exclusively at vacant lots. My reason is all the points you mention. 

[Tyler Tapley]

I would be very careful of buying properties via the land bank. You can do it but they don't offer title insurance and therefore the lots are very affordable (and worthless). There is a reason they are being sold via the Land Bank. I have several of vacant lots listed bought from the land bank and they are worthless. Those are properties/parcels that didn't sell via the regular tax sale. Many of the good tax sale properties are getting bid up online. I used to have several out of state investors who would buy houses in Memphis via the online tax sale auction, then hold them for a year so the redemption period ended, then they would hire an attorney to "quiet" the title which would take 4-6 months and cost roughly $5000 but then they had clear title and would sell it "as-is" to other investors or hire me and list it on the MLS and get higher offers. It was incredibly lucrative...but got competitive and they couldn't buy them online anymore because the prices got too high.