Tax deed sale advice

[Frank Ramirez]

Has anyone completed a tax deed sale in California? particularly Sacramento County? 

How did you do the title search? Are these tax deed sales generally clean and fast?

[Carol Venolia]

Hi Frank,

I've participated in 7 tax deed sales in Northern CA in the past year, and was successful in buying two properties. I learned what I know from a very helpful and affordable DVD that I bought at

http://www.larryweingarten.com/page/store (scroll down to Tax Deed Sales video)

I haven't done Sacramento County, but I always go to the County Recorder's office to research title, liens, and other encumbrances before bidding. I used to do that weeks before the auction, but I learned that most of the properties get withdrawn before the auction starts, so now I do my research on the first day of the auction. You can't do most of the necessary research online; you have to go in and use the Recorder's computer system to do your research. Every county's system is different, too, so there's a small fun learning curve.

I'm not sure what you mean by "clean and fast." It's crucial to view each property to make sure what's there, and that takes time, driving all over the county. Since it's not legal to trespass, it's not "clean" in that you have to use a lot of tricks to guess at the condition of the property. You also need to guess at what it will cost to repair a place, then run your numbers about the maximum you can bid on each property and still make money in the end.

The auction itself is pretty clean and fast; they usually last 4 days if they're on **********, and most of that action is at the very end and in overtime. Then YOU have to be fast; there's very little time to pay in full for whatever you bought. Finally, it takes a month or two to receive the recorded deed.

All that said, I love the process. I enjoy the Wild West nature of this scene; I like doing the research and the drive-bys; and I enjoy the bidding--except that all too often I come away empty-handed. I suspect that lots of bidders aren't crunching numbers; they bid way too much too often.

Best of luck to you!