Arkansas tax deeds sale out of state investor

[Tan Su]

hi BP!

I am new to the forum and eager to ask questions about the ongoing Arkansas tax deeds sale! 

I am been working on tax sales for a while but new to the state of Arkansas, there are a few questions that really confuses me,

1) It seems like that you have to pay to use their partnered third-party GIS/Recorder data platform https://www.datascoutpro.com/ and there is no county level free GIS data open to the public, is that true or I am just not finding the right place?

2) The COSL provides a mail-in bids form for non-local investors but it says 'Bids received by the Commissioner prior to the sale date will be announced immediately preceding the oral auction of the parcel.', I feel this is super unfriendly to the non-local investors since anybody at the oral onsite auction who gets interested in the same property could easily outbid me by just increasing their bids to a slightly higher price, has anyone gone through the mail in bids process and is that the case?

3) Is it better to send in a representative other than using the mail in bid form? Has anyone attended the COSL auction can you share your experience? 

Thanks you very much!

[Brandon Moffitt]

You can hire someone to attend on your or a corporate entity's behalf. As part of my law practice, we have represented out-of-state buyers. I have never seen anyone mail in a bid. I assume that it is because you could end up paying more than you would have to if you attend in person. 

Also, there is not GIS of every county in Arkansas at this time. Datascout has most of them, but the parcel maps are not always complete.