Delinquent tax sales in Houston Texas

[Paul Martin]

I’ve done quite a bit of research and I have seen some properties that went up for sale today in Houston at the auction that goes down the first tues of every month. 3 out of the 4 properties I wanted to bid on were canceled.

So I was thinking, did investors reach out to them strike a deal and pay the taxes the day of?

Also, have any of you all participated in the tax auction in Houston and actually bought a property? How did it go down? Good results ?

A friend of mine worked for an attorney for several years and she told me they would go every month with about a million to spend. So when you are going up against big investors like that. I say big because I only have about 250K to invest. I am sure there are much more bigger ones than them.

Just wanted some general feedback.

Would love to connect with some people in Houston. Texas. I also to travel to Austin and San Antonio monthly do I am open to connect with anyone in Those areas as well.

Thanks

[Josh Carr]

@Paul Martin The first sale on the first Tuesday of every month is the initial sale, then if they don't get sold they go through a resale, then if they don't get sold at the resale they become struck off.  Harris county (Houston area) will also sell the struck off's at an auction.  If you are at the struck off sale the prices may be much less.  Keep in mind that every sale in Texas still has a redemption period.  The 6 months is for those that do not have any exemptions tied to it and up to 2 years for those that do (homestead, military, disabled, etc.) .  

Most of the properties will not be on the list at the time of the sale even though they initially were on it.  The main reason is because the taxes get paid and many of them get paid by the mortgage companies and some borrow the money to pay off the taxes.   A good idea when you attend the auctions would be to have at least 15 or more properties you would be willing to bid on and then with luck you may end up with 1 or 2.  They go to the highest bidder and the opening bid price is whatever the taxes amount to after a 5 year period.  Although you are purchasing a deed it is a redeemable deed which means the owner still has a timeline to come up with the money you bid with your interest of 25%.  Since it is a penalty it does not matter when it gets paid.  If it is a homestead or exempted property after the 1st year it goes up to 50% interest.  Always a penalty so it does not matter when it gets paid.  

Usually when someone is that far behind on their taxes, and it will be the same amount in interest that they have to pay, it is a good chance they won't pay until right up to the end of the redemption period.  In the meantime make sure that you have all the notifications sent out from the date of the winning bid so your clock counts.  IE: mortgage company, property owner, any and all recorded interest holders of the property.  

My friend just got a couple of properties at auction and one was homesteaded which will be a two year window for the redemption period with the property value at almost a million dollars.  The bid was 105K and there is also an IRS lien against the property which when the time comes, and the two year window is up, will be something to address with the IRS.  That doesn't make it a bad investment when you consider what the amount of the IRS lien is, 150K at the end of the day if you have to pay it the value is still there.  It's good to know everything you are up against when bidding on a property.  All liens and encumbrances must be recorded against a property to make it a valid debt.  There are ways of getting around the IRS lien also.  I put a link to an IRS document on this website on an earlier date.  

Since there are several districts, taxes, municipal utilities, and the independent school districts as well as the tax trust properties to choose from in Texas there are many properties available.  Here is a website that has the struck off listing through the independent school districts:  www.pbfcm.com

Once there go to tax sales, then go to resales, then go to the independent school district listings.  You will see Harris county has several.  You can go through the listings to see if there is anything you are interested in.  Anything from the year 2000 or older you can pretty much name your price.   There will be instructions on the listings as to which lawyer you need to talk to in order to make a purchase.  You will see the outstanding value and also see the adjudged value and I would start there.  If the spread is big enough to peak your interest then you can research the property to see what it is on the central appraisal district of that county.  

Keep in mind that since the auctions are the first Tuesday of every month, in every county, providing they have one the auctions roll around quickly.  The listings come out after the 15th of every month and some of the counties will have their struck off listing available on the website under the treasurer-tax collector department.  Another website which sounds like you have already visited is  https://www.lgbs.com/ Here you will find all of the different types of sales available in many of the counties in Texas.  You will see the sale county and then the sale type where you can select and see all the properties available.