Property with an IRS Lien

[Nathan McBride]

I am looking at a potential property that has an IRS lien associated with it.  I am not sure how those work and wanted to see what the potential options are.

The owner had offered the property for sale with a quitclaim deed (red flag for me) at a hugely discounted price, but obviously the IRS lien falls on me in this scenario.  They are also willing to settle the IRS lien out of sale proceeds at a higher price and transfer ownership via warranty deed.

My question on the IRS lien is whether or not there are opportunities to settle the lien for a lower amount.  I.e., could I buy the property at the lower sale price (assuming that the IRS lien is the only title issue, of course) and work with the IRS to settle it, pocketing the difference?

Possibly a dumb question, but I am definitely no tax or title attorney so figured I'd ask.  Of course, the safest option would be to negotiate a sale price that includes settlement of the lien (assuming the numbers pencil out on the investment side), but there is always money to be made in creatively solving problems.

The lien according to the seller is for somewhere in the $150k ballpark.