Some questions, for newb, on property tax foreclosures in Texas, Fort Bend County

[Roger Malcolm]

I have never bought a foreclosed property. There is one near me that I am watching.  Some questions please:

1) How long does it take a property to go to auction, once the property tax are delinquent past July?  July is the month when the penalties go up the most due to accruing the legal cost of foreclosing as I understand it.  So now that the first July, since being not paying taxes has hit, I am wondering if it is still far off, or now is right around the corner.

2) If you buy a property at a property tax foreclosure, and the prior owner buys it back in the two year period, would you only get your money and premium set by law, or would the prior owner also have to pay for the property taxes you paid during that period?  What about improvements?   I.e., would you lose all that or you get paid for those?

Thanks for helping me with either of these. 

[Bruce Lynn]

Rare would they go to court foreclosure after six months delinquent.   Probably more like 3-4 years at minimum from what I see.   So I doubt you will see this property on any lists any time soon.

In Dallas sometimes I've seen 20 years before it goes to sale....that's probably more indicative of the larger counties

Almost no one redeems in Texas.   Very rare....so I would never count on seeing that 25-50% penalty.

You should read the section about tax sales in the Texas property code as it will explain this and many other considerations.  I say read it about 2-3 times a year if you are going to buy at the auction.   You'll learn something new and different every time you read it.   It is not hard to read.  It's not all lawyered up language or in latin.   However almost no one, even a lot of attorneys really knows it backwards and forwards.  They normally just know the bare basics.  Even if they do know it, sometimes the county officials kind of do their own thing and don't exactly follow the law.  You just have to roll with the way they do it.

The basics are, if the owner redeems, they do have to  pay you what you paid, plus an expenses you've incurred to preserve the property, taxes, insurance, legal fees and the penalty goes on top of that.  You can also probably get reimbursed for basic repairs "costs" like roofs or broken windows and penalty goes on top of that.   However you don't get reimbursed or penalty on making the property pretty....so no real reno during the 2 year hold period....and they're all probably a 2 year hold even if you think it is six months.   and while I say no one redeems.....you do a nice reno before the 2 years is up, I can almost guarantee about a month before, they're going to redeem.

Here's the info you probably want directly from the property code:

.....by paying the purchaser the amount the purchaser bid for the property, the amount of the deed recording fee, and the amount paid by the purchaser as taxes, penalties, interest, and costs on the property.....

now what are the "costs"

(2) "Costs" includes:

(A) the amount reasonably spent by the purchaser for maintaining, preserving, and safekeeping the property, including the cost of:
(i) property insurance;
(ii) repairs or improvements required by a local ordinance or building code or by a lease of the property in effect on the date of the sale;
(iii) discharging a lien imposed by a municipality to secure expenses incurred by the municipality in remedying a health or safety hazard on the property;
(iv) dues or assessments for maintenance paid to a property owners' association under a recorded restrictive covenant to which the property is subject; and
(v) impact or standby fees imposed under the Local Government Code or Water Code and paid to a political subdivision; and