Would you purchase a lien and allow the delinquent owner to reside?

[Steven J.]

I've possibly got an opportunity. Thanks to @Seth Williams strategy of mailing delinquent tax owners I got a call from a somewhat motivated seller. He owes around 7k in taxes from years past and I believe will have the home repossessed this year or next.

It hit me a little slow but I though I could buy the lien from the tax assessor at a discount and restructure the payments so he can afford them. Would you do this if he were to continue residing there? Perhaps @Account Closed can chime in?

[Seth Williams]

Hi @Steven J. - glad to hear you're getting results! Is this property you're looking at in Minnesota? To my knowledge - (double check me on this) I think Minnesota is a Tax Deed state, which would mean that there isn't really a "tax lien" for you to buy, only a deed (assuming the property hasn't already been seized by the county).

You could use this high balance of delinquent taxes as leverage to buy the property outright (for a very cheap price) and then sell it back to the current owner with seller financing. I know another investor who has done this a few times with pretty good results.