Riverside, CA Tax Deed Investing

[Seung Lee]

Can anyone who have purchased tax deed properties from Riverside chime in?  I purchased a property on May 5th and have been waiting to receive the recorded deed.  How long does it usually take them?

Also, given that owners have 1 year appeal period and title companies won't issue title insurance during that time, what do most buyers do with the property?  Just leave it alone?  Rent it out?  Take the chance and rehab it right away? 

Thanks for the answers.

[Seung Lee]

I just sold it for a profit about 2 weeks ago.  It was an interesting and somewhat long and difficult process but in the end, I ended up putting in about $115,000 ($49,000 purchase price, rest rehab costs) and sold it for $185,000 (less 1.5% seller credit and closing costs) plus about $8400 in collected rent.  It took me about 18 months from start to close.  So on paper, it was a decent "flip" but in reality, I had to put in quite a bit of work, travel far to deal with issues, and the neighborhoods in Coachella can be very hit or miss.  I ended up doing ok but I learned many lessons, one of which was, stay closer to home.  Issues can be hard to deal with from afar.