Ontario tax sales

[Matt Geerts]

Are tax sales a seasonal thing? I had looked at the Ontario Gazette 1 or 2 issues ago and saw a few properties up, but now looking at the latest edition there's a HUGE list of tax sales. Windsor is ripe for the picking, though I have no idea what their market is like. Here is a link to the gazette edition:

https://files.ontario.ca/gazette_docs/ontariogazet...

It is a real shame that these are hidden tenders and not a "courthouse steps auction" but that may lead to some people scoring some unreal deals. Ottawa and St. Catharines have some nice properties up. Huntsville, if land there is worth anything (tourists, vacation properties) there are some nice options.

I know that I posted vaguely about this in the past, but this latest issue has sparked my interest.

If anybody here has ever completed a tax sale in ontario I'd love to discuss it.

[Peter Crisp]

I have an instructive lesson on tax sales. I had my Property Manager have a closer peek at a place that looked decent from the outside - some new windows, a new roof and a back deck. Could maybe put in $2000 to start, get it rented for $500/month, put a roof on next year and it might work. Closer look today - disaster! Without going into details, there were moving things (squirrels?), all the windows were broken and it appears that someone stripped the plumbing and electrical. The tub was tilted like the Titanic at 45 degrees to the floor. Easily $20,000 as an entry fee and the house doesn't have very good 'bones' to begin with. Conclusion - not even worth $500 because the lot's probably only worth $2500, and you'd pay more to demo it. Tax sale properties are often tax sale properties for a reason! We both got our laughs for the day.