Marketing to delinquent tax owners

Flipper/RE Agent · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2013 · 18 posts · 9 votes

Hello,

For those of you marketing to owners with delinquent property taxes, have you had any success? I realize direct mail is a numbers game and consistency is key. I recently began my mailer campaigns and would love to hear your experience with mailing to this niche.

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Ned CareyPro Member

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Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes

12y

Yes I have had success. I have had much better success by calling targeted properties rather than mailing but both have worked.

I will give you a specific example. I did a mailer and got a reply from an out of state owner. It was a boarded up, crappy property in a crappy neighborhood. She wanted $17K. I passed but was respectful and gave her some advice.

She called me back 6 months to a year latter and said she would give it to me at any price. She just wanted it out of her name. I said I needed to check on back taxes and fines. She said there are none. Sure enough she had been keeping up on her bills.

I wrote a contract for $50 and simply took it to auction and got $5,000. Didn't make a fortune but it was an easy deal.

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Ned CareyPro Member
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Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
12y
Yes I have had success. I have had much better success by calling targeted properties rather than mailing but both have worked.

I will give you a specific example. I did a mailer and got a reply from an out of state owner. It was a boarded up, crappy property in a crappy neighborhood. She wanted $17K. I passed but was respectful and gave her some advice.

She called me back 6 months to a year latter and said she would give it to me at any price. She just wanted it out of her name. I said I needed to check on back taxes and fines. She said there are none. Sure enough she had been keeping up on her bills.

I wrote a contract for $50 and simply took it to auction and got $5,000. Didn't make a fortune but it was an easy deal.
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Alan King
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Flipper/RE Agent · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2013 · 18 posts · 9 votes
12y
@Ned Carey that's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I love hearing success stories from other investors. What kind of mailer do you prefer for this niche? I'm currently using a mix of handwritten letters and postcards.
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Ned CareyPro Member
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Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
12y
I use post cards but I have not had a lot of success with Mailing. I am not consistent enough
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Mike Watkins
Wholesaler · Powder Springs, GA · Member since 2013 · 516 posts · 143 votes
12y
How were you able to get their numbers? Could you go into more detail about how you sold the property 6months later? You paid 50$ for the house or the contract? Was the house sold for 5k? That sounds ridiculous. You paid 50$ and sold a house and made 5k in a day. Great deal. I'm a total and if I can target tax delinquent properties I can get deals before they go to tax deed auctions. Thanks mike
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Ned CareyPro Member
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Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
12y
@Mike Watkins I use various pay services to get numbers and in extreme cases pay a private eye.

I didn't sell it 6 months later, she called me back ready to just walk away 6 months later. The point being, she came back to me becuase I treated her properly and helped her how I could in the initial contact.

Yes The contract was for $50, I could have put $1 and she would have accepted. Yes it sold at auction for $5,000. In war zones in Baltimore City properties regularly sell for under $10K

No I didn't make it in a day. I settled on the property then took it to auction. I didn't make $5K because I settled on it first and has closing costs. If I had scheduled the auction a little sooner I would have done it as an assignement.
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Dev HornPro Member
Flipper/Rehabber · Arlington, TX · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
12y
We get calls all the time from people (often in less populated areas that are not attractive for investors) and they say: "I will GIVE this house to anyone that wants it. The taxes and upkeep are more than I can handle...". Often they've been trying to sell the house FOREVER and they are getting really frustrated.

I haven't scored a deal like Ned's but I know several investors who've bought houses for $500, $100, or less from people who just wanted to WALK.
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Mike Watkins
Wholesaler · Powder Springs, GA · Member since 2013 · 516 posts · 143 votes
12y
thank you Ned. And thank you Alan For the initial question.
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Leeta Song
Burnsville, MN · Member since 2013 · 26 posts · 6 votes
12y
@Ned Carey What kind of contract do you use when buying the house? How do you settled it? Do you send the contract to the title company? I'm looking into mailing to delinquent tax owner. If we acquire the property. Do we need to pay the back tax or that goes to the end buyer?

Thanks.
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Ned CareyPro Member
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Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
12y
@Leeta Song it depends on the deal. Sometimes I pay all back taxes and offer the seller a net price they walk away with. I use this to make it simple for the seller and sometimes because I want to negotiate with lien holders and get the benefit of that negotiation.

Just as often the seller takes care of back taxes etc. but of course it is all handled at the settlement table so the seller doesn't come out of pocket it is just paid from his proceeds from the sale.

Yes I take it to a title company and do a traditional settlement.
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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
12y
Any one bought houses a few days before the tax sale ( not certificates) for next to nothing recorded the deed.. then when an investor buys it applied for the overages????
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Bob Kinnison
Wholesaler · Oak Point, TX · Member since 2014 · 14 posts · 1 vote
11y
@Ned Carey, do you have a specific piece of mail that you use for tax delinquent owners?
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Ned CareyPro Member
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Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
11y
Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

Any one bought houses a few days before the tax sale ( not certificates) for next to nothing recorded the deed.. then when an investor buys it applied for the overages????
In my area Jay that couldn't possibly work. In order to record the deed the taxes have to be paid. Once taxes are paid the tax lien, and any foreclosure go away, so does any chance of a surplus.
Do people chase surpluses here, yes, but they use another method.
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Ned CareyPro Member
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Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
11y
Originally posted by @Bob Kinnison:

@Ned Carey, do you have a specific piece of mail that you use for tax delinquent owners?
Since it didn't work that well I am not sure you want it. Developing the best mailer comes from split testing different approaches to the same mailing list.
There is a ton written here on BP about direct mail by people much better at it than I am.
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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
11y
@Ned Carey
State of Washington is the same way you must bring all tax's current to record a deed.
It really fubars some pre foreclosure folks thinking they are going to get a poor home owner to sign over their home for 500 bucks.. Only to try to record the deed and they owe 20k in back tax's :)
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Jeremy Tillotson
Investor · Fort Wayne, IN · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 515 votes
11y
@Jay Hinrichs same here the taxes have to be paid to record. You also cant get the overages unless you were on deed at time of sale, even if you get a quit claim from them after the sale the overages go to original owner. Too many 50k overages getting cheated by someone trying to give them $500.00. Our local courts now said original owner is subject to triple the overage amount if anyone tries this. Guess they got feed up.
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Eric H.
Real Estate Solutions Provider · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2014 · 571 posts · 452 votes
11y
@Ned Carey how are those guys chasing overages? Something I was interested in when I first started investing in tax liens but I could not gain any ground for various reasons.
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Ned CareyPro Member
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Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
11y
Originally posted by @Eric H.:

@Ned Carey how are those guys chasing overages? Something I was interested in when I first started investing in tax liens but I could not gain any ground for various reasons.
Good old detective work, Good negotiating and in some cases flat out taking advantage of people
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David Battle
Realtor · Tampa, FL · Member since 2014 · 175 posts · 20 votes
11y
@Ned Carey I'm new to investing and wanted to make tax delinquent properties my niche. I don't want to target auctions because of my time constraints. What would you recommend to get started? I'm currently looking through my county and neighboring counties to find a list.
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Ned CareyPro Member
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Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
11y
@David Battle I am not sure what advice you are looking for beyond what I have said above. Get a list and start marketing to it. Is there something more specific you need to know?
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