Tax Delinquent List

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Tax Delinquent List

Ben Kennedy
Gainesville, FL · Member since 2016 · 3 posts · 2 votes

Hello, 

I am a college student looking to make my first real estate deal. I have obtained a list of property owners with delinquent taxes and the assessed value/the balance of taxes that they owe for a certain county. I want to market to these people and was looking for some advice. My plan as of now is to reach out and see if they are interested in selling and if they respond yes to do some due diligence and based on that offer to pay off their back taxes and offer a small amount in addition since the people will be losing their property very soon. What sort of things do I need to consider when doing these sorts of deals and what is the best and cheapest way to market to them effectively. The list specifically is of properties that the tax deed applications have already been started on but the people are still in control of as of now so they will be losing these properties very soon. Any and all advice is welcomed, thanks in advanced! 

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Joe Mclain
Consultant · Ball Ground, GA · Member since 2015 · 228 posts · 100 votes
10y

You could go youtube a video on yellow letter and see a lot of examples of people doing what you want to do.  Since you will want to buy before the tax sale, you need to know about existing mortgages, liens, multiple years of back taxes, Federal IRS liens,  to name a few.   You will probably have a better hit rate if you market to out of state owners of this property.  Like @Rich Baer stated, be careful.   

PS>>you may want to start out with looking for vacant lots.  Seth Williams has a Bigger Pockets podcast on the topic and I really encourage you to listen to the podcast.  His web site has a lot of good resources to help you.

Best of luck

Joe

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  • Rich Baer
    Real Estate Investment Attorney · Kingsville, MD · Member since 2016 · 643 posts · 408 votes
    10y

    @Ben Kennedy

         Ben, 

             Unless you have the ability to do the title search yourself you are playing Russian Roulette with your money. Most people in that situation are loaded up with mortgages and liens. There are exceptions to every rule but you need to be careful. If nothing else, you could be wasting a lot of time. My advice on doing your first deal would be to work with an Agent to buy some other type of distressed property with clear title and have the ability to inspect it at your convenience.

    Good Luck,

    Rich Baer, Esq

    0Reply
  • Joe Mclain
    Consultant · Ball Ground, GA · Member since 2015 · 228 posts · 100 votes
    10y

    You could go youtube a video on yellow letter and see a lot of examples of people doing what you want to do.  Since you will want to buy before the tax sale, you need to know about existing mortgages, liens, multiple years of back taxes, Federal IRS liens,  to name a few.   You will probably have a better hit rate if you market to out of state owners of this property.  Like @Rich Baer stated, be careful.   

    PS>>you may want to start out with looking for vacant lots.  Seth Williams has a Bigger Pockets podcast on the topic and I really encourage you to listen to the podcast.  His web site has a lot of good resources to help you.

    Best of luck

    Joe

    2Reply
  • Ben Kennedy
    OP
    Gainesville, FL · Member since 2016 · 3 posts · 2 votes
    10y

    @Rich Baer,

    Thank you for the advice and input! If I were to specifically invest in raw/vacant land, wouldn't that be less risky because it is cheap and wouldn't that get rid of a lot of the potential liabilities (mortgages, etc.)? I am not opposed to using an agent to find a property however I am not particularly interested in investing in residential since it seems like there are a lot more headaches to deal with in that area and while I'm not ruling it out, my initial plan was to invest in vacant/raw land. Thanks again for the the words of wisdom.

    0Reply
  • Rich Baer
    Real Estate Investment Attorney · Kingsville, MD · Member since 2016 · 643 posts · 408 votes
    10y

    @Ben Kennedy

         Investing in the vacant land is not necessarily less risky. The same issues would arise. Although there might not be a mortgage on the property, the Owner may have judgments or tax liens. It is all tricky stuff. If you find something you like don't sign anything without having a title search done. It will cost you but may it save you big headaches. Good Luck. I would be glad to help you should the need arise.

    Rich Baer, Esq.

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  • Mike T.Pro Member
    Investor · Tampa, FL · Member since 2012 · 94 posts · 26 votes
    10y

    Ben

    Type out a one page letter that says you want to buy the piece of land in Blank county and you will cover closing cost and there will be no realtor fees blah, blah blah.  Wait for the phone calls and then offer 25-30% of value.  You can close with a title company for about 1000 cash.  Or learn to close transaction yourself.

    I see you are in Gainesville.  I live in Tampa send me a message and I will walk you through process.  I have bought over 50 parcels in last 10 months.

    Good Luck!

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