All Forum Posts by: Brandon Robertson

Well I don't know if they happen to be reading this or if it's just coincidence, but they contacted me last night and we agreed to an amount for a redemption quitclaim deed. Their lawyer will work up the paperwork and I'll be getting a check :)

I talked to the contractor around 2 1/2 weeks ago. He was surprised and said he needed to talk to his business partner (brother) and call me back. He did. They don't know what happened but he said they're getting their normal closing lawyer to talk to the lawyer who handled that sale and figure things out. I mentioned a price that I feel is very reasonable if they wanted to do the redemption deed. Now I haven't heard anything. I texted last Monday and got crickets. I hope continuing to wait isn't putting me at any disadvantage at this point. They haven't been doing anything on the property. I'll check in if anything new happens.

Thank you for your responses and experience. Even if it were possible to wait it out and do a "gotcha" at the end, that's just not how I want to treat anyone. I got the deed recorded today and I'm going try to get the numbers from the state and reach out to the developer tomorrow and see what we can work out. I'm happy to share what happens in case anyone is interested.

I purchased a tax certificate from Alabama a few years ago and I now have the tax deed dated a month ago. I just picked up the tax deed yesterday and am filing it today. 

Someone started bushhogging and surveying two parcels beside each other a couple of days ago (one of them being the one I have the tax deed for). After being surprised by that activity I looked into the records for properties around my parcel and found that years ago a developer had originally bought the two parcels in one sale. For whatever reason the developer paid the taxes on one of the parcels but didn't pay taxes on the other so it went to tax sale. My guess is after they bought the parcels they only had one of them assessed in their name, but I'm new to this and am not sure.

I haven't spoken with the developer yet. I didn't even realize they had originally purchased the parcel I have the tax deed to until the heavy equipment showed up which made me look closer at deeds for sales in the area and discovered my parcel listed on the other property's deed.

This is my first tax certificate/tax deed so I'm not sure what comes next. I don't want to have an adversarial interaction with the developer or to try and keep the property for myself. All I'm looking for is return on my investment. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

It's in Alabama.

I'm also thinking about maybe using the front space as a sort of climate controlled storage for pianos. I get calls to my piano business sometimes for that and I bet I could fill it up with some marketing. Would be nice if the storage space could pay the mortgage rather than trying to have a tenant in there.

@Greg Dickerson Thanks for the reply. I'll start talking to banks on Monday. After looking around a bit I'm very interested in the 504 loan. 

The place needs some repairs and modernization before I can set it up to lease. There are a lot of reasons why this particular deal is a good move for my business though, so if the financing is there and an inspection doesn't reveal things I just can't afford to repair I think this is going to work.

I can get long-winded when typing. The most important part is in bold. 

I'm seriously thinking about buying a small commercial property with a workshop/loading dock in the back. The shop space is a great fit for my piano service business. The location is great for me from the perspectives of commuting and being able to check on it. It's located in a place that's a fit for a small, local business with growth expected a few years down the road.

My plan: buy it, treat the shop in the back as a separate office unit/workshop for my business, and get the front portion fixed up a bit (probably need to do some sound-proofing between the back and the front) and lease the space to another business to cover some or maybe even all of my expenses on the property. I've even considered whether I can create a separate business in the front that can run without me always there, but that's another post for another forum I suppose.

I have a million questions so I don't know where to start. I guess I'm just looking for advice/things to look out for. 

This would be my first property purchase other than my own home, and though I had planned on getting started in real estate investing through maybe land flipping or buy and hold SFH, this seems like a good way to combine a desire for some shop space with potential for a little extra income. The current owner is retiring. I don't know him well, but we are business friendly and he refers people to my business. I'm meeting with him this morning to talk about the property.

I have a couple of questions about tax deeds/liens in Alabama.

1 - How long does it usually take for the state to get a price to you after you submit an application on their website?

2 - What does it mean if a parcel's status is "Stale" and in what ways is it possible acquire it?

@Levi Klein that's some real inspiration to do what it takes to figure this real estate thing out

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong category...I'm completely new at this site and also new to real estate investing in general.

I've often wondered: There's so much property owned by coal companies. I've been thinking surely after years of mining the coal mining becomes no longer profitable and they need to sell the land. Maybe it could become good recreation land with a little work. When do coal mining companies sell their property and how do they sell it? And is it usually a decent price? Other questions I should be asking?