All Forum Posts by: Tim Czarkowski

Robert Steele ROFL I love how you put that. I might have to pawn that off as my own elsewhere, lol.

I don't know if this classifies as a windfall because there was some serious heartache involved but it worked out well in the end. I purchased an HOA lien on a property where the buyer had paid cash for it. He was not happy and had to be evicted after the sale. I took pictures after the eviction and called my handyman to clean the place up for sale.

I get a call the next morning from my handyman telling me to call the police and get over there, the condo had been torn up bad. I get over there and he was right, it was bad. All drywall torn down, cabinets ripped off the wall, carpet, floor, bathtub surrounds, and vanities all spray painted, some wiring screwed with, copper torn out of A/C, etc. A real thorough trash job.

The police got there and I got on the phone with my insurance company. Then here comes the previous owner. He tells me he trashed the place and then punched me. Mind you the police are inside the condo and I'm standing a few doors down at another condo purchased similarly. My handyman sees the guy and came running with his gun so he took off, lol. I go get the police and they pull their guns and are looking for this guy. Ends up his brother owns a condo in the complex and is hiding there. The police couldn't do anything because they didn't have proof he was in there. Don't ask me what the assistant DA told me when I went to press charges.

So of course the insurance company is taking forever to let me know what and when I am getting paid. They were going to use estimating software to come up with the settlement so I go ahead pay my contractor to get the place back in shape to be sold and it costs me $10,000. A pretty good deal I thought. About a month later I get a call front he insurance company that their software says it'll cost me $25,000 to fix and that the checks in the mail. Doubled my profit on the deal.

On a side note the brothers condo was in a similar situation, about to be sold for HOA dues. Unfortunately he must have wised up because it still hasn't come to sale. It would have been very satisfying to pick it up.

Lesson to all - Pay your HOA dues if you live in Florida

I would keep looking. It's not terrible but it isn't all that great either. I'm not sure what returns are where you are at but at least here I can do much better than that. Most investors I know steer clear of condos for rentals because of the HOA dues. There are some out of state investors buying them here because they are easy for them to take care of though. I think you should get 1.5% at a bare minimum. Do you numbers include management, maintenance, and vacancy? If not you returns will be much lower.

I second what Rob K. Have your broker represent you and then pay you the commission. They have the right to distribute the commission as they see fit. As long as you trust your broker of course.

I had a similar situation but it was the closing attorney who wasn't going to let it close. He said it violated the arms length agreement. Of course he was wrong and a moron but it was who the bank choose to close with so I had to comply. I just had my wife take title to the property and took my commission. I then could have just had her do a quit claim deed to both our names. I have done a number of deals like this with different closing companies and the same arms length agreement and never had a problem since.

There are at least two large hedge funds purchasing here in Jacksonville. They have the same criteria as most other places 1995+, $100,000-$200,000, turn key properties. I just won't even look at homes in that market. Same as elsewhere they are paying full retail at the foreclosure auction. We look for older homes, more expensive homes, and homes in need of rehab to avoid them. I like J Scott idea of wholesaling to them, what a great adjustment.

I have also noticed more out-of-state investors coming here because their markets are too tight. So far it has been a good thing as I am working with some of them.

I'll be interested to see how it turns out for the hedge funds. It sounds like it's going to be a few years before they'll be able to securitize them. Not what they were hoping for. I guess the rating agencies are still stinging from the MBS's. I'll give them credit for creativity, when they see potential they move. Seems like a one time deal for them though with the low prices and record low rates right now. It hasn't exactly been a normal market for the past few years.

I preface this post with statement, I have never bid on either tax certificates or tax deeds but I do bid on regular foreclosures very often.

This is my understand for Duval county AKA Jacksonville. The tax certificate sale is held on 5/30 at http://www.duvaltaxsale.com. This site also lists most if not all the other counties in Florida in a drop down list on the right which will take you to their auction site. After two years the owner can force the property to be sold at auction. You apply to do this at www.realtda.com. Buying the certificate gives you NO advantage when the property is subsequently sold at auction.

The next part is how their site says it's done but I follow this site religiously and can't remember seeing any tax deed sales. It maybe that I just wasn't paying enough attention. Or it could be that this is how it was handled before and now it's on a different site. They are sold just like regular foreclosures at https://www.duval.realforeclose.com/. The date that the property sales depends on when they apply to force sale and can be anytime throughout the year.

All this information and more is available at the Duval Clerk of Court site. I'm not real interested in bidding myself but I would love to hear from someone who does and what their strategy is.

Thanks Joel Owens that is good to know. I'm sure you are right I must have been looking at the tax sale process. I have only done a cursory look into the Georgia process, my family is from Savannah.

Kim Knox There is no right of redemption in Florida, thankfully. There is a ten business day period between sale and issuing of title where the sale could be vacated if there was a problem with the sale. Other than that there is no right of redemption in the usual terminology.

This varies by state and could be a real profit be a real profit killer. For instance I have heard Georgia has a long redemption period, if I remember correctly I think it is a year. I would think that would cause much larger discounts at the auction to make up for holding costs. Joel Owens Please chime in if I am wrong on Georgia.

Adi Merx

Yea as Joel Owens said you should confirm it. I recommend you just go talk to your Clerk of Court and they can tell you the process. I don't think it will be much different and I don't think they will lead you astray. They handle these day in and day out. The clerk will give you the writ, then send it to a judge to sign/approve, then it must be posted, and finally the sheriff comes out. So it does go through the courts but skips everything else that comes before the writ.

Mine took about two weeks from the day I recorded the deed but this was just before Christmas two years ago, so that delayed it. The people had a week from the posting because of Christmas and still had not moved a single thing when the sheriff showed up. They usually only get 24-48hrs if I remember correctly. I had my handyman offer cash for keys to them and the said the would shoot the next person who came to their door. Unfortunately for them it was the sheriff, lol. If they are bona fide tenant with a lease it is a different case but that does not sound like the situation.

By the way how is the other condo you bought going? How competitive have the auction been down there? It seems to have picked up a lot down here. We have a lot more properties coming up then last year but I still see people paying FMV and higher for some of the properties at a foreclosure auction! I was hoping it wouldn't be super competitive like other places I have heard of. All the cash buyers are out.

I also buy properties at the foreclosure auctions in Florida. I recommend trying the cash for keys first so hopefully they won't cause any damage. If not go to the clerk of court and ask for a "Writ of Possession." They will usually ask you if you need/want one when you pay to record the deed. This is what you get after you go through an eviction. However when you purchase at the auction they will issue it to you after the ten business day waiting period without having to actually go through the eviction process. This saves several weeks of waiting. Then you pay to have it delivered and if they are not out after the deadline you can have the sheriff come and throw them out. I have only had to do this once but it is much faster than a regular eviction. You should be able to have them out within a week of receiving the Certificate of Title. The reason I recommend cash for keys is they are less likely to trash the place that way. Good Luck.