All Forum Posts by: Felipe Lois Affini

 Hi @Alex Fierro, how are you doing?

I have been working with international investors for the past 6/7 years, investing in RE in Texas. 

Feel free to reach out to me with your questions. 

 Hey Nathan, I don't know if you went through and bought a property at the Tax Sale (as your post was 10 months ago) but this is my experience buying properties at the Texas tax sales:

I never used a LOC to buy, but I imagine that this is like cash in your bank account. It needs to be because once you win the bid at the Courthouse you have between immediately (pay right away) to the end of the day (usually 4 pm) to pay the winning bid (each County has a rule).

About the redemption period, it will be 6 months or 2 years (homestead or agricultural). Most Title Companies will ask you to hold the property for at least 2 years (for their safe, as most of them are not used to working with this type of property). 

But you can sell the property before that (but not before the 6 months). I have sold one after 1 year.

As you want to buy and sell as fast as possible, I would look for vacant properties, do the right due diligence (check other liens, owner's situation, etc) and talk to a title company that you may have a relationship with to see if they can help (and if they have worked with this type of property before).

This is just my opinion about it and that's a lot of other information you may seek to decide to move forward buying a property at the tax sale.

 Hey Matt, 

Texas is a Redeemable Deed State, which basically means you buy the property at the auction, and the previous owner has the right to buy it back from you during the redemption period (6 months or 2 years).

As in your example, if you buy the property at the auction for $10k and the previous owner wants it back (considering it's still in the redemption period) he/she will pay you $12,5k. 

You will have possession of the property after you buy it at the auction (usually after you get the notice of the deed conveyed to your name/LLC). You can rent (or charge rent) on it but will have to wait until the redemption period ends to sell it.

This is the basic idea of how it works based on my experience buying properties at the tax auction.

Of course, it has much more details and some exceptions to it.

 Yes, you may have time to sign a contract to sell the property (where the buyer will pay the tax in order to remove the property from the sale) and pay you whatever you negotiate with him.

You may reach Arnie Abramson here in BP. He is one of the most knowledgeable people in that field  - tax auctions in Texas - (I have participated in deals where he solved this issue of buying just before the sale).

 Unfortunately, that's not much (or an easy way) to do right now.

A few options (and it's just my opinion by attending several auctions and buying properties for a few years):

You could try to sell the property before the auction, that way you could solve the back tax and auction issue and - maybe - make some money;

You could hire an attorney to check all the legal aspects of the sale process to see if that is anything wrong or missing (not very likely and it would cost you);

You could work with the buyer (assuming it goes to the sale and someone buys it) on a way to buy it back (remember that is a 25% interest - on top of the purchase price and other expenses -  that the tax auction buyer is entitled by the tax code).

Again, no easy way out of it, and You should always get professional advice (Lawyers, for example) to get you the best scenario possible for you.

 So I assume You have spoken to the County and they declined to do a payment plan for you, is that right? And demanded you pay all back taxes at once?

Hi @Dele Gabriel,

I would contact the Tax Office (Tax Assessor/Collector) and/or the Law Firm responsible for the sale. Many times the County has payment plans that would help you avoid this sale (and pay you back taxes in a few or many installments).

Hi @Angela W., great tips here. 

I am a Tax sale investor (Dallas surroundings) and we must do good due diligence. I saw several people get burnt because they didn't check all the info properly.   

I got a question for you about #6 BONUS: Is it possible for the investor to check these actions quickly (like on the morning of the sale) without having to reach out to a lawyer? 

Thanks

Hi, @Khalid Khan great to see that you will join the RE investors Club!  

First thing: I am pretty sure you can invest with your F1 Visa. I am a foreign (Brazil) and I invest with my B1/B2 Visa (the regular tourism/business Visa). I do it through my LLC (although I could do it in my name with an ITIN, but not recommended).

Really nice what your Dad did for you (the EB5). It's how you are getting your Green Card, right?!

Some advice (as a foreign) that you may already be doing: 1) build your credit score (use and pay credit cards and other bills and get your info - SSN or ITIN - linked to it). 2) start/improve relationships with banks, property managers, realtors, etc, this will help a lot. 3) start studying your local market (I would say, Burlington, MA as you mention you will work there), that way when you decide to invest you will be familiar with prices, location, etc and will be able to make a decision faster. 

I believe multifamily will be expensive and difficult to find in your area, so I would either start with an SFH (that you can house hack depending on the size and how comfortable you are sharing the property with strangers) or get a partner with knowledge/great credit/funds to join forces with you. That way you could build experience to get bigger deals when your EB5 funds become available.

That´s just my opinion and how I started (and what I should have done earlier).

Hi @Brown Malo, 

If I understood right, you waited for the 6-month redemption period (not the 2-year), right?

You can sell the property - as you are the owner - to anyone willing to buy it without a title policy. You transfer the deed to that person (buyer).

I have done it.

As @Arnie Abramson stated, you may want to have a signed contract with the buyer with all the disclosures related to the deal.