All Forum Posts by: Jamal Bey

Diamond district is very up and coming. You will see a noticable difference in rent values on the other side of Macarthur Blvd, which runs into Fruitvale, towards the oakland hills. I believe your tenant class will be different depending on which side of macarthur you end up on. 

Marc, Sorry to hear of your troubles, but you will fight an uphill battle trying to void the sale. This is the wild west and these CA Counties are notorious for errors. In Sacramento this year, several of the parcels on the lists auctioned as Land WITH Structures, but in fact, were just vacant lots. That blunder is a little more obvious than in your situation, but my point is, they do screw up alot and sometimes, you can't even rely on the counties own records!

Marie is right, you need to price it to sell. Even if you lose a couple bucks, it may make sense to make this nightmare go away. I'm assuming you can get marketable title on these properties right?

There are companies that will buy land at 40%to 50% of fair market value and most of them usually purport to close within 7 days after the offer is accepted. Google "cash for land" and you should find a few. You can also email Lindsey at groundedproperties. I've worked with her before. I agree it's bottom barrell, but it's an exit.

It sounds crazy, but If it worth some money I would do a secured loan or LOC under an LLC or a CORP. That is if a bank will give you one. It wont show up on your personal credit and it will give you some immediate cashflow so you can jump into another deal and recoup your losses. You can still pursue litigitation in the meantime and hope to get your money back.

Last but not least, you can wait 5 years let the County Cons take it back and when the next unsuspecting tax investor becomes the victim, you can reap the Tax Overage. And the cycle continues...You might even make money

@Marc Dufour

Marc, can you tell us what you purchased at the Contra Costa Sale, in size of land and location? Also what was the winning bid amount? and the total value?

I am also a Tax Investor in The Bay Area,I just attended Sacramento and Alameda County auction but could meet the deadline for Contra Costa, so Im Just wondering about your experience?

Hi Marc,

In order to get Marketable title on a Tax Deed in California you will either need to preform a quiet title action or "certify" the title. Title companies in CA will not insure a Tax Deed without this. Unless your buyer is willing to purchase as is, without insurance, you will need to do this.

Quiet title can last 90 days to 6 months on average, but can also become drawn out if the homeowner cant be found or files answers,motions, etc. The costs typically will range from $1500-$3500 depending on your atty and the amount of work preformed.

The alternative is the certify your title. This may not compare in costs because from my experience the fees are a sliding scale based on property value. For instance, just recently I paid 2,400 to certify a lot worth about 40k. I used tax title services and it took a total of about 45 days to complete. Much quicker than the average QT.

Late response, but hope it helps.