All Forum Posts by: Jody Schnurrenberger

Does anyone know about how much the properties go for?  I know it depends, of course, but in my county in AL (Lee County, with Auburn University), it's not uncommon to be able to pick up a property for just a few thousand dollars.  Just across the line in Muscogee County, GA (Columbus/Ft. Benning, GA), because the interest is much higher and the redemption time much shorter, you would pay tens of thousands of dollars for the same property--maybe 50-60% of the value.  Since CA property is so expensive, I assume you are looking at at least the same, if not more percentage of the property value in CA.  Is this correct?

I've had a tenant for nearly a year now and I love her.  She keeps my place like a show home.  My rent is high for the area ($1400).  She is late with rent sometimes and I'm worried that she might move because it's too expensive.  It took me 6 weeks to find her (because the rent is high--that's a long time in my area) so it probably won't rent quickly if she leaves, plus I doubt I'll find someone else who keeps the property like she does.  

I want to offer her the opportunity to pay half rent at the beginning of the month and half mid-month, to accommodate her pay.  I suggested this to a friend with a similar situation and it's working out great for them (nearly a year now).  However, I mentioned this to a property manager today and she said this would violate the Fair Housing Act if I didn't offer this for all my tenants.  

But no one else is ever late and it would be a headache to keep up with if everyone decided to do it, so I don't want to. What about if my tenant asked for the accommodation? Would this break the Fair Housing Act if I do it for everyone who asks? I could have someone suggest she ask, or is that a problem, too? It's a SFR and I don't own anything else in that neighborhood. If anyone cares, it's in Auburn, Alabama.

Oh, 2 other sources I forgot about...

https://www.treasury.gov/auctions/treasury/rp/

Click "Upcoming Auctions"

and 

https://gsaauctions.gov/gsaauctions/gsaauctions/

Scroll down to "Real Estate"...if you can resist all the other cool stuff.  lol  

These aren't the biggest places to find deals, but they are yet another resource.  :-)

There are a lot of ways to find deals. There is driving for dollars where you just drive around looking for vacant and/or abandoned looking properties, then contact the property owner (find their info through the local county website) to see if they want to sell. Interestingly, bail bonds folks often have properties for sale because someone put up their property for a loved one, then that loved one (very sadly) jumped bail. I check out www.Auction.com regularly. They want you to sign up, but it's free. Also, in Alabama, there is www.AlabamaPublicNotices.com where you can find foreclosures. I also look for sheriff sales posted at the local court house whenever I'm there. If your agent allows it, you can always offer a lowball offer to something on the MLS. You have the best luck if it's either newly listed or been there a very long time. (If your agent doesn't feel comfortable with this, consider getting another agent.) Tax sales are a little more complicated and I can't tell you much about them in GA except that you get 20% interest if you lose the property, so it's not a bad deal either way. I was speaking with an investor who stopped investing in Georgia tax sales because he was only after the interest and he kept ending up with more properties than he wanted because they only have 1 year to redeem, unlike AL where they have 3. I hope this gives you a couple of ideas of where to find a deal. Good luck!

According to Sperling's Best Places to Live, Raleigh is currently around a 9% vacancy rate.

https://www.bestplaces.net/housing/city/north_carolina/raleigh

BP was recommended by my friend and fellow former Soldier, @Randall Cornelison.  Thanks, Randy!

I don't do cold calls, but was wondering why you were looking at calling the tax delinquent owners rather than buying their property at the tax sale.  You'd probably pay a lot less at the tax sale.  Granted, it's a lot cleaner deal if you go through them and, personally, I feel guilty buying an occupied dwelling at a tax sale, but still, plenty of folks do it, so I was just wondering.  I'm going to my first tax sale in a couple of weeks, but plan on focusing on vacant properties and/or land with no structures because I'm a chicken on my first time out.  lol

You could look into tax sales in your state. Each state is different and possibly very complicated--I know AL is, for example. And I don't know if it's a good idea in VA, but AL and GA both have good interest rates so even if the house gets redeemed, you still get 12% in AL and 20% in GA. Depending on where you are and how much competition there is, you might be able to buy something for under $1000 and probably no problem for under $10k. Just a thought.

@Brandon Lundy, her book says Birmingham has a ton of things go to tax sale and you can get some really great deals, even looking into stuff from the past that was worthless 20 years ago, but now is in a great location.  Good luck!  :-)

Well, it's tax season and tax SALE season.  This is my first year entering the tax sale fray and I was really nervous.  I spoke to friends and read online.  I even tried to find a book on Amazon (for Alabama, don't bother), but couldn't get as much info as I was hoping for, especially considering how complicated I'd heard tax sale laws can be.  Then friend @Hollie Johnson recommended a book by @Denise Evans called Alabama Tax Sales 2018 (12th edition).  It's not cheap, but it's awesome!  It's almost 350 pages (including table of contents and index) of information about Alabama tax sales.  

Denise Evans is a realtor and a lawyer.  In her book, she doesn't just tell you information, she tells you the Alabama Code and court cases from which she gets her information so you can be assured it's accurate.  She also manages to explain the information in layman's terms for those of us who aren't lawyers.  She even creates examples when needed.  I'm only on chapter 11 of 24, but I can say with confidence that this is a book you won't regret buying if you are interested in Alabama's tax sales.  I also checked out Denise Evans' profile page on here and she offers to answer questions for free if they aren't too long.  How wonderful!  What a sweet lady!

Here is the page to find her book (because it's not on Amazon for some reason).  

https://butlerevanseducation.com/collections/tax-s...  

Here is the link to other resources.  She has videos, other books, checklists, consulting services, and a few free resources like the list of when each county's tax sale is and a blog.  Don't skip her calendar showing when and where she's giving talks on various topics.  https://butlerevanseducation.com/

Here is the list of chapters in her book:

1:    Background to Tax Sales

2:    Tax Lien to Tax Sale

3:    A Few Words About "Notice"

4:    What Does the Winning Bidder Win?

5:    Issues Regarding Possession

6:    Buying Properties After the Auction

7:    Researching Property Information

8:    Lien Priorities

9:    Properties to Target

10:  How Much Should You Bid?

11:  Excess Funds

12:  Redemption

13:  Void Tax Sales

14:  Tax Deed

15:  Improvements to Tax Sale Properties

16:  Renting Out Your Investment

17:  Flipping

18:  Earning 12% Interest

19:  Ejectment

20:  Quiet Title and Similar Actions

21:  Buying from Land Bank

22:  Tax Sales of Personal Property

23:  Attorneys in this Field

24:  Forms

Last words

Table of Cases

Table of Statutes

Table of Other Authorities

Index

Some AL investors who I want to be sure see this post include @Helen Kirk, @Jake Roland, @LeArcashei Moore, @Account Closed, and I know there was at least 1 person I'm colleagues with on here who doesn't live in AL, but likes to invest in Auburn, but I can't recall who.  Sorry to everyone I missed!  

Anyway, anyone interested in Alabama's tax sales, not only is this mostly the only book on the subject, it's also an awesome one!  Don't let the price tag scare you if you are truly interested in tax sales!  Get it today!  :-D