All Forum Posts by: Mark Mays

Thanks for info. I have 2 other properties besides my primary house I live in. However, those were acquired by more traditional routes. I have been trying like heck to get this tax auction stuff to be successful, but at the end of the day I just go back home with my cashiers checks. That's why I figured there was another way to game the system and some of the other responders have clued me in on how that is. I am now thinking that if there is really a good piece of property/house going to auction, the odds are the savvy investors are getting to it BEFORE auction. Those guys are probably profiting the way I want to. Thinking that is the avenue I need to try to take for my next acquisition.

Interesting piece of property Annunciata. Out of curiousity what is a piece of property like that worth in your area, vs. what you paid? Does it make sense to just sell the land, or is it only worth it if you put a house on it?

Thanks for the reply Kristine. That makes a lot of sense. Since the list of properties that will be included in the tax auction is posted a month before the auction, that would give shrewd investors a month to approach the current owner and try to negotiate a deal. Do you know of any good information of how that happens? Not so much the letter or the phone call, but the whole legality of the deal. How do you make sure the deal is official and all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed?

Thank you Annuciata. Your last sentence is exactly what I am suspecting happens. The curious part about that is why does it happen the last day before the auction. If one was a loan shark why wouldn't they be on it weeks before the sale and get it done? The only other thing I can think of something from the inside the constable's office happens, but surely that would be unethical if not illegal?

Hi Dennis. Thanks for your response. No, these are actual tax sale listings. Not via a separate seller or website. Conducted by the constables.

I reside in Houston and have been attending sheriff tax sales on the courthouse steps for a while. I've been doing my research and normally narrow down my potential buys to about 5 properties. It seems time and time again the properties get struck-off the night before or the morning of the auction.

So my basic question how does this "really" happen? People that don't have money for several years all of a sudden get if off the auction list the day before because they mysteriously found money? Or is there some other angle that gets played behind the scenes that I'm not aware of?

Thanks in advance for your response!