All Forum Posts by: Steve Preston

Does the phrase "I have bought most of my properties on the Court House Steps" basically mean that the properties where bought at a County Tax Sale?

A lot of the Counties dates between tax sales are at least a few months and yet I have just read two articles about "Court House Steps" auctions happening every day... Is there a difference here?

Still learning :)

Thanks to everyone that replied!

@BrianBurke - Thank you, I do like to find out if a thing can be done myself. I am more than happy to listen to the voice/s of experience and learn from them but I will still go take a look and do my own investigations. Satisfy my curiosity, so to speak. With the price of property in the local area and still the not as local area, I do believe it will be hard to find rentals but if you are looking at every property with a view to flip - and the rental route in the back of your mind, surely you can't go too far wrong :)

@DavidCheung - thanks for the property radar tip. As I said, i'm from England and have no experience of buying anything other than a car and a bike in this Country, so it's a big learning curve for me.

@DavidFrol, @SonyaMorgan and @FrankieWoods - thank you for the very warm welcomes :)

I am looking forward to learning the game and as many of it's pitfalls as I can find before the plunge - and then the adventures to come afterwards :)

Best regards

Steve

Hi Troy,

Thanks for the networking leads and the advice :)

Best regards

Steve

Hi Wayne,

I am entirely new to all this and I just want to understand fully how things impact the sale and subsequent flip or rental. I did read that if a Neighbor felt that an undocumented easement was in place and could somehow prove that it had been in place for five years or more, that they could block or stop the sale until it was all sorted out legally...

I suppose there is no substitute for visiting the property, taking a look around and asking questions.

Thanks for you input.

Best regards

Steve

Hi Jim,

Thanks - that helps greatly!

Is there any way of knowing that the property is occupied - other than by actually visiting the property? I.e. Do they have to disclose this at the County Auction?

So the Title search would basically remove all concerns about outstanding debts / liens / loans guaranteed on the property....

And an easement would have to be filed somewhere on paper. It would never be pursue-able legally if say it was a "Gentleman's agreement" between two neighbors?

Best regards

Steve

Hi Gordon,

Thanks for the reply. 

We are looking at Sonoma / Napa and Solano (which are all still expensive) for flips or long term rentals. Up or down the coast (Mendocino / Humbolt / Santa Cruz/ Monterey) and maybe into Tahoe or the Gold Country (Calaveras / Amador / El Dorado / Placer / Nevada / Sierra / Yuba)  but the price would have to be super right for these - for vacation rentals... 

We did look at the areas around Clearlake and although you can pick up cheap property, getting a return on investment could be a huge problem....

I am also researching REO (and HUD) properties....

Best regards

Steve

Ok. This is my first ever post after the initial Hello, so please bear with me :)

1) Is there ever likely to be a case where a house is purchased through the Public County Auction system where people - the original owners or renters, maybe even squatters - are still inhabiting the property and have to be evicted by the new property owners?

2) Will a Title search show all Liens and Encumbrances on the property if completed prior to the sale?

3) How would an easement affect the purchase and where would information on easements be found?

Thanks in advance.

Steve

Hi Everyone,

My name is Steve, I am a Computer Programmer living in Marin just outside San Francisco.

You are going to find me probably even more hard work than most Newbies because I am originally from England and have only been here in the CA for the last four years. So not only is the Real Estate game new to me - so is the entire process of buying a house in California (or any other State for that matter) and all the laws and terminology... You would think things would be somewhat similar but nope, nothing in life is so simple! 

I have always fancied buying houses to renovate and then re-sell (obviously at a profit :). I am also open to the idea of purchasing to renovate and rent out long term as a form of secondary income. I have a third option - a renovation property in a holiday / vacation location for short term rentals and personal use...

After playing with the idea, doing a bit of research and eventually finding and delving around in the State Controllers Office. I found the Public Auctions by County and had a good look around **********, I can see that there are some interesting properties and land parcels going up for auction (though I really don't have much interest in land). I also found my way to the HUD site, though I think that the County auctions would be my preferred route.

My problem is now understanding the process and the pitfalls - which is how I found Bigger Pockets (and a wealth of resources it is! Thank you!).

This is not a 'get rich quick' type of venture, i'm not the type of guy that believes in anything other than lots of hard work to make any kind of money. I am here because I fully understand that I have a huge learning curve to go through before I even dip my feet into the water. I want to primarily learn and become familiar with the process, the terminology - and the pitfalls.

Please be patient with me and thank you all for being good sports and sharing a wealth of knowledge based on experience.

Best Regards

Steve