All Forum Posts by: Sylvia Castellanos

I am wondering if anyone has ever bought properties off Mississippi's delinquent property list.   Unlike other state, it does not provide an amount that is the minimum offer. Instead you have to express in writing you interest in buying a property, and they write back how much they want for it. Sounds like a lot of work. They say they work off the property's assessed  value.  I am wondering what this means in practice. If a property is assessed at, say, $1,500, how much are they likely to want? How much if it's $8,000?  Let me know if you have had experience with this process.

I am new to real estate investing. I seek to buy parcels of vacant land off the repository lists kept by Pike and Wayne Counties in Pennsylvania. In both counties I need to hire a realtor to consult with—a different one in each--to help me evaluate the parcels that are on the list, based on potential terrain problems and marketability of the neighborhood. I would also like for the person to go out and take pictures of the properties that are the most promising. Obviously it is my intention to pay for this consulting work. I need people with significant experience in selling vacant lots who live in each of these counties and are very familiar with their ins and outs. If you are reading this, I would appreciate your passing this on to people who might be interested, and any ideas you might have on how I can find what I need will be greatly appreciated.

I am new to this community and I hope to be an active member. I am an investor looking to buy some tracts of vacant land in Pike County. I will be buying them on the equivalent of sheriff’s sale. I am focusing on the following townships: Dingman, Greene, Milford, Palmyra and Shohola. They will be approximately 1 acre in size each. I need an agent who will be my eyes on the ground so as to steer me away from any bad purchases (terrain problems, bad neighborhood) and then be responsible for selling the parcels. If you are in Pike County and have significant experience with selling land and you are interested, I would love to hear from you.

I am wondering if there is a data service that addresses my needs as someone seeking to buy vacant lands at tax deed sales. Tutorials  emphasize the need to do due diligence on all the following:

--check for taxes and liens against the property

--find out which taxes and liens, if any, will remain attached to the property

--make sure it is a buildable lot

--to do above, you need to establish how the lot is classified for code purposes, and access the lot specifications, minimums the lot must meet for construction to be allowed

--you further need to find out what its sewage situation is because 1) municipalities have different lot minimum specification for lots with public sewage and lots with septic; and 2) if the lot will require the construction of a septic tank, you need to take that into account in your decision.

--check to see if it is in a flood zone. Sometimes a property will be within a hair’s breadth of a flood zone on the map, and you need to get a yes or no from an official

Tutorials don’t mention how hard getting all this information can be because of uncooperative government agencies. It is not even an issue of the hours and hours this research takes up. The biggest problem is potential purchases I have had to abandon simply because either officials don’t call me back or they tell me to hire a lawyer to do a title search.

All of this is by way of setting the stage for my question. At this point, I am willing to consider subscribing to a data service if that is going to give me access to all or virtually all of the items of information I need. I would be very interested in your input.

I don't know how to start a new thread.

Since the above messages were exchanged I have been doing a lot of studying.  I am considering buying a vacant lot off the repository list in Fairmount Township, Luzerne County, PA. How can I find someone local who can advise me on whether it's a good idea? Your thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for replying, Melanie.

Do you mean tax deed or tax lien? I know that with the latter what you get is interest unless the owner defaults.

I don't understand. If they are such a bad deal why is there so much buzz around them? This is a real question.

John, how interesting. Can you talk more about this?

Thank you so much for replying, Melanie.

Do you mean tax deed or tax lien? I know that with the latter what you get is interest unless the owner defaults.

I don't understand. If they are such a bad deal why is there so much buzz around them? This is a real question.

After writing such a long post, could there possibly be something I forgot to mention? :) 

Actually there is. I have made a list of the treasurer's office in all the Maryland counties, and it is my plan to call them all tomorrow to see if they have any otc properties. I will be doing the same with Pennsylvania.