All Forum Posts by: Ken Urquiza

Hey Richard D.,

Thanks for your reply. I would expect that the vast majority of liens on site-built homes would naturally be recorded in the property's county of residence. 

1. Do you agree? 

2. Based on your experience, would you say it's over 90%? 

Still, it's good to know that may not always be the case, especially with mobile homes. 

The other point is that of the 4 foreclosure houses I was following and interested in  3 out of 4 were pulled from the auction last minute. If I had run a paid title search on these, I would have wasted $300 just like that.  With those odds, it's just not a sustainable business practice.

I will definitely check out your blog.

4. By the way, how do you link someone's name at the top?  I've tried with your username, but it doesn't appear highlighted on my screen.  

Ken

I attended the bank foreclosure auction at the Travis county courthouse on Tuesday.  I was very surprised at how much people were willing to pay for foreclosure homes that can't be inspected and where the owner is often times still residing.  In all of the cases where I knew the market value, the homes went for the market rate +/- 20%.  

Considering that I wanted to pay 50 or 60% of the market value, I was disappointed. 

I took the opportunity to ask some of the old pros there a few of the questions that I've expressed about lien search above.  Regarding the lien search I asked someone who does title research for a living and he said that IRS tax liens, state, and local tax liens will all be recorded with the county clerk or tax assessor.  If not, then they haven't followed procedure and can be dismissed.

This answers my question above about whether a title search that covers the county clerk and tax assessor is sufficient.  It seems like it is.  That said, I don't see the added value in paying for a title search given that all of the county clerk and tax assessor information can be found online.  Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this!

Richard D. @Richard D. -- Thanks for the reply.  I'm trying to learn how to do a proper Title Lien search. Since many properties are pulled at the last minute it can also get expensive to run title searches on a bunch of properties that get a reprieve. This is something that has been repeated over and over by @Steve Babiak.  For example, here: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/41/topics/4462-title-search-question

I found this part of your comment intriguing, "The problem with not using a title company, is you may not have access to other counties throughout the country." 

Are you suggesting that a lien on a property in Travis County, TEXAS can be placed and recorded in a county outside of the state? It would seem logical that the lien would have to be recorded in the county where the property is located. Is that not the case?
So a comprehensive title search would actually have to include all records for all counties in Alaska and Hawaii too?

Over the past several days I've been doing my best with the websites mentioned, but this is the first time I do this so can't be certain that I have everything covered. Any specific advice on title search is appreciated.

Interesting.  I've also read conflicting information regarding liens.  This makes an already risky process even more intimidating. 

To add to the mix, I've read elsewhere in this forum that:

1. Liens that are not publicly recorded (county clerk) are not enforceable, but I don't know if that holds true in Texas. 

2. I also read that tax liens *do*  survive. But the city, county and state tax liens are searchable on the tax assessor's website when searching for the property. So at least you know about them.

3. Junior lien-holders do *not* survive foreclosure as long as they've been properly notified. How does one verify this? No clue.

A related question about the foreclosure process in Travis County or other Texas counties:

• Who sets the bid increment and how can one find out whether it's $10, $100, $1000, or $10,000!?

Hi,

I live in Travis County (Austin, Tx) and I'm interested in a foreclosure house.

I'm wondering, is there a DIY approach to finding all the liens on a property that's up for foreclosure? I've searched under the address and owner's name on the Tax Assessor and County Clerk website and have found no liens on this property.

However, I want to be certain that I'm not missing something. The house does have an HOA and I would think that if someone's not paying their mortgage, they're probably not paying the HOA! So there might be an HOA lien that I haven't found.

In addition to the Tax Assessor website (https://tax-office.traviscountytx.gov/) and the public records at the county clerk website (http://traviscountyclerk.org/eclerk/Content.do?cod...).

Should I be checking somewhere else?
How can I make sure the IRS has been notified of the foreclosure?

Many thanks!

Ken

Hi,

I live in Travis County (Austin).  I'm wondering, is there a DIY approach to finding all the liens on a property that's up for foreclosure?  I've searched under the address and owner's name the Tax Assessor and County Clerk website and have found no liens on this property.

However, I want to be certain that I'm not missing something. The house does have an HOA and I would think that if someone's not paying their mortgage, they're probably not paying the HOA!

In addition to the Tax Assessor website (https://tax-office.traviscountytx.gov/) and the public records at the county clerk website (http://traviscountyclerk.org/eclerk/Content.do?cod...), 

Should I be checking somewhere else?
How can I make sure the IRS has been notified?

Many thanks!

Ken