All Forum Posts by: William Watt

Hi Josh

Good luck in your soon to be adventures, some are good and some not so good.

I like single lots for RV / Campers.  The investment is relatively low and the return on your money is great.  With all the beach resorts to the east of you should have a lot options.  The lot need not be on the beach, maybe a few streets back.  My targeted tenants are snowbirds and summer rentals.  You have no buildings to maintain.  You need power, sewage, water hopefully all available with  out having to drill a well or install a septic.  Cover the entire lot with pretty little white rocks.  In that area you should get about $500 month per spot, hopefully 2 per 1/2 ace lot.  Check your codes and by all means joint the PIG as suggested.  If set up properly you can do this all remotely and not have hardly any over head.

Bill

Hi Alyssa

You hit up on some good advise and I like most all of them.  I might suggest looking at seasonal RV sights in almost any state.  I purchased one in a little town in the Florida panhandle and it has been a gold mine.  I  am also a remote owner, 225 miles.  This smaller residential LOT is close to the beach and a lot of golf courses.  It can very easily handles 2 RV and I own just the lot and a few palm trees & shrubs and A LOT of white rocks.  I advertise in several northern US cities for my winter snow bird market, and Atlanta for my summer market. I can turn the power on and off and read my meters off my cell phone.  I only have a local landscaper who goes by and rakes the pretty little white rocks when the tenant leaves.  Absolutely great return on my money. I have about $27k invested.

To get to my point, don't just limit your self to housing and on your first outing, you might consider a lesser value property and will return much higher % rate, just the gross money is not there on one RV lot. 

RV / Camper lots also work well if close to a military base.  Some guys want to pocket the subsistence and live in a 30' camper, again great return on your money, no dead beats in the military as you will get paid if set up on a automatic transfer, or call their commanding officer.

Think out side of the box!!

Only the best of luck

Bill

I am in Alabama which is not the highest level of real estate investing, how ever I do have 13 trailer LOTS.  I find that owning older mobile homes is always an on going repair issue.  If you can do it your self then go for it.  Other wise stay out of it as you will loose your a__ big time. 

But, owing the lot is different.  You do not own the mobile home, just the lot and things like septic tanks  / water wells if applicable.  I only purchase lots with city water system, I will put in a septic if required.

Don't get to far out in the county away from a city.  Don't go over board, look and see what the rent is at the parks.  All of my lots are 1/2 acre and i find people really enjoy a little room and not stacked up in park. I price my rent for the long run but if I am not doing 20% return on my investment I don't do them.  It takes a lot of looking but the property is out there.  Remember it cost the tenant about $5k to move their mobile home on to a lot, so they are there for the long haul also.  Closer to a city the more desirable the lot, which means money.

I have one lot that are for RV's in a small Florida Panhandle town.  I purchased the small lot for $12,000 and charge $500/ month per spot (2). The lot has water and city sewage. The entire lot is landscaped with rocks /shrubs and I can turn the power on or off remotely via my phone.  This one has been a gold mine.  I have a landscaper go over when the tenant leaves and rakes out the pretty white rocks and looks after the palms.  This little town is on the coast and a lot of my clients are either snow birds in the winter time or families out of Atlanta in the summer.

There are a lot of things to be careful of and below are a few

1) Most all of your tenants will be lower income.

2) You have to be tough as nails, if they cant pay they have to leave and i suspect you will be left with a problem on your hands. Now it is your cost to remove the trailer and there goes your investment returns. Know what the cost are and get that in a deposit.

3) Don't become involved with the tenants life, this is business.

I suggest on your first outing you look at renting out camper / travel trailer spots.  This will require a lot of physical work to put in the water and septic systems, but cost can be controlled if you do it your self.  The first thing again is to look at the local market in the parks and see what you can expect for rent.  You are now dealing with the lowest of the low income generally.  You will find some exception, retired folks, divorce people, part time residence who work in the area during the week and go home on the weeks, construction guys.  If you are near a military base then you have a gold mine and no issues.

In closing I offer this;

1) is the property clear or if grown up what will it cost to clear leaving only a few trees

2) Is there water, power and sewage available to the lot if not already there.  What are the cost to get services on the property

3) Can I get multiple campers on the lot and how close will that be including access for all campers to be pulled out in case of evictions (you will have these)

4) CHECK your local city, county, health dept. codes before investing

I love mine and keep adding, hoping to do one more this year. 

Bill

You might think of other real estate investments.  I like the true RV camper parks (for tourist and not local low life).  May be close to the coast line like the Gulf of Mexico (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas).  Your investment will be quite a bit less as you are paying for real estate and infrastructure (sewage, water and power) which can be done as the business grows.  You will need some construction experience to keep your expenses down.  Of course it would be great to have an endorsement from folks like KOA or other RV clubs but not require if you advertise.

I like places like Tallahassee, Port St. Joe (both in the Florida pan handle) as they are not far from Atlanta as your repeat client base.  Not to far for the wife and kids to come in the summer and dad comes on the week ends.  For the winter all of the Snow Birds will come.

It may be difficult to purchase and existing camp ground as they are such good money makers they are generally kept in family hands.

Good luck in your search but might think out of the box a little.

No I don't mind this forum, so we will all know, as I also read many of your responses to other inquiries. 

When I looked at purchasing this tax property it looked as if the taxes had not been paid for 5 years and thus I would get a deed.  Also in this process I found out the owner is deceased and did not have any children.  Upon receiving the certificate I went to the county revenue dept in Mobile asked why a tax deed was not issued.  I was told that the State made a "mistake" in notification to the older tax certificate holder and offered him a "parachute" offering to pay all the taxes that he missed due to this error.  The older tax certificate declined and thus was offered.   DOR refused to let my time of purchase go back to 2012 and thus a certificate was issued to me.  

I see this some time when looking at the state inventory and if the older certificate can redeem after they quit paying then this is a big, big negative. This seems to give a lot of leverage to older certificate holders.

This is not a very expensive property, but there are some advantages, so I am not out any thing and maybe be a blessing any way.

Question;  

1) Just for every ones benefit, could the older tax certificate holder still have redemption right if a tax deed was issued in the scenario above????

2) How can an investor be protected from the above?

Person "A" purchases a Alabama tax certificate in 2008 and fails to pay any further taxes. The state admits to some errors and offered person "A" a parachute and a chance to become current, the does not.  The same property is again sold as a tax certificate to person "B" in 2017.

1) Does person "A" have the right to force person "B" into redemption.

Property in question - 2ac wooded lot, no improvements;

Property intended use - mobile home rental property

I understand the judicial redemption rights, adverse possession, and the tax payers termination of redemption rights.   My Questions are - 

a) If I have not carried out all of the recommended items for adverse possession over 3 years for quieting the title, but we have exceeded the 3 years on a tax deed, has the taxpayers rights of redemption truly elapsed??

b) If indeed the tax payers rights of redemption has lapsed, what is to prevent me from clearing the property and installing one or more septic systems.

c) If I purchase a property from the state and the state of Alabama had it in their possession for 9 years, has the taxpayers redemption rights been exceeded.

Tai I am not an expert by any means.  I have never heard of a counter offer with the state of Alabama but maybe it is done with upper management direction I don't think it is common.  Of course you are aware of the 3 years of the tax lien/certificate which could be redeemed by the tax payer, fairly simple.  Then there are 3 year of redemption rights at the tax deed lever (judicial redemption??) where you have to do certain thing as an adversarial owner if you want to quiet a title.  Basically you have to act like an owner (cut the grass, repairs to a house, survey the property lines for wooded property, put up signs with your phone number, ect.).  Usually this goes on for 3 years and coincides with the 3 years of a tax deed, as far as I know the judge (for quieting the title) will want to see more than the fact you paid the taxes and sat on your _ss.  I would be real carefull about putting much money into the lot and I suspect you will be held liable if you remove any thing (timber, structures, capping a well, removing a septic system or the likes).  You have to remember you are no the total owner, the taxpayer / oener has rights.

What I don't know is;

1) After the 3 years of a tax deed does the tax payer loose their redemption rights even where the investor is not taking any action on quieting the title or as I say "acting like an owner".

2) When you look at the price offer from the state and they are basing it on a 2010 tax sale and it is now 2019, does this tax sale exceed the tax payer 6 years of redemption rights all together????

 I am hoping Miss Evans will offer her opinion on the above so we will all understand a little better.

good luck

Bill 

Look into travel trailer parks, I mean the vacationers type.

Of course you can sell / purchase / redeem a tax deed, but what happens when a tax deed is sold to a 2nd or 3rd purchaser and then is redeemed. 

 1) Does the redeeming party have to repay the all the cost of the 3nd purchaser which would include the original cost from the state as well as all repairs??? 

2) There are no improvements, just repairs to the roof, doors and plumbing to make habitable, are all these cost included up to the 3rd purchaser if redeemed?

3) Also does the redeeming party have to pay all the profits made by the 2nd and 3rd purchaser as a result of the sales???

Bill