If at any point the property owner pays off the overdue property taxes before the lien expires (period may vary by state), the county is the party that earns the interest.Properties that are owner-occupied (as indicated by a homestead exemption showing up on the annual tax bills) or have a mortgage are most likely to be bid on because they have a higher likelihood of being paid off either by the homeowner or the mortgagee (the lender); the homeowner probably doesn't want to lose his/her place of residence and the lender probably doesn't want to lose its investment.If no one has bid on a lien, there are likely issue(s) with the property that, in the eyes of bidders with investor mindsets, render the property valueless, for example:the property has no direct access (landlocked or waterlocked),the property is too small to be built on as-of-right per the municipality's zoning codes,the property is contaminated (a Phase I environmental report would scour records on the property to see if contamination is likely, and if so, a Phase II environmental report would be done and soil, etc. samples would be taken to confirm the contamination),the market fundamentals indicate little probability for profit given the level of risk, such as high vacancy rates, low rents, or slow sale/rental velocity,the property is in a "poor" location due to many of the types of things that turn off people looking for a home in which to live, such as high crime; poor or nonexistent infrastructure, such a streets, water & sewer, etc.; too rural/too urban; neighboring uses detrimental to the property's value, e.g. railroad, warehousing/industrial district, jail/prison, cemetery, etc.I hope that helps!

I'm in my due diligencephase and have been talking with environmental companies regarding aphase 1.

I almost thought you were going to write:"Environmental citations actually say the due date is 5 days before the citation was issued!!!!! 

Thats a serious issue and you should contact an environmental remediation company.

However, a bank would do a Phase 1 environmental in order to assure that physical integrity is up to standards and no surprises.

@Rohit JindalSorry for the delay.There are two risks you need to mitigate when buying specifically Septic.The first risk is just basic lifetime of the system etc, what your costs might be, that sort of thing.The second risk, and to my mind the more complicated one is the environmental risk.

You want to stay away from any use like gas stations, auto repair, dry cleaners, etc. that would require environmental remediation.

There's not a person on earth that wouldn't choose environmentally friendly, sustainable housing if the price is right.

You can have an environmental assessment done to determine if there is any contamination.

However I do know that industry uses dangerous and environmentally problematic chemicals.I would be VERY concerned with inheriting an expensive environmental liability problem created by  the previous ownership.If I were buying this kind of business its something I would investigate carefully and probably have an outside expert involved.