Hello all,

I was wondering if anybody was familiar with titles from tax deed sales. I am a beginner to the topic, but just was looking for some advice from some of you real-estate savvy experts out there.

My question is about the title of a deed bought from a tax sale... How do you find out if the title is "marketable" or any good. Is there a good website to go to that you can check the status? Also, if it isn't "marketable" what can you do to make it so that the property is sellable? I only ask because after looking at a couple county clerk websites in Florida, I find this warning often:

"You may wish to research or seek advice on any property you are considering bidding for before the tax deed sale. Generally, when any lands are sold for the nonpayment of taxes, the title may not be a marketable title."

I was just wondering if anyone could clear that up for me as I am only a beginner in this whole idea and really don't want to get myself into a bad situation.

Also feel free to offer any advice or wisdom you may have to offer to a beginner regarding buying tax deed sale properties. Any tips will help, thanks!

-Andrew

Fr_Chuck

Tax deeds have not be held in many states for a certain amount of time, to allow the previous owner to redeem them.

The only other issue you may run into is if the owner died, and the probate was not property cleared. But in any case, the previous owner or thier estate if your state has the right to redeem has a set time to do so, and they have to pay for any improvements and a interest amount ( 10 percent in most places I have bought)

I have never bought a property that could not be sold, or was not redeemed. I have bought some for as little as 40 dollars and sold for 15,000.

About 1/4 of the properties I buy at tax sales get redeemed, While 10 percent on my money is not alot, it still beats what the bank is paying.

there are several types of deeds, and actually the quick claim deed has the less protection of any deed you can get, since it only says a person is giving you what interest they have in that property, it does not even warranty that they really own the property or have a right to sell it.
Only a warranty deed does.

So with a tax deed, you now have the property after the redeemption period, and would of course have done a title search to see if there was any person from three deeds ago some ex wife from the second owner or something that may have some claim ( this this is the same with any property you may buy without a warranty deed)

So then you are free to sell it as you would see fit, after you have done a full title search.

Start out small, buy a empty lot or two and play around.

As with ANY, and I mean any investment that is not guaranteed never invest money you can't afford to lose. ( don't ask me about my gold investments in the 80's)

Now you can get into some stupid things, you buy a old house and find a family living there who is renting from the past owners neice who did not get it legally from probate. You have little you can do though the redemption period, since the orginal owners estate have a right to redemn.

But normally you end up with run down houses, most often with no front door and broken out windows.

FLInvestor

Andrew,

In the State of Florida, after one has purchased a Tax Deed at Auction, you have 2 choices for a marketable title...by law. You can either wait 4 years. After 4 years, the title is cleared. The quicker way is to quiet the title...this take about 60 days if pushed hard...30 of those days are due to the required public notice.

There are a couple of companies that offer a service...about $750 + dollars to offer title insurance...which is what we are talking about.

I would also suggest speaking to a real estate attorney that you may know or will get to know and possible get a bulk deal if you are planning to buy more at auctions.

Please do not be offended, but I am going to repost this part...

but, I do hope it helps...

In the state of Florida, only government liens or judgements follow the property after sale at a tax deed auction. You would NOT be responsible for the mortgage.

I would suggest, however, checking out our website...we offer seminars to prepare you for Tax Deed Auctions. The site is Page 1 or REALiant Home Page. Florida's Tax Deed Auctions are a great way to invest in real estate for 3 specific reasons. The first is because you, by law, can take immediate possession of the property. Most other states have a 1, 2, 3 year period after the sale for the owner to redeem...not Florida...that all occurs prior to the sale. The second is because you decide how much you want to make on each property. If you have accurately determined a property is worth $20,000...and you want to make $5,000...then your make bid will be $15,000. Of course, that leads us to the third reason...everybody can find what they are looking for regardless of the amount of capital they have (at least a few hundred, anyway). Properties at auctions range from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands...everyone can play...competition is not an issue.

Check us out to learn how to take advantage...we are Florida specific!
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Again, hope this information helps,

Matt