Technically, you may not be limited to deals by where you live. Realistically, you probably will be limited. No matter how good the deal looks, I'm not going to purchase a property on the other side of the country because I can't see the property and make sure that I'm not buying a piece of crap. Other people may want to take that risk. I don't.

I think the major flaw in it is that it will be very rare for you to actually find a property that will auction for more than the liens against it, including mortgages. It will take a ton of time to locate a deal like that and then work a deal with the owner. I don't think you will make enough money on any deal you find to make it worth spending the time.

Maybe the best way to judge the course would be to send an email to the providers and ask them more details about how you can transfer title of a house with liens on it, without clearing the liens first. Tell them you don't think that's actually possible, but you would be interested in the course if it is possible. You just need more details to do a little preliminary research. If they won't give you any info, it is most likely a scam.

I have skimmed a couple of your posts on the subject. Whatever you do do not spend money in any shape form or fashion...this includes money on so called courses. It is pretty clear you do not know what you are doing and you can get your clock cleaned pretty quick in these types of sales.

To answer your question do these types of deals exist? Yes, they do; having said that it is extremely rare and probably not worth your time to look for them.

As for helping you, I only know GA tax sale law but if you have any general questions I will answer what I know. I just closed on the sale of a house I bought from an individual facing tax foreclosure and did very well on it. So, I will help in anyway I can.

Lig is asking people here what they know because it sounded like a scam to him. I think that's a good way to start. It's definitely too early to buy any course/invest any money. The next thing to do would probably be to look up the web site for your county tax collector. If it is a large county, then they will most likely have information about delinquent taxes/sales on the web site. If you're in a small county, you probably need to look at the web site of one of the larger counties in your state. It should be similar enough to your county to get an idea of how it works.

Savman,
Were you able to close on the property with liens still outstanding? Or, did they have to be paid off before the closing? I'm assuming that the process for your deal was:
1. Buy house from owner.
2. Pay off taxes.
3. Sell house for more than #1 and 2 cost you.

So, the house never actually went to auction. If you were able to make a deal like Lig is suggesting, I would love to hear how it worked.

I purchased the house from them a couple of weeks before it was set for auction. At closing I brought the taxes current and there was a ~3k lien for past due water bills. In order for title to pass I had to pay off all the liens.

The method Lig is suggesting really doesnt hold water imo. I am not saying it doesn't ever happen but if the circumstance ever arose you would almost always be better to take title and sell free of encumbrances like I did. The reason it doesn't make sense is almost nothing at the tax sale ever gavels for anything approaching market value (unless there is a substantial mortgage held by a major financial institution or especally a GSE; which is another story but there is a massive angle shoot in those instances and people really don't abuse them as much as they could imo...but anywho). In GA once a property has been auctioned off at the tax sale the new owner can't even begin the process of getting marketable title (or use the property in any way; read generate income) for a period of not less than 12 months. Then, it is a fairly lengthy (read expensive) process to get clear title that can then be resold or borrowed against or whatever. Consequently, everything sells at a discount to market... generally a significant discount. Thus, if you ever found someone to sell you their interest in a property that will generate an overage beyond taxes and other incumberances you would almost always be leaving money on the table. Usually a lot of money on the table.

I agree. It doesn't make any sense to me either. I don't see any way that it could even be done legally if you can find deals. It seems like it would be much better to just buy the property.

I skimmed the past 2 pages so maybe things have been answered but Ive been attending foreclosure auctions for the past couple months and might have some helpful input in regards to how they work(atleast in my state)

Every auction requires a bank check in your name for 10% of the appraised value of the house before the auction takes place. Recently I went to a tax foreclosure where there was 15,000 in delinquent taxes due on the property that the owner wouldn't pay. The auction started at 15,000 to cover the taxes and it ended at 110,000. What happens is the state will keep the 15,000 and the rest will go to the owner of the house...Legally the owner might be able to still retain the home - I believe there is some grace period - check with your state laws. I think the key is you can't buy these properties for too low of a price or the owner will just pay the taxes - the last one we purchased for 12,100 - back taxes were 12k and no one showed up....the owner eventually came up with the money...no one with half a brain will walk away from a property worth say 100k for 10k in backed taxes.....I think your best deals are when the bidding goes for say 60% of the houses price or you see value in the property beyond its current situation....trying to go to an auction and steal a property for backed taxes alone is far fetched IMO, but Im sure it happens every now and then.

Just my 2 cents - Im a newbie to all of this so take it for what its worth

I am renting a house and I suspect the owner has stopped paying his mortgage. Lease is up at the end of April. Say he isn't paying his mortgage...does this in any way impact the wisdom/legal requirement of me paying rent? Paid double rent at move in FWIW.

You still have to pay rent. I don't know how much of this is true. I only know what I was told by a real estate agent. A couple years ago, I put an offer on a short sale that had a tenant in place. Somehow, the tenant found out the owner wasn't paying the bank and decided to stop paying rent. By the time the deal was approved by the bank, the tenant had been evicted.

Your landlord could easily hurt your credit, which would make it more difficult to find another place.

You must continue to pay rent to the owner. If you were to get an Occupancy notice on your door notifying you that ownership has changed hands, you would no longer be obligated to your original landlord, but that's a different discussion for another day.

If you have doubts about getting your security deposit back you might consider not paying your April rent and telling your landlord to keep your deposit when you move out.

One risk you'd be taking with this approach is that the landlord could tell you to F-off if you have a maintenance issue in April (leaking roof, plumbing problem, etc.).

BTW, your question illustrates something I run into as a process server.

If I find tenants when serving a foreclosure notice I have strict instructions from our client attorneys to not disclose the nature of my business with the landlord. Some tenants will use knowlege of a foreclosure notice as an excuse to stop paying rent.

I'd be very careful about this approach. If a tenant of mine ever tried this, they'd be evicted before the end of the month *and* they'd lose their security deposit -- and my lease would legally support these actions...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is what he SHOULD do, I'm just offering one possible course of action.

How do you people get all these good deals?

I am from germany and appartments that cost around 100k euros usually rent for about 500€/month, which is about 6% a year before taxes.

I searched a lot but it doesnt really get better than that.

In overpriced markets, the only way to make money is to buy property from distressed sellers willing to discount price.

do you guys have any good, up to date real estate blogs that you read? i feel like everything i come across hasnt been updated since 2010...

I don't know what types of blogs you're looking for, but if you're interested in flipping, feel free to check out my blog (going strong since 2008):

http://www.123flip.com

Also, in terms of real estate websites/forums, check out BiggerPockets.com -- they currently have about 90,000 members and some great discussions/resources on all aspects of real estate.

been reading your blog for a while

i'm looking for more multifamily investing blogs.. i poked around biggerpockets but didnt dive too deep into it. i'll look for more there. thanks aces!

Keep us posted if you find some on MF. I bought a 3unit and 3 duplexes last year. Im at 7 props and 13 units with plans for growth.

I am renting a house. I am moving out at the end of this month though the lease is through the end of next month.

I have reason to suspect the landlord is in financial trouble. I do not want to pay the last month's rent because I suspect he will come up with bull**** reasons to keep the security deposit.

Assuming the house is in no worse condition than when we moved in, is there anything he can do? This is in OH btw.

Im from LA and would like to own <30 miles from my house on the Westside.

Does this mean I have little chance of making a profitable investment? Prices are low but still overpriced (rarely do I find a property that has even 1%+ rents of purchase price).

he's supposed to give you a detailed breakdown of what he uses your security deposit for. i'd take pics of your entire house and note the condition of everything and if he tries to screw you out of it, take his ass to court.

i'm sure tien will have a better response though

i'm also fairly sure that if you signed a 12 month lease, you have to pay for 12 months or there may be a harsher penalty for breaking it early

Riverman I would just tell him your sorry you dont have it and tell him your moving out as planned at end of month and to keep security deposit ....p

I work with a lot of investors in Las Vegas. Prices are lowest in 5 years. Any offer will face competition - 7-8 offers on every property. NV requires the landlord or his property manager be within 60 min. Prop Mgr is usually 8-10%. Section 8 and lower income neighborhoods being avoided by many investors so the opportunites are here. Most multiple family units built before the mid-80's. Still see profits in the 8-10% range after all expenses. Better investments in Single family - raises profits to 10-12%. Contact me for details.

Hey guys,

I have finally overcome the analysis paralysis after reading this thread numerous times since 2009, and started my real estate project.

Thanks to Spex, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect and hope everything will go smoothly. I put in my my first offer for a duplex at 85k, which currently rent for $1600 and got accepted. I have done some research on the market and I am pretty sure the rent is under fair market value at the moment.

The offer was accepted at the beginning of February, however the bank is lagging and is still processing my loan. I hope I will get it closed by the end of this month, which will be almost 2 months

I have started a blog to keep a record of this project, so you guys feel free to check it out and see at which stage I am in my portfolio building at any time!

http://www.snowball-rentals.com/

Cheers!

So is this for 1/2 of the duplex or both units? $1600 rent and 85 K . How can you go wrong as you can invest your profits to buy another and escape all taxes from my understanding in the USA. Far Cry from the duplexes I sold for $560,000