From Buyincomeproperties.com

Investing Strategy & Tips
Where to Obtain Your Real Estate
By IncomeProperties
Dec 13, 2005, 01:02

In this article we will cover where and how to obtain your inventory. There are three basic sources that are covered.

  1. Physical County Tax Sales


  2. Online County Tax Sales


  3. Bulk Online Sellers




Each of these sources is covered in detail in this section.

You will be focusing on vacant land. This is the easiest type of property to acquire and sell in the online environment. If, in the future, you want to focus on properties with structures on them (commercial properties, single family dwellings, etc) you will be familiar enough with the tax sale environment to do that at that point in time.

Physical County Tax Sales

At almost any given week of the year, there is a county tax sale happening somewhere in this country. If you are not adverse to traveling, the best deals to be had are at these sales. You will want to be sure that you attend only the deed sales, and not the lien or redeemable deed sales. Those are good investments too, but we are only focusing on the purchasing and selling of actual land, not future investments, and the deed sales are what will enable you to do this.

The best place to find what counties are having sales that I have been able to find is www.taxsalelists.com. They have a calendar there with the tax sale schedules and also offer lists of the parcels that will be offered at an auction for sale. The costs of their lists are very reasonable and I have always found their customer service to be excellent. We are not affiliated with them, but have used them and have purchased their lists in the past.

If you decide to attend a physical sale, make sure you call ahead of time to find out what payment methods are accepted, what the registration process is and when funds are due for the land that you bid on. Some counties require you to pay in cash or certified funds at the time of the auction, so make sure you go prepared.

Online County Tax Sales

Recently some counties in various States (mainly California, Idaho, Michigan and Nevada) have begun selling their tax delinquent properties for sale online. They have begun using a service offered by Bid4assets.com to auction off their properties. Do not confuse the county tax sales at that site with the sales by private individuals such as yourself. The County tax sales there can be found by going to www.bid4assets.com and navigating to the link on the left menu that says ˇ°County Tax Sales.ˇ± That link will take you to a list of upcoming and current online county tax sales.

Some online county tax sales require a deposit; some are done by live webcast. When you go to the website it will guide you on how to bid and whether or not a deposit is required to bid on the county sale that you are registering for. It is important to read all the disclaimers and do your due diligence when bidding on these properties. There are not detailed descriptions of the properties, so it will be your job to obtain that before you resell any property you purchase at online auction. You can also use this website to sell your properties, as mentioned earlier, this website also offers properties for sale by individual sellers.

Bulk Online Sellers

You can also purchase properties from bulk online sellers. Some sellers who attend the tax sales in person will sell bulk packages of properties at prices low enough so that when you resell them you will still make a considerable profit. To locate a bulk seller browse ebay for sellers who are selling multiple properties. Go to ebay.com and navigate to the Real Estate section. Search for packages of multiple lots or look for sellers who are offering numerous lots in the same area. Contact these sellers and ask them if they will offer a reduced price for bulk purchases. Most of them will. These individuals will become valued suppliers, so only agree to purchase from them if you intend to send them payment. It is important to treat everyone with honesty, courtesy and respect.

When purchasing from online sellers make sure you discuss who will be recording the deed, you or them, and if there are any back taxes owed on the properties you are purchasing. Ask them to send you any maps and or photos they may have and any details they have regarding the area and particular lots. When agreeing on a price make sure the price you are paying per lot is below the average price similar single lots are currently selling for at auction.



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