Real-Estate Tax Sales: Buying property pennies on the dollar?

Question

Ok, so I've been watching the late night informecials and I came across this guy saying you can by properties for like $300. Is this true?? What is up with this approach, and why dont more people take this approach, if it is?

Answer 1

When someone doesn't pay his/her property tax for a while, the county will auction off the property for the taxes owed. The owner has a few years to reclaim the property so the person that buys it at auction really can't do anything with it because the owner might reclaim it. After the time passes, if the owner hasn't paid the taxes and reclaimed the property then it rightfully belongs to the person who bought it at the auction. If a house has a mortgage and the person hasn't paid taxes you can be pretty sure the mortgage company is not going to let the house go for back taxes. The county has to publish a notice in the newspaper before they auction someone's property. They will also publish the date & time of the auction. You could call your county courthouse and ask if there are any auctions scheduled. You might want to go and watch to see what it is like.

Answer 2

I recommend getting as many of these programs as you can. It's an investment in your education.

That being said... As the old saying goes, "One man's trash, is another man's treasure." There are people who seriously just don't want properties or lose them for whatever reason and yes you can get them at a tremendous discount and if the situation is right you can get them without coming out of pocket one red cent.

To answer your question about why more people don't do this type of thing... The answer is that they come on a message board or ask someone who has never actually tried or much less accomplished anything that appears to be impossible on the outside. Then they get answers like, "it's impossible." Or, "It can't be." Or "It's a rip off." Or, "It must be a scam." Yada Yada Yada. They listen to the people who say it's impossible and so they never do it. They become one of the people who tell other people it's impossible and the cycle goes on and on.

Test me and see if I'm wrong. Pick any subject that appears to be impossible like becoming wealthy and what you will receive are answers from people who simply believe it's not possible and their fear laden responses. It's automatic.

To make something like what you saw on the informercial work, you simply ignore people who say it can't be done and then pursue it as though your life depended on it.

Learning to buy properties dirt cheap is easier than learning to ride a bike, fly a plane, or deal with the stress of flipping burgers for a living...the list goes on ....think about it

Answer 3

JessyAnne, by now you should realize that the people who make the REAL money from these infomercials are the people to prepare and broadcast them. In other words, your chances of actually getting a property like that for $300 (with no added expenses elsewhere) are zero to zilch.

Answer 4

Ask yourself this: If the guy making the pitch on TV is so good at buying and selling houses, why is he advertising in the middle of the night, when the TV rates are lowest? Why isn't he out there buying houses, and making money at it that way?

The answer is that he makes more money selling the courses than he does doing what he said he did.

Answer 5

The approach is to tell you anything to sell you a book.