TaxForeclosure Over-The-Counter
No Auction Tax Deed Buying

Buy a TaxForeclosure over-the-counter.
How to find and what to know.

FYI-Tax Foreclosure results in the issuance of a tax deed. The certificate holder has enforced the lien on a property "foreclosed" by applying for the tax deed and the tax deed being issued. Application for tax deed does not guarantee ownership of the tax deed but allows for a tax deed auction to be held.

Over-The-Counter TaxForeclosure We Purchased $2190 Sold $16,500

TaxForeclosure over-the-counter background:

2 scenarios of how a tax deed becomes available over-the-counter:

• The county is the holder of the tax certificate and applies for the tax deed and there is no bidder at the resulting tax deed sale.
  

• A tax certificate is held by a civilian who applies for the tax deed and there is no bidder at the resulting tax deed sale.  The certificate holder then neglected to complete the transaction.  Either by refusal to sign and pay the required doc stamps/recording fees or by not responding to requests by the Clerk to consummate the transaction, the certificate holder has defaulted.

TaxForeclosure over-the-counter info:

TaxForeclosure property "tax deeds" available over-the-counter to the general public will appear on the "list of lands available for taxes".  This list, depending on the county, is typically called the list of lands, list of lands available for taxes or lands available.  A link to this list can be found, in a few counties, by searching on the Clerk of Courts homepage.

Note: Currently Alachua, Brevard, Glades, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Marion, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Putnam, Volusia counties have links to their List of Lands or information on purchasing from their list. I most frequently find the list of lands available while accessing the tax deed sale information.

The due diligence research required in purchasing TaxForeclosures over-the-counter is the same as is required for purchasing tax deeds at the tax deed auction. Here is some information from the Marion County Clerk in regards to purchasing from the list of lands and a sales list link.

Tax Foreclosure Over-The-Counter/Marion County

All tax deed properties will have had a title report prepared just prior to the tax deed auction.  The results of the title search will include owners, liens, judgments, parties of interest and can all be found in the tax deed file. Also located in the file you can find the legal description, zoning, maps, current usage and general information about the property at the time of auction. 

The tax deed files in most counties can only only be accessed at the Clerk of Courts or Tax Deeds Office.  Once you have located the List of Lands Available in your county of interest you will see a tax deed number which was issued when application was made for the tax deed. In some counties they track the tax deed files by certificate number instead of tax deed number.  The tax deed files are maintained by the Clerk of Courts and may be held at the general recording desk, tax deeds office or comptroller's office.  The best place to start is at the Clerk of Courts and ask where their tax deed files are located and where to view them. Most counties tax deed files are stored according to the tax deed file number, so when you approach the entity maintaining the files it is best to have the tax deed file number or certificate number in hand.

TaxForeclosure over-the-counter Note: Information found in the tax deed file will be outdated, sometimes by as much as 3 years, depending upon when the application was made for the tax deed to be auctioned.

The tax deed files will contain information about the property at the time the tax deed was auctioned.  The properties currently on the list of lands can be available on this list for up to three years. So, the farther you get out from the date of tax deed auction the more inaccurate the file becomes. If the property tax deed ile number is 2006-143 you know the tax deed application was made in 2006. If you are looking at the tax deed file in 2008 the information in the file is 2 years old.

During that two year period there may have been liens levied against the property or the property may have been conveyed to another party.  The property owners may have lost their interest in the property due to a court judgment, filed for bankruptcy or failed to pay child support which resulted in a lien. 

TaxForeclosure over-the-counter Paid $1700 Sold $15,000. The buyer built a very nice home on the lot I sold him.

TaxForeclosure over-the-counter tips:

Note: Not all counties will have tax deeds available over the counter. When found many will be riddled with liens superior to the tax deed issuance and many will be unbuildable, but you may just find a diamond in the rough.

One investor bought unbuildable RV campsite lots in and around Ocala National Forest for $150-$300 and resold them for up to $1600. At that time, there were hundreds of these small plots available on the Marion County list of lands. The purchasing company for landauction.com bought hundreds of lots from the list of lands and reauctioned them for $20,000 while paying less than $2,000. One of the first tax deeds I obtained from the List of Lands cost less than $2000 which I resold in 3 months for $18,000 and was a very desirable buildable parcel.

TaxForeclosure over-the-counter Note: Always conduct a thorough title search before purchasing tax deeds. More on how to do this will be covered in future pages.

Here is some information from Pasco County which sheds some light on where tax deed files are held, tax deed auction information and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page their is additional information about purchasing from the list of lands in this county. The information while being county specific, is a good depiction of what you will find in other counties.

TaxForeclosure over-the-counter/Pasco County

If this link is no longer active you can Google "Pasco County Clerk" and find the button for Public Records on the Clerk's home page.   Then find the link for  Tax Deeds, then the link for lands available will be on the bottom of this page.

Here is a link to the Alachua County Clerk website offering a link to their Lands Available for Taxes "list of Lands".

TaxForeclosure over-the-counter/Alachua County

As mentioned above the tax deed will only be available for purchase over-the-counter  for 3 years, while  it resides on the list of lands.  After expiration of the  3 years the property escheates to the county.
Once escheated, the property becomes owned by the county.

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