Cob TAX MAN Update

[Paul & Mary Salas]

Re: Previous post on Goodies from the TAX MAN;

I have had so many inquiries on this subject that I thought I'd try to
put together a more detailed generic response that could answer or help
those that are interested in obtaining properties that are tax
defaulted.

This site, 
http://resusa.net/res/index.htm, 
has info for Texas, Arkansas and New Mexico.  It is a "pay" for
subscription service, however they have some good free-bee info that
could get some of you started. The list seems to concentrate on Texas.
The book " How To Make Super-Bargain Investments At Texas Tax Sales" is
also a good starting point for Texas. The list noted above is very poor
for NM.  The State of NM site at
http://www.state.nm.us/tax/ptd/ptd_home.htm 
is better and it's free. For Arizona and Colorado contact your local
County Clerk or County Treasurer and find out what the process is for
their Tax Lien Sales. Some of the Arizona counties have WEB sites that
actually list the properties and the amount of the tax lien along with a
map for a general location.

Thirty-one states sell Tax Lien Certificates (or deeds with a right of
redemption that operate like certificates) the redemption time frame
varies and most provide that if the owner does not redeem the tax
certificate, you own the property--you just have to be patient and wait
out the redemption time period: 

Alabama	Indiana	Missouri	Rhode Island
Arizona	Iowa	Montana	South Carolina
California*	Kentucky	Nebraska	South Dakota
Colorado	Louisiana	New Hampshire*	Texas
Florida	Maryland	New Jersey	Vermont
Georgia	Massachusetts*	New York*	West Virginia
Hawaii	Michigan	North Dakota	Wyoming
Illinois	Mississippi	Oklahoma	

     * Only certain towns in MA and certain counties in NY conduct
public tax lien certificate sales. They have become rare in NH. And no
county in CA has yet held a sale under the newly enacted statute.

What this means is that those states not listed above have a different
program for selling deliquent tax properties and may very well be like
those in New Mexico where you buy the property and you get a DEED.

Hope this was a more comprehensive answer than the previous response. I
am getting a ton of E-mails requesting info about what I know about
other states and how to contact the responsible agency.

I'm now preparing for the upcoming sale in Sandoval County on Dec
1,2,3.  There won't be any $10 bargains here, however most have a
starting min bid of $60 and believe that the 1/2 ac lots will sell in
the $350-600 range. Since the sale will last 3 days, the bargains will
be found on the last day of the sale. I'll post an update on the
results. I've prepared well for this sale and have 12 specific
properties I am interested in purchasing. That leaves only 423 for
someone else. 

Paul