Mark J. Podolsky shows how to buy land cheap by contacting county treasurers for lists of tax-delinquent owners in tax-deed states, then sending them purchase offers before auction. He offers a real example: $1,500 for 3.5 acres. The tactic works because owners often prefer a quick sale to losing the property to the county.
June 7, 2013.
$1,500.
3.5 acres; estimated around $20,000.
Hey, it's Mark Podolsky, the land geek, and I'm going to start a new segment now called Coffee Talk. I love my coffee in the morning, and sometimes I meet a buddy at Starbucks or the Coffee Bean and we talk about business. We have a cup of coffee. It's great. So how about if you and I have a cup of coffee and talk a little bit about the land business? So every few days, you and I, we're gonna have a cup of coffee together. And. And I'm going to give you a tip, a suggestion, something to help you with land. So let's have some coffee. Today, I'm just drinking black coffee. If you're wondering what this ugly black thing is. That's my wireless mic, so you'll see that a lot. If you find it a distraction, get over it. All right, so let's talk about offers. How do I buy land? Pennies on the dollar? Well, there's a few ways I do it, and today's tip is going to be about sending offers. So the template is this. You basically contact the county treasurer and you want to know who isn't paying their taxes. If they're not paying their taxes, eventually they're going to lose their property to a tax deed or a tax lien sale. Now, now, I like to specialize in tax deed states, which is a whole other thing than tax liens. So let's just talk about tax deeds. You don't pay your taxes in tax deed state. They send you a few letters. They get nastier and nastier and say, okay, you don't pay your taxes. Then we're going to take it away at auction and it's gone and you're done. So what I say is, hey, look, you're going to lose your property to a tax deed sale. You might as well get something for it than nothing from the county. Send them an offer, they either accept it, contact you, or they reject it. And hopefully you'll get the property a tax deed sale. So the offer is very succinct. It says, I will pay this much for your property and sign it. Give me your email address, your phone number, send it back to my address. And I get stacks and stacks of these things every day. Deal flow, baby, deal flow. Here, I'll show you. Let's see, where is it? Ah, So here's my stack from this week of purchase agreements. And you can see here, what do I have? Humboldt River Ranch, phase C. The purchase offer of $1,500 will be paid in full at time of closing. It was signed. This is for a 3.5-acre parcel, which is probably worth $20,000. You know what they say in real estate, you make money on the buy, not the sell. So that's just one example. Anyways, if you want to learn more, go to www.thelandgeek.com. download my free passive Income Investors Blueprint. You'll find it fascinating. Or subscribe to my free podcast on itunes. The links are below. Hey, thanks for having some coffee with me. I hope you found that tip helpful. Go out there, make some offers. Buy property. Pennies on the dollar. This is Mark Podolski, the Land Geek out.
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