Bought Vacant Lots In The Association
Hello:
I bought 3 vacant lots in an association. I'm wondering if I need to pay the association fee as everybody else? It's only vacant land and no improvement on it.
Has anybody has similar situation?
A letter or phone call to the association would probably answer your questions. But if I were to speculate, sure, you'll probably have to pay. Usually raw land will have a lower due than a developed one with a house. Not a big deal, hopefully they are cheap. Was this in the Kern sale over the past couple of days?
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No, I bought these land few months ago with the San Bernardino auction. I think I screw up on couple pieces of land also due to problem I did not due the due diligence correctly.
I believe that there are a lot of risk involved when buying tax deed properties at the auction. The county guarantee nothing at all. Also, there is no title insurance will insure the property, you will have to wait for a while, at least a year in order to get the title insurance. I'm wondering if you been able to get the title insurance after a year of waiting. Any input?
I don't have a link to an agency in CA that will sell you title insurance - but I know there is one. Sometimes I don't get caught up in the whole title insurance scam. It is a good thing, don't get me wrong, but when you need it - then you purchase it.
I sold a lot bought at a tax sale to a customer. He acquired a construction loan and put in a new mobile and foundation. He then had no problems getting title insurance for himself. (It was required on his end when the construction was complete and to finalize the loan.)
Buying lots at a county land auction can be risky. You need to do a little homework before you bid. Most of the prior liens get dropped at the sale, some don't like IRS and improvement bonds.
Now that you have the lots, research them, find out what their best possible uses could be, take pictures, map them out, etc, etc. eBay has a lot of land selling in your area, take a look and see the comparables.
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Thank you for your input John. Currently, I had one vacant land that I bought in Los Angeles area. One of the problem with my due diligence was I mistakenly identified the property before the auction and I went ahead and bid on it.
Afterward, I found out that the property was located RIGHT ON the Los Angeles River, which I could not do anything with it. I guest it is a loss. I could not believed that the county could auction land like that. I thin kthat this land is belong to the city or someone has to purchase all the land before they can built the LA River channel. The LA River was features on the film "Terminator". I owned a pice of it and don't know what to do.
Hey, sorry about that, but I heard something that is worth researching. The similar thing is when you own a parcel of land with the easiments ( gas, electricity, etc.), I think the company ( in your case, probably the county land management or?) has to reimburse you for using your land. Again, I only overheard about this, but will be interesting if you find out to post for all of us to learn something new.
Good luck.
I too once found myself in a similar situation. The parcel that I had bought was under a building moratorium and you needed three contiguous lots to build. Live and learn I thought, it was just the price of not doing thourough homework. Last year, out of the blue, an adjacent homeowner contacted me and offered 4 times what I paid for it. So it sold even after I had written it off.
Your lot on the LA river sounds interesting to say the least. What city is it in and does it have access. Depending on how much you paid for it, I think that someone somewhere would like to buy it from you if the price is right.
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The land is in the city of Paramount. At the time I bought the property, I felt pretty good because there was no bidder! I guest what I'm going to do next is start making noise to the appropriate level of authority and see what kind of abatement I can get for the land. But life goes on and you know what sometimes bad things turned out to be ok. That's what I hope for.
Normally, before the bidding takes place, how would you do your research? Is there a system that you follows?
I like to see the property. I also like to talk with clerks and planners to get their take on it. It's easy to call, be cordial and ask for whatever they know about the lot. And I'm not talking just what it is zoned, but why is it on the auction block, what happened to the old owners, etc... I understand LA County is huge so talking to someone who knows whats going on may not be realistic. But before you decide on using your money on a purchase you should at least know the last assessed value and what year the value was originally recorded. And, is it buildable. Buying unusable peices of land may pay off in the long run, but in the long run we are all dead, so it's not a great investment strategy.
Also have a grasp on what the area comps at. No one bidding against you can be a bad sign. But then again sometimes you just get lucky because of lack of competition.
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