Seeking Generic Sherriff's Sale Advice - Newbie

There is a house and lot in my city that has been vacant for at least a few years, and is owned by 'XXXX Yyyyy Street Land Trust." XXXX is the housenumber and Yyyyy is the name of the street. The tax bill goes to a home in a suburb, not to a bank. The owner of that suburban home does not own any other propeties in my County.

So, from this I surmise that the mortage is paid off.

A person in the Yyyyy Street neighborhood says this propety will be sold at a future Sherrif's Sale, but it has not yet been advertised.

Since this Sherrif's sale does not involve somebody getting kicked out of their home, I don't feel "guilty" about buying it at a future Sherriff's Sale.

OK, I know to to the full title search, etc, and I'll do that very soon.

But let's say hypothetically that there are no liens, etc, and that the only problem is lots of unpaid taxes. (On our County property assessment website, at least $900 is owned on back taxes, probalby more. The website only goes back to 2000, and covers only County taxes.)

Let's say hypothetically that there are also unpaid city taxes, school taxes, etc, but no other liens. Let's say the total of all unpaid taxes turns out to be 2K.

So, if I go to try and bid on this property, and nobody else wants to bid on it, should my opening bid be something superlow, like $100, or must I start at 2K or more?

There is a chance that nobody would want this property because it needs substantial repair (including roof leaks), has been vacant for at least a few years, and is what many people in my city would dub "a bad neighborhood." But to me, this neighbood is not so bad. In fact, when the neighboorhood was first built about a hundred years ago, it was a "rich" neighborhood, and the houses that are still remaining in it are well-built and there are large yards. It is also convenient to public transportation and has a large, sunny yard.

This particular house is listed on the County website as "three family" but it was built originally as a one-family home. The county website lists is as "12 rooms" and that is approximately correct, as I have had an opportunity to see the inside. There's four rooms on the first floor, four on the second, and the attic is also divided up into four rooms. This is not counting bathrooms - which don't exist in this house right now because somebody had removed all bathroom fixtures.

It needs substantial repairs, but I am willing to deal with this, as I come from a construction family. I would like to fix up part of the house (like, maybe the first floor, plus, of course, the roof) and live in it. Then, bit by bit, I want to fix up the second floor and the attic.

This house is what some architechts call a Foursquare - sort of Victorian house that is square (approx 35' x 35' to 40' x 40') with four rooms per floor. (This house, however, is slightly rectangle - 38' x 35'.) Foursquares were originally built with large porches, usually had Mansard Roofs with dormers or Hip Roofs with dormers. They were usually brick, but sometimes frame. They were built plus or minus 20 years of the year 1900.

So, what do you folks estimate that the bids might be - or of the chances that nobody will want to bid on it except me.

I've never been to a sherrif's sale before, and I know that one should attend a few before bidding. But what if this property turns up on the very next auction?

If nobody else outbids me, and if I can get it for the price I want (and if I have full knowlege of any liens, back taxes, etc), I would like to take the chance and snatch it up.

So, with the info I have given, could you folks give me a ball park figure as to what others might bid on it, if they bid at all? I know this is hard given that I did not name the city. I'm doing this to avoid any "breaking of the rules" of this forum. But it is a city not on the eastern seaboard and not on the west coast and not in the sunbelt. Housing prices generally in my city are cheaper than the national average, and there are more homes for sale than there are buyers. My county has also has a huge increase in the number of properties up for Sherriff's Sale each month as compared to ten years ago.

Thanks,
Cecelia