Kern County And The Fools That Bid Without Looking!
I have just spent the last 3 weeks 12 hours a day for 6 days a week researching my due dilligance for the Kern County tax auction. It is just now wraping up on Bid 4 Assets.
Hell I spent an unbeliveable amount of time on research. At first I had a nice list of about 40 properties that I wanted to bid at least the minimum. But as the deadline aproched more and more were redeemed.
My analysis showed me that out of the remaining properties that were left to bid on only 4 were worth bidding on. Out of those 4 they all have now surpassed what I was willing to bid up to.
In doing my due dilligence I saw builidings that are burnt out shells or just gutted but you cant tell from the pic on the website. One example is a condemed "Crack Hotel" that needs to be torn down. It is half burnt down the rooms are only 150 square feet each and everyone has to walk outside and around the corner to use a public restroom that is also condemed. Oh and trust me it is much worse than I am able to explain here. The land under it is only worth 3,000 dollars. It is in over time right now for over 63,000. I could go on and on about the different things I saw.
You can not belive what some of these dumps are going for. It is compleatly obvious that the "winning" bidders on 80% of these did not go out at look at the properties. Or if they did there was no understanding of the market in that area.
I have a feeling that most of these "winning bidders" bought someones get rich off of tax auctions seminar or something and that they must be under the impression that just because it is bought at auction they must be getting a good deal.
The whole idea of buying at a tax auction is to get a good deal. If there is not a good deal then walk away knowing that you did not loose money. There is always another.
So I guess a lesson to be learned here is do your homework and dont get sucked in. Sometimes it is good not to be the "winner"
My two cents 
Joe Robertson
Southern California
[addsig]
Joe,
I saw alot of properties like this on e-bay, funny enough.
The bids were really getting crazy.
I've also traveled through adn camped in Kern several times. There are some really nice areas, and just like any other city in the world, there are some not so nice areas.
The point you make is a good one though.
Where in So cal are you?
I live right near the border of the San Fernando Valley which is in Los Angeles County and The Ventura County area.
[addsig]
I'm a hop skip and a car ride away in L.A.
I am far from a pro at this, but feel free to send me messages if you need help with anything.
What you describe is apparently going on in many areas of the country. Try going way out of the large metro areas in California to even have a chance. Maybe San Luis Obispo to Paso Robles areas. If Florida it is just as bad. I've been doing it for ages and just when I think it can't get worse it does. When everyone is in it is time to be out and wait for the next cycle. You can also give special thanks to folks like John Beck, Ted Thomas and other seminar gurus, the Wall Street pimps for the stock market crash, Alan Greenspan for the lowest rates in generations and the internet for making tax sales the latest sucker investment.
You would think the rural areas would be appealing... But even the San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles areas are really difficult to get into. Not really a buyers market right now. Not much bang for your buck if you know what I mean. The sellers are getting greedy and I can't wait for the market to start and soften a little...
I have looked long and hard at most of the "stuff" on Bid 4 Assets and it is 99.99% crap. It takes more time and effort to sort out the crap than it is worth.
Like you and several other said - this type of internet auction is the latest "scam" vehicle for getting rich off people who want things easy.
You will not find many bargain RE deals on the internet. You have got to go out and find motivated sellers - period. No amount of Internet surfing is going to tell you whether the owner of a property is in a position to sell at good terms.
Just my $.02.
Stormy
[quote]
On 2003-08-08 01:16, shedger wrote:
You would think the rural areas would be appealing... But even the San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles areas are really difficult to get into. Not really a buyers market right now. Not much bang for your buck if you know what I mean. The sellers are getting greedy and I can't wait for the market to start and soften a little..
have u tried santa maria ,los osos,lompoc,nipomo,buletten,orcutt, i'm finding motivated sellers out there, but it takes going thru alot of homes and evaluations, but u get to meet alot of people and also develope a nose for value.[ Edited by braveheart808 on Date 08/08/2003 ]
Shedger, it probably is more of a hassle than it is worth these days. I monitor a lot of places and pick a few spots to travel to from time to time. Veryl little money to be made. I find being a stock market intermediate term trader to be much more lucrative these days as i can invest a ton of money and have it working for me at 30-40% a quarter. One day after the real estate market crashes and unfortunately way too many people get wiped out I'll go back full time to tax sales. If the bubble mentality goes on forever in California and Florida I'll just pick some of the places in the heartland where there might be real money to be made.
Is there a government web site that lists these auctions and maybe the prop[erty prior to the sale? I am in the Atlanta Area, if any of you has info for stuff out here. As a Native CA, born in the San Fernando Valley, and just recently lived in Agoura Hills, Just moved to Atlanta 4 months ago. I would appreciate it.
thanks
Victor
Joe,
I'm a newbie to this board. Exactly what kind of due diligence work did you do and recommend for the Kern County tax auctions? Thanks.
hmmnnn... where did my reply post go?
Is there anyway I can get my properties into that auction without having to be bankrupt??
Possible alot of these people are just looking for tax write off's. Things are not always what they seem to be. 8-)
Possible alot of these people are just looking for tax write off's. Things are not always what they seem to be. 8-)
I am not sure where you are but it is the same thing here in south florida
Is there anyway to get my properties listed in those auctions without having a foreclosure??
Quote:
On 2004-10-12 09:25, karensilver wrote:
I am not sure where you are but it is the same thing here in south florida
Great Post...I am reminded of one of the greates lines I have ever heard regarding real estate investing. It was at a trustee sale where some guy had just made the winning bid on a property that was more than it was worth. I asked him how he could bid so high and his response was "it doesn't matter how much you pay if you buy it at auction it's a deal"
That mentality is what you are up against!
Yep- Same thing happens w/ the San Bernardino sale. At least you gained some experience. You probably kow the Thomas Guide by heart. i will still check out the next one when it happens in Mar 2005- All you need is one good deal!
I know you can list your properties for auction on www.bid4assets.com. But I doubt you can list them with the groups that are sold with their tax sales.
Quote:
On 2004-10-12 09:34, nic3456 wrote:
Is there anyway to get my properties listed in those auctions without having a foreclosure??
Quote:
On 2004-10-12 09:25, karensilver wrote:
I am not sure where you are but it is the same thing here in south florida
Could you tell us how do you do the due diligence on these auction? You must have a system or something. I did notice that lot of properties has been redeemed. Suppose you're winning bidder on certain properties. How do you sell it back to the new buyer since you do not have a clear title insurance?
In Pa I go first to the Tax office and find the owners name,Value of property,year bought,book and page number of deed,Then go to room that records deeds.and check for www.mortgages.Their registered by year their mortgaged Then go to Prothonatarys office to see if there are any accounts charged against property. We have the upset sale in September that include liens and motgages then in October the Judicial sales are held from the ones that didn't sell at the upset sale the year before and their the Free and Clear ones without the debts.
Hope this helps.
In Pa I go first to the Tax office and find the owners name,Value of property,year bought,book and page number of deed,Then go to room that records deeds.and check for www.mortgages.Their registered by year their mortgaged Then go to Prothonatarys office to see if there are any accounts charged against property. We have the upset sale in September that include liens and motgages then in October the Judicial sales are held from the ones that didn't sell at the upset sale the year before and their the Free and Clear ones without the debts.
Hope this helps.
Our tax deed sale last week was attended by over 250 people--most from out of town.
I sat between two friends that are brokers who have done tax deed sales for years, and they were just boggled. Lots were going for 40-60% more than lots they had listed on the MLS (and those listed lots don't require a quiet-title action to get clear title!)
They now attend the sales just to figure out what out-of-towners will pay for vacant land, and they go back to the office and jack up all the listings.
If you are looking for a good deal, don't come to OUR tax deed sales.
I also noticed that! Appreciate the input we get to benefit from - based on your hard work!!!
Dear Joe,
Hope you are well.
I have been doing some research tax liens and I am planning to attend the Los Angeles county auction.
Most of my questions have been answered by books. However, I have some other questions.
After buying the tax lien: (1) What happens to the mortgage or mortgages or other liens? (2) If the tenants do not leave after offering them cash, what are the remedies?
Best,
Bobby