Texas Tax Sales

Comments(6)

• 
  DanLioz28th April, 2004

  Can you please message to me the sites you did find...I am also looking for the Ft. Bend Harris County sales.
  
  Thanks,
  Daniel

• 
  JohnMerchant28th April, 2004

  TX county tax assessor/collectors have been slow to put their info on any website, or to join together for any internet presence.
  
  Probably just their inherent desire to remain independent & aloof. Remember in TX the Tax Assessor/Collector is an elected job, and they feel they don't have to answer to anybody but the voter.
  
  This may actually work for the tax lien buyer, because the out-of-area guys won't go to the trouble of competing with you...if you'll make a point to call the local tax folk and ascertain when their next tax sale is scheduled. In each county you're interested in.
  
  The bigger cities & towns tax sales are of course more frequent, and probably you'll find a sale scheduled every month in Harris, Bexar, Dallas, Tarrant counties.

• 
  DariusBarazandeh28th April, 2004

  Guys be glad that the tax assessor collectors have not put everything online in a unifed manner. John, is absolutely right the tax assessor's office is elected and some of them see no need to consolidate thier data with other assessor collectors...especially tax sale listings. The one entity that the tax assessor does work with is the appraisal district in each county.
  
  I worked as a business consultant for one of the largest tax collection entites in the state of Texas: Harris County TAC. It was when Paul Bettencourt had just come into the office. The previous tax assessor had been in office for over 65 years! Carl Smith was his name and he did not like change and still operated the group like he did in 1965!
  
  Also keep in mind that the tax assessor does not really go out of its way to make sale lists available. In reality tax sales in Texas are the fuction of several offices. Frist, the tax office tries to collect the taxes. If the taxes are delinquent then the county attorney will file a tax suit (provided enough time and delinquency has passed) then county attorney will file the tax suit on behalf of the tax office or school district. This usually depends on who is owed the most taxes.
  
  The sheriff's office will help to execute and expedite the sale. The county recorder will record the deed, etc. As you can see the process is broken into several parts with many players in each part.
  
  A WORD OF ADVICE: Run from the larger counties. Don't waste your time there. Because I have worked with 1000's of investors in Texas I have learned one thing: The successful people don't try for the Harris, Bexar, and Dallas county sales. The success stories I recieve are from those who focus on smaller counties that surround some of the larger metropolitan areas.
  
  Use common sense and be thankful the information is sometimes hard to get. That makes the competition diminish somewhat and thats a good thing!
  [addsig]

• 
  RonaldStarr28th April, 2004

  netfreee--(TX)------------------
  
  In the lower-population counties, the tax sales are conducted by the sheriffs after the tax sale lawsuit is sheparded through the court by private attorney firms hired by the taxing entity. There are just a few private law firms which specialize in the area and each does a lot of sales. So you can get lists from those companies once you know who they are.
  
  You can find out who they are by doing google searches on line. Or you can call around to some of the country treasurer's offices and school district offices, and perhaps the county counsel's offices. Ask them who does their courtcases. Then contact those companies and get on their mailing lists. I think some now have on-line access to their sales information and lists.
  
  Good Investing**********Ron Starr**************

• 
  DariusBarazandeh29th April, 2004

  Here are some links taken from my website research page/research records:
  
  1) Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott, L.L.P. - source for tax sale listings
  
  http://www.pbfcm.com/tax_sales.htm
  
  
  2) Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson, LLP (Linebarger Goggan) - excellent source for tax sale listings
  
  
  http://www.publicans.com/home.htm
  [addsig]

• 
  JohnMerchant29th April, 2004

  Darius
  
  Thanks a million for the two TX law firm sites. Very valuable & useful for the tax lien investor. I'm familiar with both firms and they both know what they're about.
  
  And you're right as rain about not spending any time on bigger counties...can't tell you how much time I've spent checking out properties in some of them only to have 90% paid up the day before the tax auction.
  
  With the growth around the big cities, the surrounding counties are a terrific cache of RE value.