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How To Buy A Tax Sale Property In Travis County

Posted On : Apr-16-2010 | seen (942) times | Article Word Count : 508 |

Tax sale properties can be a great way for would-be homeowners to find an affordable residence. Properties sold at a tax sale can also be an affordable way to get started in the real estate investment market.
Tax sale properties can be a great way for would-be homeowners to find an affordable residence. Properties sold at a tax sale can also be an affordable way to get started in the real estate investment market. Many of the previous owners of these tax sale properties have not paid their property taxes in years. Because the tax assessor's office needs to recover at least some of this lost tax income, they often sell these properties for a fraction of their appraised value. Even during a rough real estate market, real estate can be a good investment. If you purchase a tax sale property, you could make some basic improvements and then resell it for a profit. If you are interesting in flipping a tax sale property, look for a home in a nice neighborhood. Location truly is the most important thing in real estate. A nicely fixed-up home in a run-down neighborhood might not sell as quickly as the same home in a good neighborhood would.

Finding and buying tax sale properties in Travis County, Texas is simple. The Travis County tax assessor's office lists all the properties that will be auctioned 21 days prior to the safe. This listing can be found in the Austin Chronicle. During this time period, you can take a look at the house or lot and decide whether or not it would be a good fit. Although the tax office provides detailed information about the listing, including appraised value, it would be in your best interest to research the surrounding properties as well. There are usually several properties auctioned each month, so you want to make sure you choose the very best property in which to invest. In order to purchase property at the sale, you will need to complete and submit a statement of eligibility form. This form must be submitted to the tax office roughly two weeks before the auction.

Properties up for auction have a pre-approved minimum bid. This minimum bid is usually a fraction of the appraised value of the property. If no buyer is willing to purchase a property for the minimum bid price, it will not be sold at the auction. When properties are not sold at the auction, they are marked as struck-off. These properties may be available for immediate sale. A listing of struck-off properties is available on the Travis County tax office's website.

All properties are auctioned on the west steps of the country courthouse the first Tuesday of each month. The county courthouse is located at 1000 Guadalupe St., Austin, Texas. The Travis County tax office accepts the following forms of payment: cash, check, cashier's check, money order, and most credit cards. If you do plan on using your credit card, you should know that the tax office will charge you an additional service fee of 3%. Most mortgage programs, such as FHA, do not offer mortgages on foreclosed property. You will need to secure a private loan or pay for the foreclosed property outright.

Article Source : http://www.articleseen.com/Article_How To Buy A Tax Sale Property In Travis County_16365.aspx

Author Resource :
Joe Cline writes articles for Austin homes for sale. Other articles written by the author related to Austin Texas real estate and Austin MLS blog can be found on the net.

Keywords : Austin homes for sale, Austin Texas real estate, Austin MLS blog,

Category : Finance : Taxes

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