Buying land at auction ???

[murfdog]

I own 86 acres that has no street frontage just an easement for access. An adjoining property may be coming up for auction due to family fueding. The total land is about 25 acres with great frontage and utilities. Any suggestions for buying at auction? I have tried to contact both parties involved in the family to possibly make an offer but no luck. Seems they are set on auctioning. Thanks for any help!

 

[Tollster]

They will typically get more money at auction,particularly if its well advertised in the area as well as out of the area. We closed on a private deal early this year for 2/3rds under the assesed county value. We followed auctions and saw they where more over priced than current values.
Now I have to go round and round to reduce the taxes.
Good luck and be sure to follow it, ya may get lucky.

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Google "How to buy land at auction" and read WikiHow and EHow for general guidlines.

Then, contact the auctioneer to get a copy of the contract you must sign if you are the successful bidder. Take the copy of the contract to your attorney to get advice on the pitfalls of the contract form they are using. Otherwise you might be at risk of losing your down-payment, even if title is bad. Think of an auction as if it is the "girl at the end of the bar at 10:00 o'clock." You might wake up the next morning and find yourself saying "Oh ****."

Also know your top price. Savey auction sellers know that they can sometime run the price way up if they get two neighbors bidding against one another.

 

[ohio farmer04]

i go to owner say please give shot buying be for have pay auctioner taxes
here in ohio gas well land up 200 land sold over $1million

here in buy land one day sign gas well next $4,000

 

[murfdog]

Ok guys thanks! I will definately look over the fine print from the auctioneer. I am hoping that the intrest in the property will be low as it is not tillable and has very little marketable timber. But only time will tell.

 

[forgeblast]

Most of the auction info will tell you what you need.
here are the terms from one I saw in the paper today.
Terms: $5,000 down at conclusion of bidding. Balance on delivery of deed within 45 days. Any other terms or conditions will be announced sale day. A 3% Buyer's Premium will be added to the sale price.

 

[carmedic310]

Do yourself a favor and before you think about buying go to record of deeds and make sure there are no liens on the property.If you buy it and there are leans you could have bought the leans also.All you will lose is a little time checking the deed is free

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Normally the auctioneer will already have the form of the contract they will ask you to sign. If they don't want to give you the form until the day of the sale after you are the successful bidder, you need time to review the contract with an attorney BEFORE you sign it.

Carmedic310 may have the skills to go to the records to check for liens, but I for one would not rely on what some clerk in the courthouse tells you or looking at records I don't understand. Unless the price of the land is an amount you don't mind loosing, I would want title insurance or an attorney's opinion showing no title problems.

 

[txdon]

Title insurance is a must. On the land I bought I checked the courthouse records, but a lien did not show up. I think the lien was in another brother's name when the brother owned the land and quick titled it to his other brother without title insurance. The title insurance found it and would not insure it till the lien was paid. The lien was for over half of the cost of the land and on the land owned by that other brother. At closing one document was the lien being paid off to the third party (lien holder) with the money I was paying for the property. Be careful, you might want to make sure your deposit is returned if title insurance cannot be obtained.

 

[WM75Guy]

The terms probably have a clause about buyer beware or "it's yours now." A title search would be a must for me before buying. Like Carmedic 310 said, once you sign it all belongs to you. As a new owner some grandfathered exemptions may not apply such as a buried tank that must be removed, butane, fuel, etc. Also walking the property to see what is left behind or has been dumped such as a building with asbestos siding, insulation, old tires. The family feud may be over whether to spend money to remedy a problem or sell it to someone else. I have also seen a ringer in the crowd just to run up the price to what the seller thinks the property is worth.

 

[CBW1999]

Defiantly consult an attorney and heed their advice. It will be well worth it to have them involved from the beginning.

You may end up owning the land AND become part of the feud.

 

[murfdog]

Ok I already checked on back taxes and have copies of the deed and checked to see that all the property lines jive with whats on the deed. Two of which back up to my property. I guess I need a copy of the title to check for any leans. I guess the ringer in the crowd is always in the back of someones mind at the auctions. When it comes to money it is hard to trust anyone.

 

[charlz]

Are they going to sell it in one piece? I have seen around here where they will plat it or whatever to be subdivided and then sell it 'by the piece' or you have an option to buy the whole thing or a combination of pieces etc etc all designed to drive the overall price up.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Are they going to sell it in one piece? I have seen around here where they will plat it or whatever to be subdivided and then sell it 'by the piece' or you have an option to buy the whole thing or a combination of pieces etc etc all designed to drive the overall price up.

Usually around here that is the way that they do it on larger acreage...
They will subdivide into smaller sections then at the end of the auction add up the selling price for all parcels and try to get a bid larger for the whole lot...
Buyer takes all...

 

[murfdog]

It should all be sold as one piece but wont know till time comes. It is only 25 acres

 

[Redneck in training]

Go to public records (often accessible on line or at county assessor office) and check recent sales of similar land. It will give you some idea what it is worth. I bought my land for much less than asking price. I bid the average of the recent sales of similar parcel within about 30 miles radius and the seller took it next day. Saved about 50K.

 

[3rdtime]

Yep get a lawyer to check on land. For the money they are worth it. And really dont cost as much as most think.I bought some land and knew pretty much everything about it. Well it had a gas oil lease on it and was active. Make long story short I got the lease terminated with attorneys help. Guy wasnt paying for oil he was pumping. Now mineral right are back to me and he is now in process of pulling and caping all wells. DEP was or is involved so it gets done right. My attorney bill was alot less than what I was thinking I was going to get.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Ok I already checked on back taxes and have copies of the deed and checked to see that all the property lines jive with whats on the deed. Two of which back up to my property. I guess I need a copy of the title to check for any leans. I guess the ringer in the crowd is always in the back of someones mind at the auctions. When it comes to money it is hard to trust anyone.

In my state, the County Clerk records all liens against property. It's possible for liens to exist that are not recorded, but if they have remained unrecorded for more than a few months the lien holder may have a tough time collecting. That's what title insurance is for, an unanticipated claim.

I want to echo the advice about a lawyer. I don't know if an auction gets them out of disclosure laws, or even if your state has disclosure laws. In my state, "as is" doesn't mean squat. If the property has a problem and you don't disclose that problem, you don't sell the problem and are responsible for it even after you sell the property. That's gone a long ways toward keeping the developers honest. The thing is, if you buy the property you also buy into the chain of responsibility.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Ok I already checked on back taxes and have copies of the deed and checked to see that all the property lines jive with whats on the deed. Two of which back up to my property. I guess I need a copy of the title to check for any leans. I guess the ringer in the crowd is always in the back of someones mind at the auctions. When it comes to money it is hard to trust anyone.

In my state, the County Clerk records all liens against property. It's possible for liens to exist that are not recorded, but if they have remained unrecorded for more than a few months the lien holder may have a tough time collecting. That's what title insurance is for, an unanticipated claim.

I want to echo the advice about a lawyer. I don't know if an auction gets them out of disclosure laws, or even if your state has disclosure laws. In my state, "as is" doesn't mean squat. If the property has a problem and you don't disclose that problem, you don't sell the problem and are responsible for it even after you sell the property. That's gone a long ways toward keeping the developers honest. The thing is, if you buy the property you also buy into the chain of responsibility.

 

[blueriver]

Actually its easy ... study and understand the terms and conditions of the sale ... be sure abstracting and title work with title insurance is being offered thru a Title Company. If its an absolute sale More than likely the title work will be done prior to the auction and can be reviewed. My company does just that ... we have all paperwork in order and in hand prior to the sale so the closing attorney can be present auction day and the deal can be done ... the auctioneer should be more than happy to provide information, afterall we really like to know the potential buyers before the sale. If the sale is with a minimum the auctioneer may not have the title work done, however, he can provide the name of the title company who has more than likely began a prelimainary title search to make the seller and the auctioneer aware of any complications that may cloud the title... keep in mind the sellers, the auctioneer and the title company want the transaction to be smooth and to close with no complications.