Uncle Sam's Land just might be a great real estate investment opportunity
Have you heard of the new real estate site www.unclesamsland.com ? In my opinion, Uncle Sam’s Land might be a great find for those looking to invest in today's real estate ‘buyer’s market’.
Apparently, there is no membership fee for the site, and properties start under a thousand dollars. Uncle Sam's Land is picking up these properties via hundreds of tax auctions all over the country. The company assigns staffs of researchers to conduct due dilligence on each property available at a tax auction and then they "bid on the best crop available."
If your unfamiliar with tax auctions, here is the typical proicess:
1) The land owner does not pay property taxes
2) The state puts a tax lien on the property, and from this point, 1 of 2 things can occur
Option 1 - Tax lien sale
The county can sell a tax lien certificate to the highest bidder at an auction. Please note that the certificate is not a deed to the property. In fact, the bidder is actually bidding on the right to an interest rate, which she can then charge the delinquent property owner for paying the taxes. At tax lien sales, the lowest bid (lowest interest rate) wins. Now if the property owner fails to pay back the certificate, the certificate owner can foreclose on the property just like a mortgage company. At that point, the property owner would have a set period of time to pay back the loan or lose the house.
Option 2 - Tax deed sale
The county can also hold a tax deed sale at a public auction. The highest bidder wins the auction and now owns an acutal deed to the property. At this point, all individuals with liens against the property are notified of the sale and have a right to bid on the property. If they fail to bid on the property within a cetain period of time they lose their right to their lien claim and the auction winner now owns the property free of any other claim.
Uncle Sam’s Land inventory consists of tax deed sales. Most of the land purchased by this group are empty lots. Occasionally, the properties will have structures on them.
Why would these properties make good investments?
Because each of the properties has gone through the foreclosure process, they are priced dramatically less than what the fair market value would indicate for them. Basically, the new owner is walking into a significant amount of equity for a relatively meager amount. Purchasing real estate for ‘pennies on the dollar’ is without question the biggest attraction to Uncle Sam’s Land.
Furthermore, the basic nature of the purchase transaction is nearly effortless for even the most novice investors. Included in the purchase price are the documentation fees which will enable the new owner to be placed on title of the property. Once payment has been submitted following a transaction, Uncle Sam’s Land will create a Quit Claim Deed which will request that the new owner customer be placed on title of said property. Normally, the county will take anywhere from 1-3 months to process the request, and once the process is fully completed, the Deed (the document which proves you are the owner) is sent to you to keep for your records. Simple as that.
