JoelC707 Premium Member join:2002-07-09 Lanett, AL |
JoelC707
Premium Member
2015-Mar-28 1:41 pm
Finding info on a piece of vacant propertyThe area we live in used to be a large trailer park and the owner has since turned it into his sorta personal land (many of his family and relatives live here in their own houses on their own property) and we're buying two parcels of land from him, the only two he had left.
When we moved in, there was an abandoned small double wide in the parcel next to us. The guy that we're buying the land from told us some lady in Florida or somewhere bought it free and clear, moved that trailer in and has never been there since. We've been keeping the grass cut because it was quite the eye sore when we moved in.
Fast forward to about 4 months ago and one of the neighbors (not sure which one) was burning and it got away from them and ultimately burned that trailer down. Damn lucky we had been keeping the grass cut, otherwise it could have spread much quicker and possibly consumed other houses.
Basically I want to find out who owns the property and see about obtaining it from them. I have the address of the property (not hard to figure out based on the other house numbers lol) and have searched tax records on it and it appears a bank may own it now? Not sure, but I make that assumption because for a couple of years it has gone delinquent and then a bank makes the tax payment eventually not an individual.
The thing is the bank wasn't one I recognized and I'm not sure if it's some local bank here or in Florida (if Florida is even the right state where this person is now living). And even then, who would I contact in the bank to see what they want for it (wonder if they even know it's destroyed now). |
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Not sure how your town works but ours has all kinds of GIS data available on the town web site. But it sounds like you already know who owns the property, as someone is paying the property tax. If that was not the case eventually the town would foreclose for delinquent taxes.
If nothing useful turns up in the GIS data it would be worthwhile paying a visit to your town's tax assessor to see what you can find out. That would also give you the appraisal value if you are able to purchase the property.
/tom |
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to JoelC707
said by JoelC707:Basically I want to find out who owns the property and see about obtaining it from them. Here in Florida we go to the property appraisers website and look up the history of the property by address or owners name or both. |
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blocklot to JoelC707
Anon
2015-Mar-28 2:06 pm
to JoelC707
as mentioned, you are doing the right things, keep doing them. you need not just the address, but the official "range block lot" info. there are special maps for that, normally at the county assessor's office. the owner of the park should also have that information on file, from when they sold to the neighbor.
the assessor will have the address and contact info for the bank etc. the home may or may not have been added to the property records. mobile homes now have to be permitted and secured, etc. if it ever was added, make sure you check the assessed value of the land alone. |
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JoelC707 Premium Member join:2002-07-09 Lanett, AL |
to tschmidt
Yeah, I've found the GIS data before, that's where I found the person's name to search tax records. Here's what I have found.
The GIS data shows who it is registered to and gives an address in Atlanta (Florida came from the guy we are buying the land from). The GIS data also indicates a land value of $5920 and $0.00 for building value so I suspect the now gone trailer was never added?
Using her name I searched the property data from the tax assessor. There are only three records: 2009, 2013 and 2014.
On 2009's record her address is listed as the address of that property (well close, the number isn't right but that number shouldn't exist on the street, all the numbers on my side of the street end in 0 or 4 and her listed address ends in 6). It went delinquent and was paid on 4/20/2010 by "J OR J PROPERTIES (TS-2009)". Tax bill due was $154.24 and they paid $1400 (either they paid several in bulk or they bought the property from the tax assessor as it's appraised value was $1340). A Google search of this property company has honestly lead me nowhere.
On 2013's and 2014's records it lists her as the owner still but with an Atlanta address (I'll get to this next). Assessed value has gone down to $1180 and yearly taxes are now down to about $50. Both of them were paid before the end of the respective year by "COMMUNITY BANK & TRUST". Google shows this bank does exist in "Southeast Alabama" but locations appear in LaGrange and Columbus as well.
Now, a Google search of the Atlanta address reveals it corresponds to "Sewell Printing Service Inc.". Street View of the address as of Oct 2012 shows the building (an industrial building with similar buildings all around) with the correct address and name on it so it's not a home business. I've found a website and plenty of data on the printing service so they don't seem to be defunct.
I'm not sure where to go from here, contact Sewell Printing and ask for the named person or if they know of a piece of property in Lanett, AL? |
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John Galt6Forward, March Premium Member join:2004-09-30 Happy Camp |
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JoelC707 Premium Member join:2002-07-09 Lanett, AL |
JoelC707
Premium Member
2015-Mar-28 3:05 pm
Hmm...
Searching the person's name I get nothing in Florida (maybe he told us a different state or he was given false info, who knows). I do get two hits in Auburn, AL. One is just the first and last name, the other is first, last and middle initial match. Might be something to pursue. |
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uniden9 join:2009-08-04 Birmingham, AL |
Several years ago, I had a somewhat similar problem. A timber company was demanding a right away across our property. We did not want to give it, but also did not know exactly where the property was located, only who was wanting the right away. With 10 acres, it could be anywhere. I went to the jefferson county court house, and to the property tax office. They showed me a huge map of the area, I want to say 1000 acre by 1000 acre, and they photo copied the part that had our property on it for me and then looked up all the adjacent owners that butted up to our property. Now this was in 1996 -1997. The only thing I had to pay for was the photo copy of the map. I also know realtors have easy access to this kind of information from buy my current home, last year. My realtor used crs power tool for this purpose. The link on the reports they gave me, had www.crsdata.com. I'm sure these companies are a dime a dozen, and you might want to ask a local realtor in your area, too. |
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mityfowl Premium Member join:2000-11-06 Dallas, TX |
to JoelC707
I know I'll get flamed but there isn't 1 piece of trailer park property that I would invest in.
Buy a mutual fund instead. |
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guppy_fish Premium Member join:2003-12-09 Palm Harbor, FL |
to JoelC707
What typically happens when taxes aren't paid is the county will auction off tax liens, investors buy these knowing one day, someone will want sell the property and they get paid ~18% for the lien release ( on top of the actual taxes paid )
The other thing is after 2 years, those that bought the tax lien, can file with the court and the lien, turns into title to the property. Place to start is the tax collector for your county.
Someone owns it, I bet you can get it for taxes paid + interest |
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to mityfowl
said by mityfowl:Buy a mutual fund instead. I have no objection to buying mutual funds, but the OP stated this is abutting property. Have no idea large it is. I assume it can't be that big if it is only valued at $1,000. Seems a small price to pay to enlarge his lot. Once you own land it is hard not to get greedy. We have 12 acres and covert an adjoining unimproved 2 acre parcel. Luckily one of our neighbors purchased it with the intent to keep it vacant. So we get the benefits (assuming they never sell it) without the cost. To the OP if you are unable to purchase the land because you are unable to track down the absentee landlord there is always Adverse Possession. But it takes a long time long time. » statelaws.findlaw.com/al ··· aws.html/tom |
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JoelC707 Premium Member join:2002-07-09 Lanett, AL |
JoelC707
Premium Member
2015-Mar-28 8:51 pm
said by tschmidt:Have no idea large it is. I assume it can't be that big if it is only valued at $1,000. Seems a small price to pay to enlarge his lot. Once you own land it is hard not to get greedy. We have 12 acres and covert an adjoining unimproved 2 acre parcel. Luckily one of our neighbors purchased it with the intent to keep it vacant. So we get the benefits (assuming they never sell it) without the cost. GIS says it's 1 acre. GIS also says our pair of lots total 1.3 acre but our surveys of the two lots indicate they are ~0.75 acre each. The lot in question looks kinda like one of ours so 3/4 to 1 acre I would guess. In our case it's more wanting to see if we can expand our existing property boundaries (even if we don't move any fences immediately). said by tschmidt:To the OP if you are unable to purchase the land because you are unable to track down the absentee landlord there is always Adverse Possession. But it takes a long time long time. Interesting, thanks. We suspected we could do something like that but damn 20 years? |
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JoelC707 |
to guppy_fish
said by guppy_fish:What typically happens when taxes aren't paid is the county will auction off tax liens, investors buy these knowing one day, someone will want sell the property and they get paid ~18% for the lien release ( on top of the actual taxes paid ) Given the J or J Properties company is listed as paying $1400, I suspect that's what they did. I don't know what happened prior to 2009 nor do I know when this was supposed to have been bought from the original owner so it's possible it wasn't even originally sold until 2009. said by guppy_fish:The other thing is after 2 years, those that bought the tax lien, can file with the court and the lien, turns into title to the property. I wonder if that's why there's no tax records for it between 2010 and 2012 (it jumps from 2009 to 2013). said by guppy_fish:Place to start is the tax collector for your county.
Someone owns it, I bet you can get it for taxes paid + interest That's kinda what I'm hoping for as well. |
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JoelC707 |
to mityfowl
said by mityfowl:I know I'll get flamed but there isn't 1 piece of trailer park property that I would invest in. No flames from me... I'm curious though, why not? Is it the land in general you wouldn't touch or the trailers on it? There's no more trailers on it, well not in the trailer park sense, several of them are single/double wides still but setup like a normal house. That said, there are still several of the tie downs we've found left buried which have become a pain in the ass sometimes. Also some oddities with the septic system but we've capped those off lol. |
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mityfowl Premium Member join:2000-11-06 Dallas, TX |
mityfowl
Premium Member
2015-Mar-28 10:23 pm
Your right I have no idea what the persons goals are |
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mityfowl |
to JoelC707
I can't imagine anything going wrong |
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Grumpy4 Premium Member join:2001-07-28 NW CT |
to JoelC707
Local property maps at municipal offices can be inaccurate, as you are likely aware. Brother and I discovered a parcel we own has highway frontage, which opens the door to numerous options. Our surveyor discovered this, and it took a few moments for us to believe him. No maps in any public office show this frontage. It is a slim piece, but there nonetheless.
Disposal of campers and the like can often be very difficult. The fact that it burned could well be a plus, in that the wall materials are a huge part of the disposal problem. Aside from the metal, the rest of it is typically labeled as "bulky waste." I'm not saying disposal is impossible, yet more like it could be expensive. |
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nunyaLXI 483 MVM join:2000-12-23 O Fallon, MO |
to JoelC707
There must be something bizarre going on. I just looked at several properties on the Chambers County GIS and it shows all the information you could ever want. Specifically owners name and address. |
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JoelC707 Premium Member join:2002-07-09 Lanett, AL |
JoelC707
Premium Member
2015-Mar-29 9:06 am
Yeah it gives me that for this property in question (and it's now updated for my property, used to show the person we are buying it from) but her listed address goes to a printing company in Atlanta. And the tax records for it makes me think either a property company and/or bank now owns it. |
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blocklot to JoelC707
Anon
2015-Mar-29 10:42 am
to JoelC707
keep doing what you and others have suggested. go in person. they are busy on the phone. the web just has summaries. the assessor's office will have all sorts of info that is not on web.
from what you have found so far, it does look like someone else has already rebought it, and is holding it for profit, so don't be surprised if they are now wanting double or triple what they paid for it... |
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robbin Mod join:2000-09-21 Leander, TX |
to JoelC707
Here I would check with the county clerks office regarding the property company. It could be a DBA in which case you would find info on it there. If that fails, do the same with the Secretary of State to look for corporations by that name. I believe they should be registered somewhere in your state if they are doing business there. Those are the two places I would start at. |
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John Galt6Forward, March Premium Member join:2004-09-30 Happy Camp |
to JoelC707
said by JoelC707:...but her listed address goes to a printing company in Atlanta. Perhaps there is an error in that someone listed the address using 'street' rather than 'avenue'...so on and so forth. |
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JoelC707 Premium Member join:2002-07-09 Lanett, AL |
JoelC707
Premium Member
2015-Mar-29 1:55 pm
Considering they have the physical street address for the entire street wrong, I don't know why that didn't occur to me before now lol. I'll try some other combinations and see what I come up with. |
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JoelC707 |
to robbin
That's a good point, if it requires locating that property company I'll have to go that route. |
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nunyaLXI 483 MVM join:2000-12-23 O Fallon, MO |
nunya
MVM
2015-Mar-29 2:42 pm
Spend $.50 on a stamp. Send a letter expressing interest and see if you get a reply. |
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