Comments on: What is a Tax Sale?

By: Ned

Ned — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:16:17 +0000

Andrew, Opps, I missed replying to this one.
Yes $900 interest per year, and if you don’t pay for a year there is a good chance that foreclosure will have started and you could be liable for up to another $3000 in legal expenses.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:53:49 +0000

Please disregard the most recent thread.. doh! Sorry, I misread the numbers and realized soon after that these were only small fees of 10.00, 16.00 and 30.00.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:22:21 +0000

Thanks much Ned, this is extremely helpful in bringing us newcomers out of the dark!

I’m looking at the ‘Remarks’ in the Tax Sale Work Record and it says there’s a $160.00 fee for advertising, an auction fee of $1,000.00, atty fee $3,000.00. Are these legitimate fees that the redeemer is obligated to pay?

Also, are my calculations correct that the interest on a $5,000.00 lien is $900.00 within the first year?

Thanks again!

By: Ned

Ned — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:04:18 +0000

Andrew,

Firstly thanks for reading!

A person redeeming a property in tax sale must pay:
1) The lien amount
2) Interest which is 18% in Baltimore City from the day of the auction
3) Any actual legal expenses that the lien holder has had
4) Any additional taxes which have come due since the lien was sold. In other words they must catch up ALL the back taxes not just what is due the lien holder.

The City is holding the high bid premium and will refund that to the tax lien holder. The bid amount is not a factor in this case. It was never paid so it doesn’t need to be paid back.

This post to help homeowners in tax sale Help My Home is Going to Tax Sale might be useful to you.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:13:50 +0000

Hey Ned,

I’ve been reading up on your blog, along with the bidbaltimore.com FAQ, and I have a question about the amount that the redeemer of a property sold at tax sale is required to pay. Are they required to pay the total amount bid + attorneys fees, high bid premium etc. OR are they required to pay the lien amount + the attorneys fees, high bid premium etc.?

For example:
Assessed value: $100,000.00
Liens: $5,000.00
Bid: $65,000.00
Attorneys fees: $3,000.00

Does the redeemer have to pay the entire bid amount of $65,000.00 + fees or is it the $5,000.00 + associated fees?

Thanks for your insight on this. As you’ve probably already guessed, I’m trying to figure out what the possibilities are with purchasing a property that has been bid and won at the last tax sale.

By: Ned

Ned — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:18:03 +0000

Todd,

Thanks for reading and the nice compliment. If ETS is owned by who I think they are I doubt they would sell you a lien. They may sell you an older lien that they overbid on : – ) I don’t believe it is very common for people to sell liens but it is done. They are freely transferable.

By: todd

todd — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:41:53 +0000

hello Ned, awesome site for new investors, I own one property in Baltimore city, was wondering if I can contact ETS Maryland to see if they would sell the tax cert. note to me if I had an eye on one specific property that they won at the tax sale? Is this common or unusual?
Thanks for any feedback, Todd

By: Ned

Ned — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:40:56 +0000

Armand,

Thanks for reading and your nice comment.

I don’t understand your question exactly. I can’t tell you how much to bid because there are more factors than just the high bid premium. What I can tell you, based on your example is that if you bid more than $23,420 you will have to pay a premium. If you bid over that by $5,000 you would have to pay $1,000 in high bid premium. If you bid $10,000 more than that you would have to pay $2,000 in high bid premium. I hope this helps.

Ned

By: Armand

Armand — Thu, 21 May 2009 00:12:06 +0000

hey Ned, i would like to thank you for still taking your time to reply to all the posts and confused people we are about tax sale bid and premium but it’s coming very hady to me..i’m looking forward to attend our next tax sale in montgomery county on june 8 and i really need to come brace to know what i’ll be doing there..so bottom line, you don’t pay a high bid premium if your bid don’t exceed 40% of the propertie assessed value?so then do you decide how much to bid on the properties assessed value? so here an example: these are from a real tax sale list. please tell me what should i bid for not paying any premium :
Assessed value:$58550
Amount due:$716.51
what will my high bid premium be if so.
what what can i bid not to pay the premium.
Thanks a lot..

By: Ned

Ned — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:59:34 +0000

Ethan,

Thanks for reading. Yes, your bid amount is the amount you pay IF you foreclose and take over the property. That is only paid if and when the foreclosure is final. You are also correct that the amount due at the time of the sale is the lien amount and any high bid premium.

Ned