Looking to get a great deal on some real estate? One of the best ways to find cheap land is with online auctions. While there are definite duds out there, you can get a good deal if you know what to look for. Many times online auctions are on short notice, so you need to do your own due diligence. Here are some tips to make your land buying experience a pleasurable one.
The first thing you need to consider is seller feedback. Ebay makes it very easy to check out your seller. Make sure there are no complaints, or if there are any, you need to find out why. There are two sides to every story, so if your seller does have a negative rating, you need to check the transaction and find out why. Unfortunately, a lot of deadbeat buyers like to leave retaliatory feedback.
The second thing that you need to do is verify property ownership. Most auction websites do not check this. It can be done easily to the person that handles records in your state. This person is usually either called the recorder or the county clerk.
The third thing you need to do is check to find out if taxes are current. This can easily be done with a call to the County Treasurer.
The fourth thing to consider is if there are any delinquent association or sewer fees associated with the property. Online auction sellers frequently lie about the status of the dues. Call the property owner association and verify the billing status.
The fifth thing to check out is the title type. If it was previously a tax sale you will most likely get a Special Warranty Deed that is not insurable for title insurance. If you get a Special Warranty deed property you will have to go through a court action, called a quiet title before you can build on the property.
The sixth thing to consider when buying land online is the auction terms. A lot of seller will sneak in hidden fees and inflate the closing costs. Read the fine print.
The seventh thing to consider is valuation. Always do an advanced search and find out what things actually sold for online. Do a completed listing search for this information. Do not rely on the asking price as it may be inflated. Call the local Realtor and find out what is happening in the area.
The eighth thing to figure out is your exit strategy. Figure out your plan. You need an exit strategy going in. If you plan a quick flip, then you need to be very sure that you are not paying too much.
And finally, you need to check the property zoning. Unfortunately, some sellers will post misleading facts about the property's zoning or simply are misinformed themselves. You don't want to buy your dream property and suddenly find out that you can;t build on it. This can be discovered easily with a quick call to the county assessor's office.
Obviously, it would be better to visit each property in person before you buy it. But in the world of online auctions, this is usually not feasible. With these tips, you should be safe in securing a high quality investment that will appreciate rapidly in the years to come.
Author: Carlos Scarpero
Author Bio:
Carlos Scarpero is an experienced network marketer and the MLM expert with All Experts.com. Check out the Network Marketing Minute podcast at www.CarlosScarpero.com
