buying land FOR the state

[timetohike]

I'm in the process of buying some rural land at a foreclosure. In the process I came across a plot that is in the middle of a state reforestation area (not in the ADK) that no ones wants because most of it is presently a state designated wetlands and is relatively small compared to other available parcels for sale. The old owner just abanonded it.

I may be able to get it for the minimum bid of $100 even though it has a fmv of about $4,500. The county said they would sell it for the minimum bid if that is the highest bid.

The state had the option to buy it but declined because it would have had to pay all local taxes for the last 3 years. If I buy it and then donate it to the state I get a tax deduction that will be worth more than $1500. Even taking into account the transaction costs (about $300) I still make money via the tax deduction and the state gets the land it wants.

[Jason]

Sounds cool, but you could always build a smelter on it. Just a suggestion...

[DRIFTER]

Such property is rarely abandoned and finding out if it was or the owner just can't afford to pay his taxes is not something the county clerks office shares! Why not buy it and offer it back to the previous owner on a monthly payout....it would be a nice deed, [pun intended].There would also, if I'm not mistaken, be title search and lawyer fees for deed transfer involved. The state can't afford $300.00????

[Lute Hawkins]

What kind of wetland is it? Is it a peat bog? If it is, pump out the water, mine the peat, and turn the hole into a landfill. Then when it's filled up, abandon it by not paying taxes on it. Go for it, dude!

[DRIFTER]

Maybe you could use it to sell carbon offsets for the carbon obsorbing flora and fauna growth? Lets think on an international basis and green at the same time! Wasn't it just earth day?

http://www.ecrater.com/6442/448baa2381789_6442b.jpg

[timetohike]

Such property is rarely abandoned and finding out if it was or the owner just can't afford to pay his taxes is not something the county clerks office shares! Why not buy it and offer it back to the previous owner on a monthly payout....it would be a nice deed, [pun intended].There would also, if I'm not mistaken, be title search and lawyer fees for deed transfer involved. The state can't afford $300.00????

It's a tax foreclosure sale. The old owner quite paying the real property taxes three years ago because beavers built a dam that expanded the wetlands from 1/3 of the property to nearly 90% of it.

The beaver dam is actually on the parcel next door and in a few years it might start to encroach on the existing structures, which would then allow that owner to apply to have the dam removed. The smaller parcel I'm looking at has no structures. Thus the owner of the smaller parcel cannot stop the advance the wetlands.

Someone might show up to bid who wants to hold the property for a few years to see if the neighbor can get rid of the dam. But there is a lot of other property available for people who want instant use of whatever they buy.

If you didn't know about the wetlands you'd bid a lot for this parcel. It is one of just four lots in the middle of the reforestation area. I think it was one big parcel that the owner refused to sell when the state was buying the land many years ago. Then he broke it up into four parcels. All of them are now affected to varying degrees by the expanding wetlands.

I'm after another parcel in another location for my personal use. It is surrounded by reforeststation areas but is not within any of their boundaries. but all of them are within a mile of that parcel.

The owner of that property left the state several years ago and just stopped paying the real property taxes. I'm expecting some competitive bidding on that parcel. I have set a limit and won't go beyon it so I might not get it. But I'll be there so I'll toss a minimum bid on the wetlands to see what happens.

The transaction cost are only about $300 beacuse I would just have to pay recording fees and some miscellaneous county levies. A title search is not needed because the law provides that a deed from a tax foreclosure is a clean title (the IRS is the only entity that can redeem a lien after a tax foreclosure sale, and it has just 120 days to do so.) I've checked the titles on the parcels I'll be bidding on and the appear to be in order, and there are no federal tax liens recorded.

Unfortunately, I won't have a chance to update the titles status before the sale, but if anything slipped in during the last week I will find out next week and then can walk away just by forfeiting the 10% down I have to pay on the day of the sale.

[DRIFTER]

........Under those circumstances, I would do it and wait out the beavers, they move on in x # of years anyway!

[chairrock]

A good trapper could solve this in one night in November.

[ADKHUNTER]

If I'm reading this right the parcel in question is landlocked. Buyer beware! Access can be a problem depending on how deep into the state land its located.

[St.Regis]

Sounds cool, but you could always build a smelter on it. Just a suggestion...

LMAO!!

[timetohike]

Well, that plan didn't work. The auctioneer started bidding at $1000 but had to drop to $100 before anyone would bid. I got a bid in at $150 and then all hell broke lose.

The winning bid was $8,500 for a 2.5 acre swamp restricted by both the DEC and Army Corp of Engineers as a state and federal wetlands. Unrestricted property in that area generally sells for about $2,000 per acre max. It had to be one of two adjoining property owners, or someone who only knew the location of the property and not its condition.

The property I was interested in for myself also went for more than the max I was willing to bid, although not by much.

But someone got a sweat deal on a 28 acre hunting camp in a great location for just $22,000. I thought it would go for well over $40,000. If I had known it was going to be so cheap I would have tried to get a few friends together before the bidding to pool our resources. That is what I'm going to do for the next auction coming up in 2 weeks.

[tjwarren]

Answering this will obviously cause you more competition, but where are these auctions held?

[timetohike]

Answering this will obviously cause you more competition, but where are these auctions held?

Last saturday's was in Allegany county. Stuben county has one planned for June or July. The judge has not yet signed off on the order but it all information about the properties for sale should be posted at the Stuben County website by the end of May. The Stuben county sale will be held at the high school in Bath.

The Allegany county sale was set up with the ability to bid over the internet, although they tried it twice before and it didn't work. This year it did work and 4 or 5 bidders were apparently making real time bids over the net. I don't know if Stuben will have a similar setup.

On May 17th there is a Cattaraugus County tax sale auction in Little Valley. The property list is up on the Cattaragus website. No internet bidding though. Gotta be there in person. I wrote the cou ty Treasurer and suggested they do internet bidding like allegany county but it is probably too late to arrange for that this year. hopefully next year.

I saw one lot on the Cattaraugus list that I am interested in but I'm betting it will go for a hefty price. I drove by it and it has a gutted trailer and an old shed that would have to be removed. It looks like a junk yard. But more importanly, the owner of a large plot across the road has built and is marketing upscale homes on 5 acre plots. I'm sure he'll outbid everyone for the junkyard parcel to clean it up and gain control over it. It has to be hurting his sales.