How to Find Government Tax Foreclosure Real Estate
There are many ways to locate real estate for sale due to government tax foreclosures, with online websites being the easiest to access and serving as a good starting point for finding properties. Government entities, be they local, state or federal, foreclose on properties for delinquent income, property and business taxes. Seven states --- Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming --- do not collect state income taxes, so any state seizures in those states would generally be due to unpaid property taxes (which is normally the case even among states that do collect income taxes).
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Instructions
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Visit the U.S. Department of Treasury's website (see Resources), which lists properties seized or acquired for non-payment of IRS taxes. All properties listed are to be sold at public auction, and the site provides information about how to bid; it also offers additional information, such as legal notices, title and encumbrance data and guidelines for payment. You also can sign up for e-mail updates to keep you abreast of foreclosed properties. Although some property information is included, you may have to contact the local municipality to get all the details.
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Go to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) website. (See Resources). This is a great spring-board site for not only HUD listings, but most federal agencies that offer tax-foreclosed properties for sale. For example, the VA (Department of Veterans Affairs), the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), the IRS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Customs, the Department of Agriculture, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the U.S. Marshals Service all have links to properties on this page. By clicking on the VA link, for instance, you can navigate, via a map, nationwide to find VA homes for sale in your area. Other sites, such as Fannie Mae, utilize the same search criteria, while some links --- Customs, for example --- offer properties that have been seized due to criminal proceedings.
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Visit any one of dozens of real estate sites that list tax-foreclosed properties. HUD actually includes a link to Realtor.com on its site. Just open the link, click on a state, enter a city and click "Enter." Other real estate sites offer nationwide listings through similar methods --- simply click on a state and follow the directions to find properties. These sites tend to offer in-depth details about properties, including, in many cases, photographs of homes and businesses.
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Search your state's secretary of state or department of revenue websites. Most states, when foreclosing on properties (almost always due to property tax delinquencies), provide a listing of properties and the local municipality through which the property will be sold. For example, real estate foreclosed due to unpaid property taxes in Michigan is turned over to the county where the property is located. County governments are responsible for administering the sale of seized properties (although they can opt out and turn the property back over to the state for auction). In Michigan, tax-delinquency foreclosures are a three-year process, and properties are turned over to counties during the second year. The state holds its own auction beginning in June each year. Counties conduct auctions at varying times throughout the year.
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Contact counties or visit their websites. Most Michigan counties hold their auctions beginning in June or July and complete the process by the end of each year. Other states and counties have their own schedules. Macomb County in Michigan, for instance, offers detailed information about the properties for sale and how to register and bid on real estate.
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Check with real estate agents. Local real estate agents will have information about foreclosed homes and houses available through tax seizures and that are coming up for auction.
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References
Resources
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