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3 Ways to Find Cheap Land anywhere in the United States

Is there a way to find cheap land anywhere in the United States?

Yes.

Let’s look at 3 more ways to find bargain land.



3 ways to find bargain land


1) Tax delinquent lands (delinquent tax rolls)

When you search for tax delinquent lands, you’ll be pleasantly suprised by what you find. Some counties have text files listing hundreds of properties that are tax delinquent (wherein the owners are late in paying their property taxes). As this requires looking over large lists, it’s a relatively untapped market for finding low cost properties.
(If you don’t see any links for county owned lands, simply call the county clerk and ask if they have a list that they can mail you. It might require a few dollars but it’s worth the investment.)

Using your computer and the Florida Counties Tax Deed Sales map, pick a county that interests you and visit the website for the county clerk. Find the link for tax deed sales and click it. At the next page, look for a link that says “delinquent tax roll”, “delinquent taxes”. Click on that link. A page will appear that lists owners of land who have been delinquent on their taxes.

Often, these owners are in a crisis situation (divorce, medical emergency, job layoff, car breakdown) and they cannot pay their property taxes. You can type their name and address into www.WhitePages.com and do a reverse search for their phone number, or you can write them a letter.

Ask them if they’re interested in selling their land. Offer to pay cash, take care of the paperwork fees, and tell them you can close in 7 days. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope so they can easily respond.

To sum it up, you’re finding the property owners who are late in paying their property taxes. Perhaps they’re interested in selling their property. Simply send them a postcard or letter with an offer to buy, or call them if you can.

Buying land with from list of delinquent tax rolls

Most counties in Florida have a large list of delinquent tax rolls that contains the addresses of property owners who are late in paying their property taxes. This presents another way for you to buy land from someone who may want to sell.

Once you find a parcel you like, find the address of the owner. At this point, you can write them a letter or postcard, or call them. If you call them, here’s a sample script you can use.

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Sample Script

You: Hi, my name is ________ and I’m calling to ask you if you’re interested in selling your property in __________ county.


Owner: How did you get my number?

You: I’m researching property at the tax clerk’s website, and these came up with delinquent (late) taxes, and it includes your address, so I was wondering if you’re interested in selling.

Owner: No.
 


You: Are you interested in selling this at a future date?
Owner: Not at this time.
 


You: Would it be okay if I called you back in two weeks?

Owner: Yes. What’ll you give me for it?
 


You: Do you know what equivalent properties sell for?

Owner: I don’t know. I’ll have to do some research.
 


You: I could give you _________ for it and pay all closing costs.

Owner: I’d like to research this first. Call me back in two weeks.
 


You: I might not have the money in two weeks. I have a limited amount. But, if I do, I’ll call you.

Owner: I don’t know if I want to sell it.
 


You: I need to find a property by three days from now. How about this. You think about what you wanna get for it and I’ll give you a call tomorrow. Does that sound good to you?

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Some other questions to ask the property owner:

1. Can you tell me what’s going on with the property?
 


2. Do you own it outright? Is it in a trust?
 


3. Does this property have title insurance? Does it have a clean title? 
 


4. Why are the taxes delinquent?
 


5. Is it buildable? Are there buildings on it?
 


6. Well? Septic? Electric? Paved road?
 


7. Does the property flood? Flood zone?
 


8. How long have you owned it?
 


9. Do you live there now?
 


10. Is the property wooded? vacant?
 


11. Does the property have an easement (road) to it?
 


12. Does the property have trash on it?

Whatever questions you can think of, ask. The more you know, the better. For the most part, people like answering questions. Allow the property owner to wander with his answers, and when he does, be genuinely interested by listening to to what he has to say and asking follow up questions.



2) County owned lands

County owned lands are lands that are owned by the county. These are also called escheated lands or struck off properties, as in lands that have been “struck off” to the county.

Usually, these lands have been to the tax deed sale but, for whatever reason, no one has bid on them. If the county has these lands, you will find them at the county clerk website, by clicking on the link that reads “tax deed sales.”

Look over these lands and see if any are worth buying from the county.

My experience regarding county owned lands has been mixed.

At a county sale of escheated properties I purchased peculiar shaped lots (15 x 165, 60 x 70) at a low price and sell them a profit, doubling my investment.

Looking over the county clerk website, I noticed information on ordering a list of county owned properties. The cost was 15-cents a page and the list was 31 pages. Eagerly, I enclosed a check for $4.05, a thank you note, and a self- addressed stamped envelope into a 9 x 12 envelope, and mailed it.

A week later I received the list.

After tearing it open, I spent the next two hours searching for the parcel identification numbers at the county property appraiser website. Halfway through the list, I stopped the search. The properties, so far, had been scraps, strange sizes like 1’ x 75’, completely unusable. In short, county owned lands are worth looking into, but you might want to limit your time in doing this.

Are there good deals on county-owned lands? Yes. Research. See what you find.

3) Calling out-of-state owners

Visit the county that interests you and visit the website for the county clerk.

1. Type in a last name.
2. Make one up.
3. A list of names will appear.
4. Pick a name and click on the link.
5. A new page will appear with property information.
6. Write down the parcel identification number and the first and last name of the owner.
7. Visit the property appraiser for the same county.
8. Click on “records search” and search using the parcel identification number or the first and last name of the owner.
9. A new page will appear that has a link to a GIS (Graphical Information System) map.
10. Click on that link. At the top of the GIS map will be icons (symbols).
11. Click on the icon that moves you further away from the image. (Usually, this icon is a minus (-) symbol. Using the GIS map, start clicking on different lots to find ones that belong to out-of-state owners.
12. When you do find one, contact them and ask them if they want to sell.
13. Offer to pay cash, cover the closing fees, and finish the sale within 7 days. Navigating the GIS map can be fun and slightly addicting. It’s kind of like playing Monopoly except with real money, so be careful.

Summary

As you can see, there’s a number of ways to buy land without having to pay realtor fees or even use a title company.

Sometimes, actually quite often, you’ll find land owners who are motivated to sell you their property. These land owners are tired of paying property taxes and ready to sell, yet don’t want to deal with realtors, so this is a win-win situation for both parties.

Use the 3 steps above to find cheap land, bargain properties, and low-priced real estate anywhere in the United States. You can find good deals on land, houses, and mobile homes.

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Kris Kemp is a writer, copywriter, musician, traveler, creative entrepreneur and the author of 20+ ebooks. He specializes in copywriting for sales pages, landing pages, squeeze pages, and email marketing campaigns. He has a variety of interests that share the common theme of freedom–health freedom, time freedom, financial freedom, location/travel freedom.

(Feel free to republish this article, as long as you leave the links in place.)

© Kris Kemp, 2020 & beyond