Tax Sales in New Brunswick

[viking]

Hey,

I'm new to the topic of tax sales, but thought I would share what I have learned about the process in New Brunswick:

Tax sales are done through a public auction which one must attend, and if one has the winning bid they must submit full payment immediately. Even after this is done, the property is still not yours....the previous owner(s) have 90 days in which they can redeem their property. The good news is that in order to redeem the property, the previous owner must pay the purchaser (from the tax sale) the purchase price, plus 15%, plus all costs related to the purchase of the property (title search, lawyer fees, etc.).

I realize that having to be present at the auction is an inconvenience, but was wondering what people thought of the rest of the procedure and how it compares across the country.

Thanks

[Rob]

The process differs in a few ways.  First the public auction is similiar to Alberta and many US states (including Texas) where you need to attend on a specific day at a specific time.

90 days for the previous owner to redeem the property is lower then in some places where they have upto 9 months to 1 year after the tax sale process.

The payment in full at the time of the auction is the most shocking part of the process.  I hope they accept a standard cheque and not require a money order or a certified cheque.

Thanks for the information Viking.  Let us know if you are successful with a New Brunswick tax sale property purchase.

[viking]

They actually only accept certified cheques, cash, money orders, traveler cheques or a regular cheque along with letter from the bank stating they will honor it.

Compared to Ontario, the prices seem to be quite a bit lower here in NB. For instance the last tax sale was back in April or May 2006 (in Fredericton) and there were roughly 1o properties listed and the prices ranged from $80 to $6000. These included vacant land, cottages and regular houses. The interesting thing is that there was one property listed with a minimum bid of roughly $5200, but it was for a nice house in the heart of the city, assesses for $223,000 for propert tax purposes. I'm assuming there must be liens against it because it has been listed in two consecutive tax sales, but I will definitely look into it more if it comes up again.

Thanks

[Frank]

Sounds more like a Sherrif's sale in Ontario.