The first bid I ever made was for a townhouse condominium in Orillia. There were about 8-10 units available at the tax sale. As an added bonus, there were another half-dozen selling on the open market at the time. A quick tour of these units with the listing agent provided a wealth of information: apparently the reserve fund had "disappeared" during the last board's tenure, lawsuits were in progress, no maintenance was being done due to the lack of funds, and in all likelihood the unit owners would eventually be on the hook to replenish the reserve fund. The condition of the units that I saw was a mix: one unit was fine (but in dire need of some fresh paint), while another one had been vandalized (bathroom fixtures smashed, holes kicked in walls, interior doors torn off the hinges).
The minimum bids were around $15-20k, and the units on the market were listed between $80-90k. As nervous first-timers, my partner and I only bid around $25k for one. The bidding turned out to have some drama of its own: all the units were snapped up by the same company for $101k, which we thought was absurd given the known market value (the next-highest bid was around $60k). A couple of years later we found out that the winning bidder was actually the current owner of the units! Apparently the treasurer had decided to go ahead with the tax sale even though the owner had offered to pay the taxes in arrears, so he entered a bid to avoid losing his properties. The whole thing ended up in court, of course, with the city and treasurer getting spanked for not cancelling the sale.
Interesting! In the same issue of the Ontario Gazette that announces this tax sale, there is a "Landmark Properties" listed among the companies who are in default of complying with the Corporations Tax Act (see the third page of: http://www.gov.on.ca/GOPSP/en/graphics/108530.pdf)
jreist: are you sure about that? According to the Municipal Act, 2001:
Application of proceeds 380. (1) The proceeds of a sale under section 379 shall, (a) firstly, be applied to pay the cancellation price; (b) secondly, be paid to all persons, other than the owner, having an interest in the land according to their priority at law; and (c) thirdly, be paid to the person who immediately before the registration of the tax deed was the owner of the land. 2001, c. 25, s. 380 (1).
It would seem to me that the crown would be the first in line under sub-section (b). My understanding is that any residual amount of the crown lien would still be the responsibility of the new owner, though.