tax sale vs. sheriff sale

[Raz]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking at tax and sheriff sale properties and want to make sure I have everything straight.

Tax Sale:
- property is sold by municipality/region for non payment of taxes
- minimum bid is based on the outstanding taxes (i.e. owe $2000 in taxes, minimum tender/bid is $2000 + selling costs)
- vacant possession not guaranteed
- other liens/mortgages may be in place against property which would become the responsibility of the winning bidder[/li]

Sheriff Sale:
- property is seized from owner by sheriff and auctioned to public to pay debts
- no minimum bid
- vacant possession no guaranteed
- other liens/mortgages may be in place against property which would become the responsibility of the winning bidder[/li]

Does this look to be about right?  What do people see as the advantages and disadvantages of each type of sale?

Thanks for the help,

Raz

[pjwlk]

From what I've been told, for tax sales, the only liens that you would be responsible for are those registered by the Crown.  Mortgages are forfeited if not collected previously and any other leins are not your resposibility.

[Rob]

The  disadvantage of sheriff sales compared to auctions or tender is you never truly know what the cost of the purchase will be before you buy or bid on the property.  This unknown factor causes me to avoid these types of sales, and I don't even post these type of properties for that very reason.