Research carefully - High Minimum Bid Properties

[Dave2]

Its a tax sale like any other with a number of properties of varying size and quality up for tender. As normal there is a reasonable range of minimum bids.  

Unexpectedly one minimum bid seems higher then comparable other properties but like most tax sales little information is forthcoming as to why.   In cases like this I would argue additional due diligence is needed to determine why the minimum is higher.
In fact it maybe your first warning that something is seriously wrong with the property like an environmental problem. Unfortunately a lot of these problems do not show via a conventional title search.  

Why because if municipalities have to do some remedial action against a property they will try and recover the costs through the tax sale process.  

Often an easy way to do a first check is get the annual tax bill x 3 - 4 years tax payments plus a cost (say $3,000 - $5,000) to run the tax sale.) Obviously a very valuable property will have a high minimum.  Thus a house has higher minimums compared to vacant land.  

Next a driveby will help.  That nice google photo of a house that is 4 or 5 years old may have changed because of a fire and the municipality had to incurr costs to demolish a badly damaged structure.  

There maybe signs of an environmental remediation.  Prior use is also a guide.  Industrial property is obviously one that calls for more inspection.

[mountainman]

I am Mountainman.

Post leader David makes a point,

And him I shall anoint,

Here he is the leader,

'though his claim is that of a bottom feeder,

The advice he gives is swell,

For once I saw a shelter with many a well,

But there was water there a plenty,

So why drill ten or twenty?

The truth was in the soil,

Which was filled with leaking fuel oil,

I know not of the one he speaks,

But of suspicion it quite reeks,

When the bounty is too high,

It may be time to say good bye,

So be very careful my good friend,

Or else your good fortune may very quickly end,

There is a reason for a bounty that is high,

And if I do discover why,

I will not be too shy,

To tell you not to buy,

In this one I have no stake,

Except a chance to mistake,

So my good Dave,

Which one must we evade?

For I am Mountainman.

[Dave2]

The truth was in the soil,

Which was filled with leaking fuel oil,

I know not of the one he speaks,

But of suspicion it quite reeks,

So my good Dave,

Which one must we evade?

For I am Mountainman.

Sorry Mountainman need one more piece of information
before I answer your post.  

Are you concerned mostly about in this world hazards or out of this world hazards?  This is a serious question because we have had both those risks in the last week (now past.)

PS this is what I mean about out of this world hazards.

http://www.hgtv.com/design/real-estate/how-to-sell-a-haunted-house

[mountainman]

I am Mountainman.

Many moons ago you called me names,

This time you now play games,

To answer your little riddle,

I can say the creature was drawn to the fiddle,

While not quite the lore of which you speak,

I have given enough to have a peek,

Perhaps of this world or not,

depends on how you're taught,

I for one have seen strange things,

So I can't say what the future brings,

The real problem is,

On this you are the wiz,

I know not of that you speak,

But of that magnificent peak,

Of which you had much fear,

The profit shall be very dear,

So my friend Dave,

I ask that you be brave,

And tell one and all,

Where the risk shall fall,

I know not of the danger,

But you my friend are not a stranger,

I suspect the one to leave alone,

Within this moon shall be borne,

But the truth to me is not known,

And it is the one I want not to own,

So no more riddles and give us what I ask,

Or I shall come and kick you in the %$*.

For I am Mountainman.

[Ronster]

Keep it civil please mountain man... even if it kind of (?) rhymes...lol

[mountainman]

I am Mountainman.

To the one called Ronster,

I can say i am no monster,

Last time my reign did end,

Because I did offend,

This time it shall be different,

My name is newly mint,

You'll see I am a good bloke,

Who has made a bad joke,

For Dave is quite the guy,

For him an ale I would buy,

I mean no harm but fun,

When i make a silly pun,

But I wonder still,

If Sir David will,

Tell us not to bid,

On which piece of %#*@?

For I am Mountainman.

[Dave2]

Mountainman:
 
Obviously you are not subject to some of the constraints that some of the members of this board like myself.
 
you have lots of time to wax poetic.
 
you are not concerned with budgets.
 
you do not have to answer to a significant other like in my case is not afraid to voice her concerns .  
 
All I tried to do with my original post was try and make this complicated tax sale world a little simpler.  
 
Go back and reread the cottage life article of a dozen years ago CAREFULLY.  
 
That was pre electronic land titles registration.  
 
Obviously the taxes on that island they reference in Tay had not been collected for a VERY LONG time.  
 
Possibly decades.  
 
Things have changed in the dozen years since that article was written.  
 
Bottom line is that doesn't happen anymore.  You might get an extra year to straighten things out but they will hold the tax sale.
 
It does not take a genius to divide the minimum bid by the average taxes for a year and come up with a number which is the number
of years they did not collect taxes plus some tax sale costs.  
 
If you get a large number alarm bells should go off because there is LIKELY another cost factor in there; such as  ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION.  
 
If you have a lot of time and budget you can investigate it to your hearts content.  
 
Mountainman:  
 
You wanted to know about what property IN FUTURE I was worried about.  There isn't one and you are not going to hear.
 
WHY?
 
If you are like me and worried about redemption i will be checking it out the day of the sale or just before.  Then if I find it is too late to tell you.  
 
So referring to a recent sale like MInden Hills,  if I have 10 properties to check out I may decide to pass on the one that may have risk.  At the last minute there is not time to check out a property's history.
 
RISK MANAGEMENT IS ONE OF THE KEY FACTORS OF SUCCESS IN THIS GAME.  
 
How do I tell; that is what I was trying to tell people that is all.
 
All I know of is so far this year there have been half a dozen environmental issue properties and one where a murder was potentially committed.  
 
The last one did not come to market but the buyer has to disclose that to potential purchasers now.