Ontariotaxsales.ca

[Chief 89]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this site and I'm looking for info from someone who has experience using the services offered by ontariotaxsales.ca and who would be willing to share it.

- Info package they provide: The property assessment value included in the package, where does it come from, is it the municipality assessment for tax purposes? If not, how and who assess the properties?

- Title search available: Does it include absolutely everything you need to know? Does it tell you when there's a lien if it's Crown or private lien? If there's any, do they tell you which ones are still in effect after the sale or you got to figure it out? Does it also include any execution or is it a totally different search - if it's different, how do you get that search done, is it via the municipality?

Any info on those subjects would be greatly appreciated - thanks in advance.

[Pfm1011]

The assessment is based on the provincial assessment of the  property  HOWEVER.. it is completely useless as it is based on local market and not actual property. So a completely gutted, burned out rat infested building with nuclear waste in the basement and barrels of toxic waste buried in the back yard....Is assessed as an immaculate building.  Even on vacant clean land the assessment is wrong as the owners do not ask for reassessment as they aren't paying taxes anyways or they are dead.  

So in short ..the assessed value is a joke in most cases and reflects what it MAY be worth when you finish the complete rebuilding of the property.


As per the service..I have used them on several occasions and their service is very good and the title reports are accurate ( and insured). They tell you if the liens will survive but provide no advice other then that.  They include a execution search but cannot confirm it is the actual owner so someone from the same area with same name.  

One thing to watch is that they use the towns answers on zoning and building permits and  misleading answers from the towns are quite common. IE "You can build subject to septic"...But the property cannot support a septic of any design ..so the answer should be no ...essentially a smart ass from the planning department trying to be a "cute" ( cute is polite for being a complete dickhead)

Also they will not warn you about hazards as they have no way to check.. so you could buy a tire dump or toxic waste site and the report from Ontariotaxsales will say nothing. They only cover title ..nothing more.   Its funny on their website they have the rolling images up top showing the deals and one is a house used as a scrap yard which they brag  "could have been bought for 250K under assessed"  . Anyone looking thinks they missed a goldmine..they actiually missed a landmine that would have bankrupted you


  I think they are the by far the best deal out there if you cant perform and interpret  the search yourself  but unfortunately they are advertising taxsales so causing piles of idiots to join the game..so they are somewhat competition to you.    So using them is a double edged sword. ( but I still do so I am a hypocrite)


Also do not perform the title search too early as most of the good deals redeem so you will be wasting a pile of money.

[Frank]

The assessment is based on the provincial assessment of the  property  HOWEVER.. it is completely useless as it is based on local market and not actual property. So a completely gutted, burned out rat infested building with nuclear waste in the basement and barrels of toxic waste buried in the back yard....Is assessed as an immaculate building.  Even on vacant clean land the assessment is wrong as the owners do not ask for reassessment as they aren't paying taxes anyways or they are dead.   

So in short ..the assessed value is a joke in most cases and reflects what it MAY be worth when you finish the complete rebuilding of the property.

One thing to watch is that they use the towns answers on zoning and building permits and  misleading answers from the towns are quite common. IE "You can build subject to septic"...But the property cannot support a septic of any design ..so the answer should be no ...essentially a smart ass from the planning department trying to be a "cute" ( cute is polite for being a complete dickhead)

MPAC doesn't consider the condition of any buildings on a property, they merely look at the type of construction, and the size of it, and place a value on it as being clean.  Unless, a previous property owner had a full environmental assessment done on a property, and disclosed that info. to MPAC and the town, then neither of them is at liberty to consider it in their assessments of the property...and as mentioned the previous property owner isn't paying the taxes anyways, so assessed value is a mute issue.

As to the building permit being available once you prove that you can put a septic system on it, the planners and building department people have to say that.   There was an OMB case a few years back...a guy had an island rock in northern Ontario, and he applied for a building permit...they denied it.  He took them to OMB where he proved that if he shelled out lots of cash he could boat in enough soil to put in a proper system.   So standard answer is ...maybe.

[Chief 89]

Thank you - much appreciated