I missed something!

[ErnestBidder]

  I've been reading all the new posts for quite a number of years, and have seen mention lately, of the 2 year rule, but have not heard of this; can someone explain? Does it mean that the owner now has 2 years to pay the back taxes, after a tax sale? I've heard of this in the US, but not here.

  Happy Valentine's day to all, tardy though I am.

[DRD]

They have changed the number of years you need to be in default to sell your property, from 3 years to 2 years

[ErnestBidder]

  Many thanks, DRD. If I ever get out of the quagmire of (re)building my new retirement home, I owe you, at the least, a beer. Just call me Dave2 Jr.

  On the (re)building: never hire a contractor without a written contract, and never pay them every week; make them prove their mettle.

[DRD]

where are you rebuilding?

[ErnestBidder]

  We are /were building our retirement home, out Trenton way;after detailed discussion, I hired a "contractor" to build our ICF bungalow, with radiant heat, etc. He screwed up the footings(!), got fired, and I hired local chaps to work with me. It was difficult, so I hired a real, professional contractor. he was a profession in "quick & dirty & wrong", so he got fired too. Now I am doing it myself, with 2 good guys, but injuries are slowing me down. Ah, well.

[Dave2]

Ernest Bidder / DRD:

Just a heads up on the Upcoming tax sale in Trent Hills.  One of the properties is apparently environmentally contaminated from a former gas station.   For legal reasons cannot be much more specific but caution is warranted on this tax sale.  Do your homework.

[ErnestBidder]

  Years ago, i was talking to a guy who had searched out a defunct marina, somewhere around Peterborough, because he was too cheap to pay the boat storage fees for his sailboat. After parking (squatting) there for a few years, he got curious about the marina, found out that no one wanted it, asked questions in various Ontario gov't offices, got the right guy, who told him the main concern expressed, in the old paper work, was gasoline contamination, and told him that all he had to do was excavate the old tank location until water started seeping in, then have someone from his office drive up & do a visual check: if no shiny petroleum product was floating on the water surface, they could sign off that there was no contamination. He checked around, and found a guy working a backhoe, just a few blocks away, told him he needed a 15'-20' hole, and the operator said he'd dig it, on Thursday,  for two cases of beer. He called the Ontario gov't guy, who said "I'm heading for the cottage, so I'll going right past there tomorrow afternoon. I'll bring the form with me, and stop by". In the end, this guy, who turned out to be a shifty character, bought the marina for less than the price of a cottage lot! And made a small fortune when he sold it a few years later!

  I had an experience, decades ago, when I found a weeded 1/2 acre lot, in an industrial area of Oshawa, that had an old two storey house on it, that badly needed repair. Talked to the wrong guy in the city building dep't, who said the house was condemned, and must be torn down, and could not be fixed up. I walked away. 4 months later, a fellow bought it, got a building permit, rebuilt all the walls, one section at a time, ran his business from that house for 8 - 10 years, and then sold it for $250,000. The sale would have taken place in the mid '80s, when a $250k was big money.

  I turned to practicing how to kick my own butt.

  The morale of the story is, check everything, & talk to people. Then, talk to more people. Early in my foray into the tax sale hobby, there was an old property, south-east of Hamilton, that appeared to have been an auto wrecking yard, or possibly a body shop or used car dealer. It was contaminated with buried tires, and oil. I talked to a Hydrogeologist, who told me that all I had to do was excavate and remove the tires, and spread the contaminated dirt so it was exposed to the sun. It would take some time, but the only expense was turning the dirt, and getting a Hydro-G to sign off after testing. In the end I let it go, because of distance issues, but it was ok for the right person.

  Question everyone, and don't accept the first answer.

[DRD]

Are you saying this is a Dave trick to keep the competition away?

[Dave2]

Are you saying this is a Dave trick to keep the competition away?

DRD: 

I am not going to bid the property I referred to because I don't want to commit suicide. The downside financial risk is potentially a lot more then just replacing a derelict building here. Whether or not historically some of the potential contamination could be removed by evaporation depends on the type of contamination which we won't have details on as with a tax sale we have no right of inspection.  Also things have changed since the historical events mentioned by Ernest Bidder.  What they are today I would prefer to avoid getting the need to find out. 

There is more then one property for sale on this tax sale and as always I reserve my right to bid on other uncontaminated property if it makes sense.  As with stocks any fool can buy them.  The trick is whether you can sell them for a profit. 

[Jayz]

Dave trick goes further ...

Dave, you have the right to bid on all properties including the contaminated one. No one can hold you responsible for what you've said and strip your right of doing otherwise.

 

[ErnestBidder]

  First, let me say that anything Dave2, or any other member, says, must be considered as a trick to keep other members from bidding, or else a ploy to obtain free beer. Seriously, I was just giving examples of how 2 people turned a nice profit, because they asked the right questions of the right people. Just because someone in authourity says "no" doesn't mean that they are truthful, or that they are the final arbiter.

  Dave2, your favourite (green) day is happening, this coming weekend, is it not?

[JonSS]

We all miss something now and then. Wish you the best!