Country Acreage Tax Sale

[Matt Sse]

My wife and I have wanted to buy some country acreage for some time, something like 150 acres in the Cochrane district.  Would this be something you would find in a tax sale typically?  Or would there be a better avenue to follow?  I vaguely recall hearing about land auctions held by the government.

Any help you could offer would be appreciated.

Matt

[Pfm1011]

The north has alot of tax sale auctions  , so you are in the right place.   In regards to Federal land sales...There is nothing on those and I havent seen anything in years . Canada did announce they would be selling some crown land about two years ago but nothing has happened.

 Canada and the provinces have created land management corporations that now control and sell any assets they have and the corps hand them over to realtors who then just MLS them. I do not believe you will ever see Federal land auctions again as realtors cant make money and the government staff must keep their realtor friends in the money.

Additionally an auction doesnt allow the government to control who buys it. You cant have just anyone paying a fair price for government land, It absolutely must go for the best use, which is ,of course, to their friends who then flip it for a huge profit.   If they are real ballsy they simply make up a story that they cant afford the renovations, sell the building to a "friendly"corp and lease it back and still have the taxpayers  pay for the renovations..
 

[Pfm1011]

Or would there be a better avenue to follow

Of course there is always MLS , but realize  that the asking prices are absolutely stupid and they are fishing for suckers.  I enquired about  one outside of Perth last week, 350 acres ( mostly swamp and crap in that area anyways)  429k asking , owner paid 100K in 2004 and has done nothing to the land. Needless to say if we did offer, it would not exceed 150 and that is 12% a year for profit for him.  That at if we decide we  really want it. If we are nuetral on the land, the offer would be 115 to 120

ICX.ca is the commercial lists and alot of bare land is placed on there.

Ignore the asks completely , Ignore the BS the salesmen tell you and offer what you think it is worth . Don't let them con you , bare land up north is worth about as much as a grain of sand in the Sahara, Especially north of Sudbury. 

At least with the MLS  and ICX you have a better selection and can make it subject to building permit and environmental condition.

You may also want to look at iciworld.ca  .Look at the "haves"  Its a site that the commercial agents post to each other on, The one thing that is good is it includes motovation info IE Distress or Health .  Note this is all agents so needless to say there is also silly asks on alot of the stuff. What is handy is there is also "wants" for the agents or the public so you can post what you are looking for. If you post,  state "principal only" or these pitbulls will jump in and flood you will all the crap they can think of trying to get a piece of the deal
 

 

[Dave2]

Matt:

While I don't normally recommend commercial sites one you may want to look at is Dignam Land. http://www.dignam.com

The biggest advantage in buying from them is that you have better control over what you are buying.

The biggest challenge sometimes with tax sales is that if you are looking for a specific type of property it may take a while to come up.  The other challenge is that you have to win the bid.  I have come second on several occassions this year and the one time that being in second place would have worked because the winner walked (still don't understand why) I came in third. 

For northern ontario larger plots they have some currently that maybe of interest. 

hope this helps.

Dave2

[Matt Sse]

I really appreciate all the responses everyone.  Excellent advice.  I'm going to continue reading and try to find some tax sales.  I really only need one good one, since I just want a nice spot to vacation too.  It does seem kind of exciting though, to bid and wait for the result.  I know you can't really get rich with these things but it's always nice to have a place to get away too.

I also appreciate the advice on the realtors, I've only bought two homes in my life and I feel like they would have the upper hand, knowing all the ins and outs etc.  But I have a feeling with the help of the people in this forum that won't be the case.

Thanks again,

Matt

[Pfm1011]

Advice on realtors...

A:There is a santa clause,
B:  the world is flat
C: Im from Revenue Canada and Im here to help you
D: I have a friend who is a realtor and he will get me a deal and not screw me as we have been friends since grade one and he is married to my sister.

Which of the above is least likely to be true.. If you picked D you are correct

They will screw you over so fast your head will spin, we are just road kill on their way to richies. We are simply in the way of them getting their money out of your pocket.

As long as you understand they are lying scum who will screw you for every penny you have and will sell you a toxic waste site in a second and that they make amway salesmen seem like trustworthy friends ( amazingly enough many are or were into amway or any other MLM scam ) then you may be ready for them.

If you even for a brief second start to believe they are human... then you are not ready to deal with them and will be a victim

And the worst of the bunch are the women..they con the wife with sisterhood crap and flirt with you to throw you off you guard... You would be better off with a rabid pitbull

( as you can tell I am a fan of the cockroaches)  ( oops thats not fair to call them cockroaches, as the roaches will be offended )

[Frank]

Advice on realtors...

A:There is a santa clause,
B:  the world is flat
C: Im from Revenue Canada and Im here to help you
D: I have a friend who is a realtor and he will get me a deal and not screw me as we have been friends since grade one and he is married to my sister.

Which of the above is least likely to be true.. If you picked D you are correct

They will screw you over so fast your head will spin, we are just road kill on their way to richies. We are simply in the way of them getting their money out of your pocket.

As long as you understand they are lying scum who will screw you for every penny you have and will sell you a toxic waste site in a second and that they make amway salesmen seem like trustworthy friends ( amazingly enough many are or were into amway or any other MLM scam ) then you may be ready for them.

If you even for a brief second start to believe they are human... then you are not ready to deal with them and will be a victim

And the worst of the bunch are the women..they con the wife with sisterhood crap and flirt with you to throw you off you guard... You would be better off with a rabid pitbull

( as you can tell I am a fan of the cockroaches)  ( oops thats not fair to call them cockroaches, as the roaches will be offended )

PFM

You forgot      E:  The cheque is in the mail.

Over the years I have come across a number of real-estaters that were true scum-bags.  However, I have met many more of them who were decent folk...trying to make a living...and at times it is tough.  I currently work in a small realty office with a half dozen agents, and I would be happy to call every one of them friend.  I therefore take some exception to your comments.  However, that said it is safe to say that there are some out there who you should be wary of, and the operative here is 'buyer beware'.   

And,,,yes,,,the women do appear to be flirters....but let's not forget that they are sales-folk and it is their job to get yhour attention....they can't help it if you take it the wrong way.

[Pfm1011]

Its not to get your attention,   Its to throw you off so you dont see the knife coming.

[speedfreeksteve]

For Ontario, I would say that anything north of Sudbury or North Bay, it's usually not worth the trouble of going the tax sale route.

There's plenty of cheap land still available and if you go that route vs. tax sale you can actually choose from 1000's of properties instead of just going after what's available.

One thing that i've noticed the last 12 months or so is that prices have generally been cheaper for properties in the northern areas that were NOT tax sales or on the MLS.

[Pfm1011]

As much as it pains me, I have to agree with Steve    There is a pile of land available  north and the prices are down..and thats  the asking , which are still crazy compared to the true value