Trent Hills

[netpred]

Seven new tax sales in Trent Hills. See their website. They give great information. Most properties seem to have serious issues such as zoning, landlocked, unassumed road etc. One may be OK but do your own work please. Do not rely on anything that I or anyone else says.

On the others, be especially careful. You can get a great deal if you have the capacity to fight with City Hall. Unless you are a lawyer you should hire one who knows his or her way around. If it goes beyond Committee of Adjustment, you will also need a planner, about $10,000 for a good one. So keep all of this in mind. You can easily spend $20,000 or more to try to deal with the zoning issue and still strike out. Keep in mind that you may also have to deal with the local conservation authority. A bigger pain than the municipal authorities. None of the properties are waterfront or seem to have any special value although I haven't driven out to have a look. My guess is that many will have no bids or will sell for the minimum. A great way to buy a property to tell your friends that you are a landowner. You will of course have to pay taxes or you will see your property out for tax sale in three years.

[Pfm1011]

Thanks for the listing info

[Dave2]

Thanks for the heads up.

I just hope I don't run into the same problem as last time in this township
when I stupidly fell in love with a nice house that was by the Trent River.  Over 50 documents against title
and my lawyer's bill was three times normal.  Almost at the cost of a regular sales closing. Of course it was redeemed.

Of general note to newbies on the board this township was hit hard by checkerboarding (It was one of White Rock Estates favourite development areas) and they have extensive defences against allowing you to develop any old piece of land.  They will not allow a building permit on property fronting on what they call "private roads". Half of this group's listing's fall into that category. Note they require road frontages that are typically greater then a single checkerboard lot.   Watch the setback rules
They can really bite on an irregular piece of property.

And of course believe it or not our old favourite the Oak Ridges moraine is even in the township.   

That being said of course it serves as an excuse it serves as an excuse for a nice country drive.  I believe that most of the properties are reasonably accessible; certainly much easier to reach then Frank's recent Muskoka cross country Jaunt. 

Look me up for a coffee if you are in the area. (That's what private messages are for). 

On another front I would like to say thanks to our hard working administrator, Rob. 

Dave2

[netpred]

Well I drove out this past weekend.

My guess is that you will get any of the vacant lots for the minimum. Not only are there zoning issues, but the land itself is pretty bad. Terrible private roads, really steep and in bad shape. The lots themselves are not level, some are low, all are overgrown, none has any special value as being waterfront etc. Basically, only value is for the neighbours (the one or two that have neighbours). I did not drive out to see the one north of Warkworth off county rd 25 because I had seen enough.

[ErnestBidder]

  I hope you didn't make decisions in your love life as you did in this tax sale. You must remember that the municipalities do not pick & choose which lots to put up for tax sale. If you've gone to the trouble of driving out to look, look at all of them, because you never know when a gem will pop up, so you might have missed the buy of the year this time, although I hope not. A few years back, I was put in the positon of having to take over the bid I put in for a friend(?), and decided to build our retirment home there; in the end, we sold it at cost because it was just too far from other business interests, and was just a bit smaller (1.4 Ac) than we really wanted, but it was north of Warkworth just off Hwy 25, and was a nice lot.

[markymark]

No gems.Warkworth may be over assessed.3 is a good spot for a cattle pond.4 low.5 looks buildable.6 back hill at least 40degrees.
7 side hill 40 also.

[Dave2]

MarkyMark:

I would classify you as an optimist on this board if there is a scale of "buildability" if there is such an English word   Referring to my earlier post:

"Of general note to newbies on the board this township was hit hard by checkerboarding (It was one of White Rock Estates favourite development areas) and they have extensive defences against allowing you to develop any old piece of land.  They will not allow a building permit on property fronting on what they call "private roads". Half of this group's listing's fall into that category."

Unfortunately in my earlier post I too suffered from excessive optimism.  I said half of the tax sale listings were on private roads
It is more like 80%.  (All right Frank I stand corrected it is actually 6 out of 7 or 86%, although some of the listings have existing structures) The only one that is currently on a township road is #3.  Thus listing #5 that you say may be buildable currently runs into the township private road building prohibition as I mentioned earlier. The key is when it may be changed.  That requires local knowledge that is not in the public domain and is the reason why the winning bidders on this group will likely be local property owners or people who did not do their homework.

 I also spent a nice afternoon yesterday at Lower Trent Conservation.  They have beautiful offices way out in the middle of nowwhere north of Trenton.  When I looked at the properties 10 days ago; I got a little concerned when a real estate for sale sign on neighbouring property advertises "waterfront" when there is no lake or river.  All I can truthfully say is that there are designated wetland areas in very close proximity to a number of these properties.  If you are going to bid on anything you had better check each one out very very carefully.  Swampland is not just found in Florida.   

The interesting one maybe the one with the existing structure which looked occupied (#1) or possibly 2 although the lot is small and my wife and I were not sure if the structure(s) included the chicken coop.   Right now I have some other priorities and don't have the time to properly check them out.   Of course that is why at the end of the process I may end up with egg on my face because I didn't follow Ernestbidder's advice and check out everything. 

Dave2
 

[markymark]

Dave.
I am not optimistic regarding the legal aspects of these vacant lots.
I just drove by 5 and it looked suitable to support a structure,not a black diamond slope.
I agree with your view on winning bids (blind is bad here).Regarding the so called interesting ones within proximity of water,
I believe you will be stuck with them as is.(Inoperable waste systems an obvious example).
No site alteration.No new construction.No new septic...
"buildability" The word rolls of tongue good so why not?
My earlier post a little blunt, but just giving a heads up on these.

Good Luck
Markymark.

ps. I hate typing.

[Dave2]

Markymark:

the theme of your post is patience.  looking at the US right now I think our time is coming

http://www.bubbleinfo.com/2009/05/tax-collections/

Dave2

[speedfreeksteve]

I'm not referring to the Trent Hills properties here, but I think the time is NOW for jumping on some properties. The ones in the recent Severn tax sale were pretty decent, although I don't know what they ended up going for. If I had some spare cash I would have put it into one of those. One of them was as close to being waterfront as you could get without actually being waterfront.

Be careful with playing the waiting game, I've seen alot of people lose out on good deals by waiting. I see this year as being on of the best in several years for what will be available.

[Pfm1011]

"I see this year as being on of the best in several years for what will be available"

I hope you are correct..I need to buy something and the wife wont let me buy a sailboat...so I guess its more land

[Dave2]

PFM:

Why not a big engined power boat?  You know the kind you can hear coming from three counties away. They are going for really cheap now south of the border.  Also if you have a really co-operative wife you would finally have the excuse to equip them with the long haired beauties in skimpy bathing suits.  My wife calls them the "accessories" but she is not so co-operative in allowing me to surround myself with this type of "distraction".  Also I am not able to afford this type of luxury.

Think of it.  You can post a couple of pictures on the board as proof to us all of the fortune you make from tax sale property buying and selling.  Speed could even send you some marble so you could have a few statutes made like the ancient greeks and romans used to do on your (tax sale purchased) country estate.     

Dave2

[markymark]

"I see this year as being on of the best in several years for what will be available"

I hope you are correct..I need to buy something and the wife wont let me buy a sailboat...so I guess its more land

If a sailboat is what you want check out Florida.
The price is right, although it may be hard to get it across the border with no serial #.

[Pfm1011]

"Why not a big engined power boat?  You know the kind you can hear coming from three counties away. They are going for really cheap now south of the border."

I Already have a 31 ft express cruiser ( Have to keep my Arab friends employed)  Its in lake Ontario so it is BORING , You can only go tubing so many times before the novelty wears off,   . I have to move it to Georgian bay or  the Trent  ..Need a sail boat so I can bone up on my sailing skills . Planning for my retirement..

That is a good plan,  I can take over the Tom Vu infomercial time slot...

Tom VU Quotes (wiki)

Are you man enough to get off your lazy American ass and go to Vu?s seminars?"[1]
 
"A lot of your friends will tell you, 'Don't come to the seminar. It's a get-rich-quick plan.' Well, tell them, it is a get-rich-quick plan because life is too short to get rich slow."

"There's two kinds of work in America: hard work and smart work. Which one are you doing now?"
This is not a country club! This is my house!"

"Today I'm gonna show you how to drive a sports car. First, you need a lot of money!" (No truer  words have ever been spoken)

 Don't listen to your friends. They're losers!"

"Do you think these girls like me? NO, they like my money!"

"At first I got lots of discouragement from friends and stranger who are loser! You know what these people kept telling me? They kept saying, 'Well Tom Vu, you a crazy nut, here you are, a poor immigrant, poor minority, speak no English, no contact, on and on, and you trying to be rich in America! You crazy, man! Look at people out there! They smarter than you are, they not even rich! Who are you to try?' And you know what? I have to keep telling these people every time, I kept saying, 'You are loser! Get out of my way! I make it somehow!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQNdi-fRExcvideo

[Dave2]

Now I know why these guys have their canadian dealership west of toronto

http://www.ferrari.com/English/about_ferrari/Ferrari_today/Locations/FNA/Pages/FNA.aspx

At a bid opening I will finally be able to recognize you.  On the other hand the people who drive these cars
usually wear dark glasses.  Could we have two ferrari drivers in our midst?

Dave (alias also)