Hi all,
I had an aunt live with my mom many years ago who apparently had some "land" in Arizona (Coconino County area). My mom recently received a letter about the property and the many years of back taxes owen and a lien. She said if I can figure it all out I can have it.
I have reached out to the contact on the letter a d then sent some info but not sure I understand what is being asked.
So my question is, where would I start or begin to understand what all is needed to determine the worth of the land? is it worth the hassle to figure it all out to sell when I live in Texas? The back taxes on the paper only shows about $2500 total but not sure about the lien or hidden cost to put in my name or anything else.
Any help or direction would be appreciated with determining best course of action and if its worth it to do.
Aunts old land- Help!
byu/AgitatedNarwhal5 inrealestateinvesting
Posted by AgitatedNarwhal5
3 Comments
Check the county assessor’s website first to see what the land is actually worth and get the full tax history – Coconino County should have most of that info online. For $2500 in back taxes it might be worth it if it’s actual buildable land and not some random desert plot from those old land scam deals
What county in az? Look at the appraised value with the tax assessor. You’ll also see the back taxes.
For liens and other title issues, look at the recorders office or whoever records public records.
Did the letter you received give a parcel number or address? That’s the first step is to locate where exactly the land is and what number or address is assigned to it. You can do that by going on the property appraiser site in that county. You’ll do a search for your aunt’s name that should find it pretty easily. If your aunt didn’t have a Will, it may need to go through Probate. If it were me, I would contact a title company first, explain the situation to them and ask them to open up a title search. They usually don’t charge you for this, especially if there’s a potential probate involved. The title search will pull any liens, taxes, etc. Once you get that back and it takes about two weeks, you’ll be able to decide if those liens and late taxes are OK with you. Let’s say the land is worth 50 and all the liens and taxes equal 20 well you’d have to make the decision. If you did want to move forward with it, you could then open Probate. Most title companies will recommend a good probate attorney. As the others have mentioned, you can also do a lot of the footwork yourself by looking on the recorders office for liens and the tax assessors office for late taxes. It’s usually best to just call them. They’ll be pretty helpful. Also, if you don’t want to go through the whole Probate process and there’s no other family that would ever try to claim it, You could just pay the late taxes so that it doesn’t go to auction and then use the property as you like while leaving it in your aunt’s name. There’s really no reason to transfer it to your name, especially if it’s not worth as much as the liens so if that makes sense, you could also do that. Most counties will only take a property if the taxes aren’t paid and they don’t care who’s living there and whose name is on the deed as long as the taxes are paid. This is also one way people claim vacant land. Many states have laws where it’s like an adverse possession type thing, where if someone maintains a property for a certain amount of time and pays utilities and taxes after a certain amount of time they can petition the court to move the property into their name. But that’s only if you want to put it in your name. Like I said as long as you pay the taxes, it can stay in your aunts name for your whole life as long as nobody else comes to claim it.