When contemplating an investment in a tax sale property, you have a dearth of information available to you online. Photographs of many tax sale properties are available for viewing on taxsaleshub.ca and significantly more information is available on TSH. Nonetheless, photos from google earth can be deprecated. You can also learn information about a property from services like Google Street View. Because you may feel so familiar with a property because of its online persona, you may begin to wonder if you can submit an offer for a tax sale property without ever visiting the property in person. However, for a number of reasons, this is unwise.
A building resting on a parcel of land may not be accurately represented by the photographs online. Perhaps the picture is months or even years old. It is possible the building may have been damaged, decayed or even destroyed in the intervening time. It is also quite possible that the photos don’t depict the property from significant angles. There might be relevant features of the property or its neighboring properties not visible to the viewer of the photos available online. You may not be able to tell from photos that a property is environmentally contaminated, has a derelict building resting on it or that is the subject of flooding.
While it is important not to rely entirely on photographs when doing your due diligence on a tax sale property, please remember that you do not have the right to enter a tax sale property until you own it. However, this does not mean it is not wise to view the property from the road or sidewalk or from a body of water if such property is a waterfront property.
Tax sale properties can be great investments, but you must be sure to first see the property in person to ensure the proper care is taken.
Title Search Report provides information about a piece of land. It will include information about the owner, if there are any mortgages, easements or restrictive covenants or any other interests affecting it.
Crown interests on property may include Business Development Bank of Canada mortgages liens for arrears of income tax or HST remittances among many others.
Since the tax sale is a public event, others will likely be submitting tenders. The person with the highest tender will be permitted to purchase the property. Your deposit should be at least 20% of the full amount.
