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Buying a house?

4K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  Mike Swearingen 
#1 ·
Hello

New to the forums and currently looking at purchasing my first house. After doing a little research on it, i found there is still unpaid property taxes. The house is for sale by owner so no realtor is invloved. How would the unpaid taxes get paid before i purchase it?

Thanks
john
 
#2 · (Edited)
These are usually deducted at the time of sale, you will pay them. Include the deduction in your offer.
Forgot to add that you will need to negotiate this through the tax office as well. If you are in a small town in KS, this will not be a big deal. If you are in NYC, you may want to start looking for another place.
 
#3 ·
Teetorbilt said:
These are usually deducted at the time of sale, you will pay them. Include the deduction in your offer.
Forgot to add that you will need to negotiate this through the tax office as well. If you are in a small town in KS, this will not be a big deal. If you are in NYC, you may want to start looking for another place.
Thanks for your input. Now i am unsure on how to bring it up to the owner of the house..Uhh ya i did a check on your house and I see you owe some property tax money?
I think i will ask her if there is any unpaid taxes on the house and liens then go from there? I have the paper that shows how much delinquet taxes are due..
 
#5 ·
What you need is a title search. You can spend hours down at the county seat DIYing it and bugging the employees to death, tried it ONCE, still ended up getting a broker. I'm recommending that you do the same. A home is an expensive purchase, maybe the largest of your life. It's not wise to attempt to master a totally unfamiliar field when the stakes are so high.
 
#6 ·
Ok.>So i offer lets say 100,000. for the house and the owner takes it...During the loan process when the lawyer finds the unpaid taxes, and brings them up to the owner, he will then deduct that from my current offer then?? Which will then = 96000.

Sorry for being so dumb here..I just do not want to go through the hassle of getting everything going and get bogged down by unpaid taxes, leins and such..:mad:
thanks for all the help.
 
#7 ·
Let's say that you offer $100K IF everything passes muster. This will mean a title search, home inspection +++. Typically the seller is responsible for any repairs unless you agree to 'as is' which can be a tragic mistake. See the movie 'The Money Pit' with Tom Hanks. Really funny unless it's you.
Get a pro to help you with the transaction.
 
#8 ·
Unless you have specifically agreed to pay such things (in writing in the purchase agreement) with the seller, the seller is responsible for all property taxes up through the date of conveyance (closing), including any and all back taxes and penalties owed.
In a normal real estate purchase agreement, the buyer is only responsible for taxes beginning the day after the closing when they are the sole owner. If the actual property taxes for the purchase year have not been established by the governing authority at the time of closing, then the previous year taxes are used as an estimate and the buyer absorbs any increase.
You need a closing attorney in any case, and they should take care of making sure that all mortgages and other seller liens, including all taxes owed by the seller (not being assumed in writing by you) are deducted from the seller proceeds of the sale.
You will get an itemized-to-the-penny HUD-1 closing statement (a legal document prepared by a broker or an attorney or title company), and all liens and taxes should be paid and recorded on it.
Good Luck!
Mike
 
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