Today’s Washington Post pages G1-G10 is the Notice of Real Property Tax Sale.
What’s that?
Well a) it is a list of people who didn’t pay their property taxes and b) it is a financial opportunity. The opportunity is in the interest paid on the taxable amount owed and on the off chance that the tax is not paid by the property owner a chance to foreclose on the property. When you go to the tax auction what you’re bidding on is a tax lien and you must begin foreclosure procedures after 6 months. Most of the time property owners pay their taxes so it is just a way to earn interest. But still a lot of people believe they are buying the property and that is not so.
There are a few Truxton Circle properties with liens up for bid on Squares 507, 509E, 519, 521, 552, 553, 553W, 555, 614, 615, 616, 617 & 618. A fair number of them are empty lots that cannot be improved on. I was talking with some folks living up around Richardson Place and apparently some folks got the empty land around there thinking they could put a small house on it. Nope. Best thing for those types of properties would be a community garden. A very small community garden.
I’ve done the tax sale once. What I took away from it was that I should never bid angry. My hairdresser used to bid annually, and that was how she acquired some properties, but that was back in the day when no one wanted to live in the city. Will I bid again? Dunno.
For more information on the DC Tax Sale go to DC.Gov or click here. The site is still talking about the 2004 Tax sale but the rules are still valid.