It seems like every evening they play this show called Houses for $300.

He is claiming that through the tax foreclosure process, you can purchase a home for as low as $100 under the right conditions.  Give me a break.  If he was able to that consistently he would be buying them up himself instead of telling the whole world.  He claimed that more than 2.2 million properties in Canada and the U.S. were tax foreclosed on in the last year.

Ok, so why was I watching this show?  I wanted to find out how much he was selling his system/ kit for.  It was $39.95.  He must be selling a ton of these to have so many ½ hour infomercials on TV.

I was about to write about the flaws in what they were saying.  Tax and tax foreclosure laws and rules verify from state to state and county by county, so what ever I wrote may not be accurate in all areas.

In most communities if you pay the back taxes, the owners have a period of time to bring the taxes current.  In Hawaii the chances of someone letting a property go for taxes are slim to none (more like none).  If the bank has a mortgage, they would most likely pay the taxes to protect the mortgage.  In Hawaii someone losing a home due to a tax foreclosure sale is unheard of.  If a home came up on a tax auction, just think how many folks have attended get rich quick classes or bought this system off TV?  There are probably hundreds of people ready to bid on it.  Not much chance for a $300 home is there?  Even if it the home got to auction and you won the bid at probably something closer to market value; the owner or the lender still has a reasonably long period of time to get it back, by bringing the taxes current.  The deed you would receive in Hawaii from a tax auction has little or no value.  In most cases it would be close to holding a Quit Claim Deed on the Brooklyn Bridge. 

If you attended one of the many seminars or bought a kit from TV, you do not want to hear this.  Unlike the get rich quick seminar folks or the infomercial slicksters, I am providing this at no charge and have no vested interest other than hoping to save you some time and money. 

I had one friend who paid back taxes on properties for many years.  He teamed up with an attorney.  He put up the money, the attorney did all the work and they split everything 50/50.  They paid back taxes on hundreds of properties over many years.  They were vacant parcels with no water rights in the Arizona dessert above Lake Mead.  The water rights in the area were sold off to another state for a period of years.  A few land owners would let the land go for back taxes, while most kept their land by paying him back with interest.  Many years later the area got water the rights returned and they began to sell them off, as development moved their way.  He is only person I know who has been successful chasing back taxes.  Even then he could have made much more money by buying property on the open market here in Hawaii and holding them for the same number of years.

So why did I write about that infomercial?  You may have already guessed.  I have gotten several calls in the last couple of months from folks asking me if I handle tax foreclosures.  You can guess where they got the idea from.

P.S.  Unlike those slick folks doing seminars and infomercials; if I knew about $300 houses for sale I would be buying them instead of trying to take your money.