DATE: Wednesday, May 21, 1997               TAG: 9705210484

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Public Life 

SOURCE: By Battinto Batts Jr.

LENGTH: 39 lines

HOW TO ... BUY PROPERTY AT A TAX AUCTION

Are you looking to purchase land at an inexpensive price.

You might try shopping at a city tax auction or state escheat sale.

But beware: Take time to check out what you are buying before you pay for it. If not, you could end up with a parcel that is totally useless to you - like a ditch between two houses or a skinny strip of land next to some railroad tracks.

And once you pay for the property, it's yours - unless you can sell it to someone else. No refunds.

The city treasurer scours the rolls for properties with delinquent taxes - usually 10 years' worth. Many of these properties have been abandoned by their owners. Others are parcels carved out by developers that are too small to build on. Seeking to collect taxes on the property, the treasurer will put it up for auction.

An escheat sale is the state's process of auctioning land to collect taxes on it. Most of these properties belong to people who have died and don't have any heirs or to people who have renounced their rights to it. If they are giving up their assets, you might want to find out why they are not trying to sell themselves. Are there any hidden problems? Environmental hazards?

If you are lucky and do your research, you might be able to pick up a decent parcel of land for a price well below its assessed value. For more information on how to purchase property at tax auctions, call your city's treasurer's office.

Chesapeake: 382-6281

Norfolk: 441-2931

Portsmouth: 393-8651

Virginia Beach: 427-8262

Suffolk: 925-6318

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