[Twostep]

Harry I am with you! I wanted to point out that the courthouse is (best case scenario) the last in line. Have you ever had any issues getting information for tax assessors or court houses as long as you provided precise questions and (if necessary) your need to know?

:>)

[harry chickpea]

The people I've dealt with in those jobs have always tried to be helpful (within reason). Sometimes though, in record keeping, they might not know or have immediate access to some information, or not be allowed to spend time doing stuff like family tree searches. In those cases, it can be better to pay someone who knows those "right questions" to ask, where to look, and can cut to the quick of the matter.

[Twostep]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

The people I've dealt with in those jobs have always tried to be helpful (within reason). Sometimes though, in record keeping, they might not know or have immediate access to some information, or not be allowed to spend time doing stuff like family tree searches. In those cases, it can be better to pay someone who knows those "right questions" to ask, where to look, and can cut to the quick of the matter.

You are preaching to the choir:>) It does take money to make/save money.

Moderator cut: personal - off topic

[Normajo]

Originally Posted by nalabama

Based on a realtor's site I found, property tax millage in Prattville is 28 mills. Sales Tax is 8%. Couldn't find anything on the county homestead exemption.

"...the measly $4,000 state exemption?" Normajo, have you got this all figured out now: i.e., state homestead exemption equals $40,000 of appraised value?

$4,000 means $4,00 of the assessed value of the property is not taxed.

[Normajo]

Originally Posted by Twostep

I do not scoure forums for your posts.

I have never had the slightest issue with a tax assessor's office be it on a personal or professional level. A precise question always brought a straight answer.
Once lis pendens has been filed and redemption period has expired the public sale by lien holder takes place. This is the very basic version. Foreclosure proceedings get filed in steps but are triggered and controlled by the lien holder.

You are very lucky & had not driven hundreds miles to ask them either!

[Normajo]

Originally Posted by Twostep

You are preaching to the choir:>) It does take money to make/save money.

If I lived in AL, I would think that foreclosurers, etc. would be published in the newspapers & I could find them myself.
Enjoy this nice weather, everyone!

[Normajo]

[quote=harry chickpea;449146]Twostep, remember that AL has a one year right of redemption on foreclosures. Essentially, the mortgage can go into default, the foreclosure and sale on the courthouse steps can occur, and then the homeowner has up to one year to pay the mortgage up to date, along with fees and any improvement costs to the house. This is potential disaster in some instances.

Say that a house worth $100,000 goes into foreclosure after missing three months of $1,000 mortgage payments. The house is sold on the steps for the balance remaining on the mortgage, $25,000 in this example. The new homeowner moves in and invests $10,000 and a lot of sweat equity, and within six months has the house worth $150,000. So far, so good, right?

Now a relative of the original mortgagee drives by and sees the renovated house, and decides he wants it. He goes to the original mortgagee and says "How would you like to make $10,000?" The two sign an agreement, and the relative fronts $25,000 for the outstanding mortgage sale, $2,000 for the lawyer fees, $10,000 for the improvement costs, and $10,000 for the original mortgagee. The original mortgagee then claims "right of redemption" and legally kicks out the new owner, who loses all his sweat equity plus the costs of moving. The old mortgagee then legally sells the home to the relative and pockets the $10,000, while the relative has just purchased an improved $150,000 home, free and clear, for $47,000. The owner who made the repairs and was kicked out has no recourse.

Is this a likely scenario? Probably not, but it is a warning to not spend heavily for the first year after buying foreclosed property. Stuff happens.

Another issue in parts of Alabama is that there are unrecorded deeds. My recent property purchase has three unrecorded deeds on surrounding property, with the potential for conflicting deed descriptions. The 20 year adverse possession law would make this a questionable purchase had not the surveyors been able to find the original fences stuck 20 years or more into trees.

As it was, had I not had the survey done, I would technically have owned a church that was built on an outparcel donated by a previous owner but with no deed recorded! It was quitclaimed as part of my purchase of the land to clear any questions as to how much land had been donated to the church.


Thanks for the foreclosurer reminders.
I like the bank owned foreclosurers, that have been duly executed & now belong solely to the banks, mostly because no bidders gave them adequate offers on the properties.
If I found a quality foreclosure & saved a lot on the purchse price, it would make up for the higher property & sales taxes that I would pay in AL.
I am just trying to find a way to practically live in AL.
If I am criticized for that, I am sorry.

[harry chickpea]

You miss the point about right of redemption. Anyone, not just a relative, could use the manuever I describe to snag a property sold as a foreclosure and improved through sweat equity. Buying a foreclosure is not as straightforeward as it appears on the surface.

As for nuke plants, I have absolutely no problem being around them. Did you know that a chunk of granite gives off more radiation than you would experience living near a nuke? "Pop" science and "reality" tv are aimed at emotion, not facts.

I had the opportunity to talk with a prominent Alabama lawyer (and part time judge) about the homestead exemption. His reaction to my questions was that IF a property was held jointly, and husband or wife had to go to a nursing home under social security, the part of the property owned by the spouse who went to the nursing home would go to the government, but that the government was not in the business of putting people out on the street, and the other spouse would most likely be able to live out their life there.

We discussed the Florida homestead exemption and the point was made that one of the Enron deed-doers bought Florida property to avoid losing all their ill-gotten gains. His point was that if you owe money to the point that your land is on the line, you probably deserve to lose it, if that is decided in a fair court of law. I don't have a problem with that if the courts are fair, and we still have the right of trial by jury.

When property taxes are minimal, the homestead deduction is not financially significant. I won't mention what last years taxes on the property I bought were, other than to say I was stunned how low they were.

Oh yeah, in that link I provided, the tax was the AVERAGE rate in a county. If you live in the country, the rate will be less, if you live in a city, the rate will be more.

[Twostep]

Originally Posted by Normajo

If I lived in AL, I would think that foreclosurers, etc. would be published in the newspapers & I could find them myself.
Enjoy this nice weather, everyone!

All you have to do is pull the Sunday Paper off the web. Most papers even have great archives. You want someone else to do your legwork? There are companies doing foreclosure sales as agents.

[nalabama]

Normajo, try this site--http://www.revenue.alabama.gov/advalorem/MILLS05.pdf (broken link)--for all of Alabama's county and municipality millage rates. The lowest millage (21 mills) appears to apply in Marion County, as long as you stay outside the taxing jurisdictions of Hamilton, Hackleburg, Bear Creek, Haleyville, Glen Allen, Winfield, Guin, and Brillant. Several counties flaunt 22 and 23 mill rates.

So, in Marion County--with the homestead exemption of $40,000--property tax on a $200,000 house would be approximately $336.