The atmosphere was one of studied concentration Monday morning as a mixture of hard-core investors, dabblers and dilettantes turned out for Lowndes County”s annual delinquent tax sale at the Trotter Convention Center.
A sign on the wall admonished “No Glitter,” a holdover, no doubt, from a prom or other festive event. Many people clutched calculators. Most held the thick list of properties — some 1,600 parcels — waiting for their turn to say “yes,” “no,” or “pass.”
When the dollars climb high, the stakes get interesting, and the nays and passes become more adamant.
For most of the 133 buyers the property in question is of little concern. They”re not looking to own it; they”re simply paying the delinquent taxes in the hopes that the owner will pay them back at the 1.5-percent per month, or 18 percent annual, rate.
The original owner of the property has up to two years to pay the taxes, plus interest, before the tax-sale buyer can lay claim. According to County Tax Assessor Greg Andrews, 98 to 99 percent are paid off within the two years.
This year, it took nearly 5 1/2 hours for officials to call out the properties and accept the round-robin bids. Efficiency is paramount to keeping the process running smoothly.
“If you”re not organized to start with, you get lost quick,” Andrews said.
The majority of the buyers are equally organized, knowing how much they”re willing to spend before they ever walk in the door. Buyers come from as near as down the road to as far away as Florida and Nebraska.
For longtime buyers like Larry Wrbas of Caledonia, it”s both an enjoyable way to spend a morning and a good investment.
This was Wrbas” 12th year to attend the sale, and he walked away with 64 parcels, for which he doled out a total of $84,830.15. He”s also a familiar face at the Lamar County and Union County sales. He doesn”t research the properties in advance; he just buys them and hopes for the best.
“It”s a significantly more secure type of investment than even the stock market,” Wrbas said. “You just kind of go, sit back and get what you get … Some pay off relatively quick, but over the time I”ve been doing this, people have been getting slower and slower about paying because of the way the economy”s going.”
Most buyers, like Wrbas and downtown merchant Homer Beaty, aren”t interested in taking people”s homes.
Beaty, who first learned about tax sales at a seminar in Las Vegas, said he”s had situations in the past where the original owner failed to pay and he ended up owning the house. He was fortunate — it was a nice house, and, even better, the homeowner called and bought it back from him.
It”s a “nerve-wracking” experience, Beaty admitted, but nevertheless, Monday afternoon, he went to New Albany to try his luck again.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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