Arkansas, land of opportunity, is the home of rolling hills, lush farmland, heavy duty hunting, and fish big enough you will need deep-sea gear to tackle some of them. April is THE month to get the best bargains in the state at local tax sales. Lin Stone, author of How to buy land at Tax Sales, published by Truman Publishing, brings these bargains to the forefront for you, with some straight advice on how to pick your own.
The Phillips County sale is on April 13th at 2:00 in Helena. There are 233 properties available. Helena is on the Mississippi river. Taxes on these properties have been overdue since 1993 That means you'll be paying an extra year of taxes. For example, #74 has a minimum bid of $100.00, but the taxes due on the purchase are $78.83 Going by the ratio of 5:1 you are left with only a $321.17 margin to play with. That formula is minimum bid times five, minus minimum bid and amount of taxes. That's not bad if nobody bids against you. For every $10 the bid goes up, your remaining profit deteriorates by $10. If you are out to safely double your money the absolute most you would bid is another $71 To take advantage of the Phillips sales you will be looking for bargains in the upper reaches, $2,000 to $15,000 range, but specifically where the taxes owed are low in ratio to the minimum bid. #6 for example has a minimum bid of $3,040 and taxes owed of $939.20 Apply our formula again and you get $15,200 minus $3,040 and $939.20 equals $11,220.8 to play with. 4, (your investment) from 11, leaves you with a $7,000 margin to play with. There are lots of bargains like this in the Phillips sale. Your national buyers for your property will be industries wanting an ample supply of labor, and retirees who want a warm and lazy area to grow old in. Bottom line, if you have ample investment funds for playing with the big buys, go to the Phillips sale. If you will be playing with the low figures, it won't be worth the trip.
St. Francis County sale (Look for Forrest City on I-40 about 2/3rds of the way from Little Rock to Memphis) is held on April 14 at 10:00 There are 192 properties for sale here. These taxes have been overdue since 1993, but the ratio is much more in line. Consequently, you can take your choice of high, low or in between bidding. This is prime duck country, and it is a financially growing area. But the biggest attraction is goose hunting. Just east of Brinkley one day I came upon an 80 acre field of geese grazing so solid on the ground I could have thrown a rock with my eyes closed and hit at least one. Many dwellings in this area are rented out for ten years in advance during the winters for this very reason. The school systems are aggressively gearing up for the future, and the chambers of commerce are anxiously engaged in promoting the area.
Lee County (held at Mariana) is not worth the trip, having only 46 properties listed and this area is generally so prosperous I expect most of them to be redeemed before the sale.
Prairie County (in Des Arc) only has 20 properties for sale on the 15th. This is prosperous farm country with good fishing and hunting available. This one county raises enough grain to feed the Third World Countries. #490 has almost 90 acres with a minimum bid of $4145 and taxes of $1000.92 If I even dreamed this would still be there at the auction I'd go. This is located at 3N by 6W which puts it right in the heart of grain country. I don't expect more than ten parcels to actually hit the auction block here, and bidding to be vigorous once it begins.
Sevier County has 26 parcels to bid on. Look for DeQueen on your Arkansas map. You'll find it 3/4ths of the way down the map and way west. What little acreage there is may be saddled with a timber tax. More than half these properties will never see the auction block. Bidding on the rest will be fierce. The auction will be held on April 20th at 2:00
Miller County (Texarkana) will hold its auction on April 21st at 9:00 in Miller County Courthouse. There are 200 parcels available with every conceivable range of minimum bids. Watch out for #624 which has a 1/3 undivided interest going against it. #622 has ten acres going for a total of $448 #647 has fifteen acres going for a total of $1,487 The real buy of the auction is probably 668 with one acre going for a total of $33,387.52 Check with the County Recorder's office to make sure there aren't any hidden liens on the place though. There are also some double lots for sale (with #563 for an example), which are always better buys. #675 has two acres going for a total of $300.56 #680 has five acres going for a total of $542.21 Pay special attention to #693 with almost 15 acres going for a total of $2,655.2 and 694 has 32 acres going for a total of $4,186.69 #695 has a similar bargain going. Look at the locations of these three closely. Anything near this area is likely going to be a good long term investment buy, #706 for example where you can pick up three acres for a total of $465.80 Now, 24 miles north and 12 miles east of there you'll find #752 with 80 acres going for a total of $3,117.36
On the 21st of April at 2:00 at Hope Arkansas in Hempstead County there will be 25 parcels for sale. Hope is the watermelon capital of the world. This is an auction for low figure bidders with lots going for $40 and up and acreage going for $100 and up. This fact tells me the area is very prosperous since there aren't many parcels here and the high figure parcels are not in heavy proportion; thus everyone is paying their taxes on time. That is good investment country as local sales will be easier.
Nevada County at Prescott, (south and west) has 18 parcels with #788 having 2.53 acres going for $80 and #773 having one acre going for $80 and the high dollar parcel being 789 having 1.16 acres going for $5,000 Local bidders, turn out. Mail order bidders stand some chance of winning.
On April 27th at 10:00 at the prestigious Little Rock Hilton (Just over the bridge) in Little Rock Arkansas, Pulaski County will be holding its enormous first half of their auction. This is a Kill- Yourself-If-You-Miss-It sale. There are 663 parcels for sale. I expect less than a fourth of them to be redeemed before the sale begins, and a few late-believers to bust in as the auction gets underway. I also expect that right at 25% of the parcels won't even be bid on. The reason is obvious; there ain't no way in the world of checking out all these properties in advance so chances are most people will arrive there with just one or two parcels on their mind. Watch out for that Fairground Addition. The fairground is nowhere nearby. (Especially avoid #1018) The people here don't even vote democrat, and except for repaving the road occasionally the economic growth has been stagnant. Another thing to watch out for in any area is IMPROVEMENTS ONLY or SPECIALS. The Specials note means there may well be some city taxes that don't show up. Virtually anything in Sherwood is likely to be a good buy. North Little Rock and Jacksonville will probably be a good buy. #956 has a Wooten Rd. address; if it is still there at the auction, snap it up along with anything else you see on Wooten Rd. The parcels with a Rose City address are probably steer clear because of gas lines and power lines running through there. (You can't build on either) But, those which aren't on those two paths will be good buys; physically check the parcels out to avoid. Wrightsville is a depressed area. Maumelle is where the elite congregate. Jet City property can be too rugged to build on so check it out physically before buying in this area. This is way out by the Air Force Base and the area is growing rapidly. If it has a Little Rock address, look it up before you buy (or stick with the high dollar bids) and if anything has a full street address, use the web to pinpoint the exact location. I'm putting up a free map service link for you at http://www.talewins.com/Search.htm#maps so you can do just that. Parcel #s 1157 through 1172 should all be good buys if they last til the auction. The guy who has been heading this up is a shrewd buyer, but a visionary. I imagine he is scrambling right now to raise the money to save all he can. Anything he loses will be the lesser value of what he keeps, but worth the investment. Chances are anything you pick up he'll be wanting to buy back. If that happens, don't gouge him as he is doing good work.
On April 28th at Morrilton at 10:00 Conway County will be holding an auction on 63 parcels. Morrilton is a town few people choose to leave. Everyone there is either a close friend or at least a distant relative. Streets are well-cared for, schools are clean, citizens are so laid back that strangers might think they were lazy. Fact is, this is the place and the way to live. Move any property here to Little Rock and it would double or triple in cost. For instance, #1491 has a 6 acre parcel for a minimum bid of $50 You're going to beat that where? Other bargains are similar. Buy here for your old age, or for your parents. But, buy.
Morrilton is on I-40. Just a few miles on west is the town of Russellville where Pope County will be holding their auction on 70 parcels at 2:00 on April 28th. There is a very neighborly university in town, streets are clean, neighbors are good. The same property costs more than in Conway County, but the value is even higher. This is timber country so watch out for timber taxes. For example: #1544 has 6.45 acres going for $80 but there are timber taxes held against it. Where do you find out about timber taxes? The County Recorder's office.
Malvern, Brick capital of the World, is holding an auction on April 29th at 10:00 for Hot Spring County with 132 parcels. (Don't confuse this with Hot Springs) #1610 gives you five acres for a mere $500 #1666 offers 1 acre for $20 minimum bid. #1668 has 1 acre for $35 But this is definitely the place to be looking for higher dollar bidding strategies to get the best bargains.
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