Nationwide Realty is a Cook County tax buyer. We attend the tax sale conducted by the treasurer's office every two years. We usually acquire 1000 to 2000 properties; we then resell them to the public. The successful bidder at the tax sale does not receive title to the property, but rather a lien against the property that is represented by a tax certificate. The tax certificate holder then has the right to foreclose and obtain a clear title from a court if the property owner does not redeem within six months of the date of bid. We do not normally take title to properties ourselves, but rather assign our right to foreclose to a subsequent buyer and then put them in touch with an attorney who specializes in tax deed foreclosures. We sell our positions with redemption guarantees--meaning that in the event that the taxes are redeemed, a buyer would receive a refund from us. We have every type of property imaginable for sale. Please see our list and other information by clicking on the links to the left. Please see the how it works link (left) for better explanation of the process. Some of the tax certificates on our list are being brokered for other entities.
Tax certificate is evidence of a tax lien against a property, and in this situation it is evidence of a successful bid at a tax sale.There are two kinds of tax sales in Cook County. | |
1. Annual Tax Sale
held every year (usually in January or February)
tax certificates are sold to the lowest interest rate bidder.
Bidders bid down the rate they are willing to receive in exchange for paying the tax in full.
successful bidder must pay the tax in full and pick up all unpaid years
the redemption period is 2 years on commercial and 2.5 years of residential
most properties redeem (98%)
summary....the annual sale is for tax buyers speculating the interest that they will receive when the property redeems. They are also interested in the right to "post" (pay) subsequent years to their buys as they become delinquent. They are also interested in "deed plays" on the 2% or so properties that do not redeem!
2. The Scavenger Sale
the Scavenger Sale is for properties offered but not bid on at the annual sale
held every two years (usually in the summer, this year delayed due to change of administration at treasure's off.)
tax certificates are sold to the highest dollar bidder no matter how much is owed
property must be at least 2 years delinquent
redemption period is 6 months!!!!!
most properties do not redeem (10-15%)
summary.......most Scavenger Sale buyers bid expecting to wind up with the property because very few properties sold here will redeem. (my experience is 10-15% of what we buy redeems). If a property does redeem the certificate holder receives his bid money back from the county plus interest at approx. 1.5% per month.
Acquired the 1600 properties listed here at various recent Cook County Tax Sales. What we acquired are actually called Tax Certificates or Tax Liens. A Tax Certificate is evidence of a successful bid at a tax sale and evidence of a tax lien against a property. All of our Tax Certificates are now available for resale. | |
A Tax Certificate is not a deed but will lead to a deed in between 4 - 6 months. A Tax Certificate extinguishes (wipes out) taxes and liens, and gives the Certificate holder the right to foreclose and receive a deed issued by the court. A tax deed is almost always a perfect title. (We will refer you to an attorney who can handle everything for you.)
| Tax Buying Process The tax buying process works as follows: If a property owner does not pay his property taxes for a period of two years or more, that property is eligible for sale at the Cook County tax sale. The tax lien, which is a lien of first position on the title, is sold to the highest bidder. The delinquent property owner then has six months from the date of bid to pay his tax, penalty, and interest to the county in order to keep his property. If the owner does redeem (pay his tax) the Tax Buyer (TaxBiz) gets his bid money back from the county plus interest. If there is no redemption then the tax buyer can foreclose and take the property from the delinquent owner. This foreclosure process is usually handled by an attorney specializing in this area of real estate law, and it takes approximately 30 days beyond the 6 months redemption period and costs approximately $2,100. What a Tax Certificate holder receives at the end of this process is called a "Tax Deed" which is granted by the court. A Tax Deed is usually a perfect title and extinguishes all other encumbrances on the title including mortgages, mechanics liens, utility bills, leases, etc. One other cost that must be considered by Tax Buyers are what are called "subsequent taxes" or "subs". Near the end of the foreclosure process the court will require that the property taxes be brought current before issuing a Tax Deed. "Paying the Subs" usually involves the payment of those taxes accrued between the years that were sold at the Tax Sale and the current moment, typically one year of tax (the 2002 taxes). So, a person buying a Tax Certificate has 3 separate costs to consider to get to a clear title: (1) the cost of the certificate, (2) the cost of the subsequent taxes, and (3) any necessary legal fees. The process is somewhat complicated but we can help arrange for an attorney who can handle everything for you so that you will never have to leave your house. These extra hassles are balanced by the considerable bargain factor that exists in acquiring property in this manner. | |
Property locations
Properties on our list are located throughout Cook County but mostly in Chicago and most often on the South, South West, and West sides. Many of them are in rough and even very rough neighborhoods.
Terms
We usually sell Tax Certificates for cash, but we also offer short terms of one third down and the full balance within 60-90 days. We do offer discounts for bulk purchases. We sell most everything with a redemption guaranty, meaning that in the unlikely event that the delinquent owner redeems his taxes within 6 months we will refund all money paid to us by the purchaser.
Viewing the properties
We usually do not yet have possession of the properties so we have no way to show them. That is why we sell our certificates very cheap!!! We also almost never have any current or historical income or expense information on the properties. These are most often hostile takeovers of properties. So, owners are not likely to cooperate in our information gathering efforts. You may want to do some of your own snooping around or detective work to learn what you can about the properties. PLEASE DO NOT SPEAK TO PROPERTY OWNERS!!!!!!!
You can hit the streets and look at those properties that interest you or you are welcome to come to our office where we have colored photographs of everything in our inventory along with some limited background information on the properties. We can explain the process to you in greater detail. You are welcome to visit us anytime. 10: A.M. - 5 p.m. week days......but please,....... you must call for an appointment first and be sure to get our address!!
All redemption periods are six months except for single family homes which are 2 or 2.5 years
Reminder: A Tax Deed extinguishes/wipes out all taxes and all liens on title
P.S. The redemption period has now expired on almost all of the properties in our 2001 Tax Certificate inventory and 2003 certificates take about 4 months to foreclose
P.S. Banks do not loan on tax certificates. Banks require a clear title before they will make a loan. After you receive a deed from the court and record it you will have clear title. Then a bank may make you a loan if you and your deal are loadable.
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