I often get questions about tax sales, so I wanted to let all my readers know about when the next tax sale in my area will be held. Find out when the next Halifax, HRM, Nova Scotia tax sale will be held: CLICk HERE FOR DETAILS
What happens at a tax sale? Here is what happens in Halifax. At 11:00 am the sale starts. You enter the Maritime Hall from the Forum parking lot. When you walk in there will be chairs set up. Off to one side will be a table with information on the properties being auctioned. The auctioneer will be a city official. He will stand at the front and go through the process. To his left will be the paperwork table and further left will be the cashier table with a police officer as a guard.
The only methods of payment permitted are cash, bank draft, certified cheque, money order, or a lawyers trust letter. You only need to pay the current tax owing and fees up front. Then you have a couple of days to pay the balance at the HRM property office there is one located in Bayers Road Shopping Centre.
Keep in mind, most of the properties have a 6 month redemption period. That means the owner has 6 months to pay the taxes, and expenses, plus interest owing to you as the buyer and take the property back. You can read more about the advantages and disadvantages in my other posts about tax sales.
If you are going to the sale tomorrow, good luck on your bidding. If you miss out, generally Halifax has two – three per year. Common months are May, September and November. Usually on Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m. The current location has been used for the past few years, prior to that, they used the Sportsplex in Dartmouth. I am not sure if they will go back to that location now that it has been redone.
Make sure to read the following articles for more information about tax sales:
10 Tips on how to buy a tax sale property
Buying a property through a tax sale – Money Sense magazine – Romana King
Until next time,
Design your landlord experience,
Michael P Currie
Thanks! I’ve wondered about this!
I guess I am curious, have you ever bought a property this way? And if so, what was your experience? Thanks.
Hi Amy, Yes I have, I do have a presentation on one from start to finish, that I am going to turn into a blog post soon. What I like about the process is that the City (and I can only speak to my local market) seems to know that people are not going to be familiar with the process, so they are great at communicating how the sale is going to work, and how to pay for your purchase. The properties are generally in poor to condemned condition, however, for markets where the value is in the land, it can be a great way to buy a house. Also if you are interested in accumulating raw land especially in more rural areas as a long term buy and hold, there are often plots of land for cheap. I hope this helps, Mike
Thank you! It’s great to hear first-hand, and I really appreciate that you took the time to reply. I’ve only learned about these recently, and thought it might be a good way to acquire some land!