Saginaw County

Seven $100 lots in the City of Saginaw

Saginaw's catalog lists seven individual lots, all in the City of Saginaw and all opening at $100. Five are houses and two are vacant lots. The auction staff's own notes are frank: a single-story house in extremely rough condition, a one-and-a-half story house with asbestos shingle siding, a large two-story corner house in rough shape, a house with heavy fire damage that looks like a total loss, and another larger two-story house boarded up. The vacant lots are about a fifth and a tenth of an acre, one where a home was torn down.

No-reserve catalogs typically hold property that did not sell at the earlier minimum-bid auction. At $100 the price is not the cost; repair, demolition, insurance and taxes are. No one may enter a structure before the sale without the seller's permission, and the seller and auctioneer rarely know much about the inside.

The 97-parcel bundle

The eighth lot is a bundle of 97 parcels that can only be bought together, for a minimum of $9,700. By local unit: 65 in the City of Saginaw, 20 in the Village of Chesaning, 7 in Buena Vista Township, and one each in Zilwaukee, Bridgeport Township, Carrollton Township, Saginaw Charter Township and Spaulding Township.

Most are vacant urban lots, several noted as not visited. The 20 Chesaning parcels are contiguous lots of about 50 by 80 feet that together make about 1.84 acres with roughly 600 feet on Deer Creek Drive. The bundle also contains houses, among them a condemned single-story home in Bridgeport Township that may be occupied and a neglected, boarded one-and-a-half story house in Carrollton Township.

A bundle's minimum is the sum of its parcels' minimums, and parcels inside it are no longer sold individually. Winning it means 97 parcels, 97 tax bills, and responsibility for every lot's upkeep in eight jurisdictions. Contact the local governments about possible restrictions before bidding, as the notes suggest for several lots.

How the no-reserve auction works

Bids are sealed. There is no live bidding: you enter a best and final maximum in advance, bidding closes at 7:00 p.m. EDT on October 30, and winners are worked out and awarded on Monday, November 2. Bids can be placed as soon as a listing appears in the catalog.

You need a free tax-sale.info account, verified against your government ID, and a $1,000 pre-authorization on a credit or debit card, which is a hold for 30 days and is only collected if you default. Every bidder can place at most 24 bids across all the no-reserve catalogs except Genesee's, so the Saginaw lots share that limit with the other counties in the sale.

You cannot pick and choose after winning. Every lot you win must be bought; a bidder who walks away loses the $1,000 hold and is permanently banned from these auctions.

Total cost and paperwork

Add to the bid a 10% buyer's premium, the current summer taxes on the parcel and a $30 recording fee. Most Saginaw parcels show little or no current tax in the spreadsheet; check the lot page, which lists it under "current tax". Special assessments still to come from the year of purchase become yours; demolition, safety, debris, water and sewer liens are cancelled effective December 31.

Payment and notarized paperwork are due within five business days: wire, cashier's check payable to "Title-Check LLC Customer Escrow Account", or card with a 2.75% fee. No money orders, personal checks or cash. Digital notarization from a state-approved service is accepted.

You cannot buy if you owe delinquent property taxes or civil fines in Saginaw County. If you plan to split a parcel, know that deeds may contain a reverter clause voiding a sale when a split produces an unbuildable piece, with no refund.

Title, occupants and surplus

Michigan conveys by quitclaim deed; the prior owner cannot redeem. Some environmental liens, easements, deed restrictions and an IRS lien without proper notice can survive. The deed takes roughly six to eight weeks; until it arrives the county may still cancel the sale, in which case you are refunded.

Occupants are tenants holding over and leave only through a District Court eviction. Possessions left behind belong to someone else; notify the previous occupant before treating them as abandoned.

Any amount a parcel brings above the taxes, interest, fees and costs can be claimed by those with an interest in it before foreclosure under MCL 211.78t. Parcels not sold on October 30 stay with the county as foreclosing governmental unit.

Three ways people lose money here

1. 1. Reading 104 parcels as 104 choices

   There are only eight lots; 97 parcels are one bundle.

2. 2. Pricing a $100 house at $100

   Five of the seven lots are houses in rough or fire-damaged condition.

3. 3. Removing occupants yourself

   Eviction goes through District Court only.