In this video we discuss something that many people don’t understand. We’re talking about water bills . . . on vacant land! Watch the video for more details and to learn what you need to look out for.
Transcript:
Casey Denman here with TaxSaleAcademy.com, and in this video we’re talking about something that a lot of people overlook, and that is water bills.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re probably thinking, “Well, I’ve done my research and this is a vacant piece of property and one thing that I researched is that it does have water.” Great! That’s excellent news, right? Well, not necessarily. Most people, when they pay for their water monthly, they get a meter statement. It says you used this many gallons of water and you owe us this much money. So you think, well, a vacant piece of property, obviously, you aren’t going to use any water, correct? So you won’t be charged anything.
Well, unfortunately, that’s wrong. In some areas, it does work like that, and I venture to say in most areas, it works like that where if you don’t use the water that’s available, you don’t pay anything. In other areas, however, in some municipalities and some subdivisions, you have to be very careful here because some areas will charge you regardless of using that water or not. It doesn’t matter if you’re even hooked into their main lines, they will still charge you a monthly fee because you have the availability of water that you could have used.
So what will happen is they’ll send you a bill. They’ll say, “This is your water bill this month. It’s $30.00.” You’re going to think to yourself, “What am I paying $30.00 for?” You’re paying $30.00 for the possibility to one day tie into their water. It might sound like a rip off to a lot of people, and I certainly agree with you there, but it’s something that you have to be very, very careful of here because what happens here, if you don’t pay these water bills, it’s not like they can just come out and cut your water off. After all, you’re not using your water. What they will do instead is they’ll take you to court. They will sue you for these water bills. Not only will they sue you for the water bills, they’ll also sue you for the attorney’s fees, the filing fees and all sorts of other stuff, all because you failed to pay your water bills for water you did not use. I know it sounds silly, but it’s something that you need to research when you start researching tax sale properties.
So your next question is how can you research these water bills? How can you research if they’re going to bill you for ability of water? Well, the first thing you do is you can search the subdivision on Google. Find the subdivision name. See if there’s some sort of HOA that governs the subdivision. Call that Homeowners Association or email them and say, “Listen, do you charge for water? Is water available in the area? Do you charge for it? Who do I pay for it if it is charged?” And then call them and figure out exactly how much the water would be per month.
If you can’t find anything by searching the subdivision, try the township or the county that the property is located in. Call the county or the township and say, “I’m interesting in purchasing property in this particular area. Can you tell me if it has a water bill or not?” And see what they say, and then of course get the amounts. And it might be your best option sometimes to steer clear of these areas because sometimes I’ve seen charges upwards of $100.00 a month for somebody that has the availability to use water even though they don’t use an ounce of water.
So, when it comes to water and your water bills, just be careful here because it can lead to lawsuits and it has for some tax sale investors in the past if you don’t know what you’re doing and you don’t pay attention to what you’re doing.
So, I hope this has helped you. If you’d like more information about The Tax Sale Academy, head on over to my website at TaxSaleAcademy.com and check it out. And while you’re there, download your free copy of the e-book, The Tax Sale Blueprint. Have a great day, folks! Take care! Bye-bye.