If you’re in the market to purchase a house or some land, one seller you might want to check out is Guilford County government.
The county is still sitting on a slew of foreclosed property and homes from a process that began with the financial collapse about a decade ago. Many property owners in Guilford County over the years have been unable to pay their property taxes, and, when those taxes aren’t paid, the county seizes the land and the homes and sells them to the highest bidder.
On Thursday, Nov. 21, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners plans to sell off some surplus county property and the board will continue to do so in the future.
In a May 2015 meeting, the Board of Commissioners voted to declare as surplus a number of properties in the county that were obtained largely through the ongoing tax foreclosure process. (The county also sometimes acquires property when citizens donate homes or land to it.)
At the upcoming Thursday, Nov. 17 meeting, the board is expected to approve contracts with buyers for property that was put out for bids in late September. Guilford County, by law, goes with the highest bidder – which in many cases can be very low.
For the three properties being voted on by the board at the Nov. 17 meeting, sealed bids were accepted until Halloween at 5:00 pm; and, on November 1, those bids were opened and awarded.
This week the properties being unloaded are 4305 Brookhaven Dr. in Greensboro, 1303 Furlough Ave. in High Point and 6303 ZZ Quincy Lane in Gibsonville.
The 4305 Brookhaven Drive lot has a tax value of $10,000 and the winning bid, from Eugene & Kimberly Chrapowitzky, was for $5,518. The 1303 Furlough Avenue had a tax value of $5,000 and Risa Peets acquired the property for $2,000 – the minimum acceptable price on that piece of land. The property at 6303 ZZ Quincy Lane had a tax value of $30,800 and a minimum acceptable bid of $6,000 – which is exactly how much Titus Land Holdings, LLC got the property for.
