I had a submission on my buying site last night that happens to be zoned as Commercial Forest land. The parcel is a little over 5 acres, lots of trees.
The owner is delinquent for 2016, 2017, and 2018, but paid 2019 and 2020 and has yet to pay 2021. Given the fact that they paid 2019 and 2020 but not the three years prior, I’m assuming they know how the foreclosure process works in this county…
I have a chance to pick it up for pretty cheap but I’m not sure what my exit strategy would be here.
I suppose I could harvest some of the timber? Anyone know what it runs to hire a professional forestry consultant?
@dvucak maying 2019 and 2020 while skipping the previous years makes no sense. I wouldn’t assume they understand how the foreclosure process works (or perhaps they aren’t aware that they’re behind on these years), because I can’t think of any reason why sane/aware person would do this.
5 acres of forest land could be useful for a lot of things, but it depends on what it’s located near and if the municipality has any big restrictions (among other things). Commercial properties can actually fall under a bit more scrutiny, because they’re often a more visible part of the community, on roads that more drive down every day.
If you want to hire a forestry consultant, I would do a google search for “forestry consultant” in your state or county. Give them a call and get their input! They might be able to tell you whether it’s worth their time just based on the details you shared above.
@retipsterseth I think the issue is that my interpretation of delinquency was misunderstood.
In my mind, I was thinking that to be 4 years delinquent, that would mean you didn’t pay for 2016, 2017, 2018, AND 2019. If you don’t pay for ALL four years, then your property goes to foreclosure in 2020. However, since they kept paying the most recent year, then they’re technically not “delinquent”.
However, now that I’m thinking about it, that makes no sense at all! Property taxes are yearly, and if that was the case, everyone would be doing that!
If you fail to pay 2016, but pay all other years, then you’re still delinquent, even though it’s just one year.
Yeah, that’s my next move! Just curious to see what others have done with commercial forest land, as far as the disposition of it at least.