Going once, going twice: County to hold first ever forfeited land auction

For as little as $3,800, one lucky bidder may soon own the home lot overlooking the fourth tee of Callawassie Island's Magnolia Course.

It's one of more than 50 properties for sale in Beaufort County's first ever Forfeited Land Commission auction that will be held later this month.

The online fire sale includes properties forfeited by owners who couldn't or wouldn't pay their property taxes, eventually landing the properties in county coffers, said Beaufort County treasurer Maria Walls.

The new auction, led by Meares Auction Group, will offer those properties at a deep discount to try to get them back into the hands of paying taxpayers, Walls said. Bids will start at 70 to 80 to more than 90 percent off each property's market value.

"We've got a surplus of properties we just want to get back on the tax rolls," Walls said. "While they're in the county's Forfeited Land Commission, we don't pay taxes to ourselves, so they're not generating any revenue ... We're using this as a pilot and if (the auction) goes well, we'll continue to do this and expand our online efforts."

In the case of the home lot on Callawassie Island, it's being offered at a 70 percent discount. Another half-dozen Callawassie Island lots are also in the auction, according to the Meares listing and county records.

Another dozen home lots in Belfair, Berkeley Hall and Colleton River Plantation will start bidding at only a few thousand dollars -- fractions of their most recent sales prices.

For only $8,800, bidders could secure a small parcel on the corner of William Hilton Parkway near Mathews Drive that the county assessor has valued at $160,000.

Those prices can be a steal for motivated investors, but they're also a boon for the county, which doesn't have any purpose for the land otherwise, Walls said.

The properties that wind up in the Forfeited Land Commission are most often unwanted scraps from the county's annual delinquent tax sale, she said.

Each October, the Treasurer's Office and Meares auction off hundreds of properties on which owners have not paid the past year's tax bill. The sales cover the cost of that unpaid bill, and the owner has a year to pay to reclaim the property. If not reclaimed, the bidder receives title to the land and the former owner gets the balance of the bid.

In some cases, though, no one bids on the property and it reverts to the Forfeited Land Commission, where dozens of otherwise useful, tax-generating properties have sat dormant under county ownership, Walls said.

The new auction could change that, and Meares has made an effort to reach out to neighboring property owners to try to generate local interest in the bidding, Walls said. The county also sent emails to 185,000 agents and investment buyers who have participated in the annual delinquent tax sale and placed ads in more than hundred newspapers across the state to drum up more potential bidders, she added.

The auction won't cost the county any money and could make a small profit, Walls said.

"Generally someone can come in and make the minimum bid and get the property right then," she said. "The county is not holding these properties and auctioning them off for a huge profit. We're just worried about getting the taxes paid."

But any bids above the minimums could land the county a small windfall, though it's unclear if there will be enough competitive bidders to drive up prices, she added.

"I like new ideas," said County Councilman Brian Flewelling, who owns Advantage Title Abstracting Company in Beaufort. "Historically, just the people who were on the inside knew about these deals and took advantage of an untapped market, so if she's able to generate some interest in the general public, I think it's a good thing."

Follow reporter Zach Murdock on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Zach and on Facebook at facebook.com/IPBGZach.

Related content:

• New Beaufort County website promises more transparency, new treasurer says, July 1, 2015
• 'Our angel': New group seeks to help Gullah families reclaim their property, May 17, 2015
• Hedge funds, average Joes look to cash in at Beaufort County tax sale, Oct. 6, 2014
• Boats, other personal property added to delinquent-tax list, Sept. 17, 2014

This story was originally published August 11, 2015 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Going once, going twice: County to hold first ever forfeited land auction."