Deed sale in nine days, and the title exceptions are what I don't know
This is a deed state, sale is a public auction of the property itself, opening bid is the delinquent taxes plus costs at $9,340. House is 1,180 square feet, single story, frame, built mid seventies, in a small town about an hour out where similar houses that are actually livable trade in the $95k to $130k range.
What I have. Two exterior walkarounds. Roof is a three tab that's past done, at least one patch of decking showing through at the northeast corner. Foundation looks fine from outside, no stair stepping in the block skirt. Windows are original single pane. Power meter is pulled. No visible interior, curtains drawn, and I'm not going in. My guess at scope from the outside is roof, full mechanical, likely a rewire given the age and the meter being off, and whatever the interior turns out to be, which on a vacant house with the power off for two winters could be anything. I'd budget $48k and expect to be wrong by a lot in one direction.
What I don't have. Any read on title. The county's sale terms say the deed conveys without warranty and that the sale extinguishes some liens and not others, and then points you at the statute. From what I've read, lien treatment on a tax deed varies by state and even by lien type, with federal liens sometimes carrying a separate redemption right after the sale, so I'm not treating anything as settled until a title attorney in that state tells me in writing.
So the number I actually need is not the rehab, it's the cost and calendar of getting to insurable title. Two attorneys quoted me quiet title work in ranges wide enough to be useless, $2,500 to $7,000, four to eleven months, and both hedged on whether it'd be contested.
At $9,340 plus $48k of work plus call it $6,000 of legal and carrying eleven months of taxes and insurance on a vacant frame house, I'm at $65k against a $110k middle. That's a margin I'd take on a normal flip with clean title, and I can't tell if it's enough for this one. Nine days.