Dear MOTHER,
According to the Minnesota VOLUNTEER Magazine, there are over one million acres of backtax land (wooded, not waterfront) available in St. Louis County, Minnesota alone . . . to say nothing of nearby Itasca, Cass and Aitkin counties. This land usually sells for $5 to $15 an acre . . . and for only a little more if it's covered with marketable timber or adjoins a road.
To buy such acreage, you must make at least a 30% down payment and pay 4% interest on the balance . . . but the first taxes due on land purchased now would be 1972 taxes (payable in 1973).
For further details, contact the land commissioner in the county that interests you most (he also has information on private land for sale). An especially good man to get in touch with, we found, is Land Commissioner William Marshall in Grand Rapids (Itasca County), Minnesota.
I haven't seen any of this land yet, but I'm on my way.
Susie Sandmann
Sleepy Eye, Minn.
Dear MOTHER,
Here's some information on back tax sales (for Pennsylvania, but probably more-or-less applicable for other states, too) . . . which is still a good way to get inexpensive land.
The counties in my state handle all these tax sales and group them into two classes. The first is a "tax claim sale" (usually held twice a year), which is an auction with the minimum bid being the amount of back taxes due. The new owner is responsible for all leins, assessments, mortgages . . . in short, debts on the property. It's a good idea to have a professional title search made on land bought at one of these auctions.
Acreage may also be purchased at what is called "judicial sales". These auctions are also held twice a year and a minimum bid of $1.00 is required. The properties offered have no debts on them and are sold free and clear. A do-it-yourself title search should be sufficient for one of these farms.
I've seen several 26-acre parcels go for around $80 and larger tracts for $15 to $30 an acre at these sales. The only problem is that the best of these properties are sometimes unmapped, so you may not know exactly where they are.
John S. Hileman, Jr.
Harrisburg, Pa.
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