What we take on when the back taxes have piled up
Where our experience matters most with back taxes is knowing how far the enforcement process has actually gone, because that is what determines how much time you have.
We will help you establish it. We will also be honest if the arrears plus everything else recorded against an Islip house exceed what the property is worth. If that is the position, there are other routes, and we know the attorneys and housing counselors who handle them. You will get a straight answer either way, and it costs nothing to ask for one.
Where the money to clear the back taxes actually comes from
Owners often assume a sale cannot happen until the back taxes are current, so they either scramble for the cash or they simply wait. Waiting is the costlier of the two, because interest does not pause while anyone decides.
At closing the back taxes are paid to the county out of the proceeds, the balance comes to you, and title transfers clean. That is the ordinary sequence for a house with arrears on it, not a special arrangement we are inventing for you.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A six-bedroom on Gladstone Avenue. A four-bedroom on Storey Avenue. A three-bedroom on Montauk Avenue. All of them in Islip, all bought by us.
Islip is roughly 18,418 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11751, and the housing stock is mostly colonial, cape cod, ranch. Around Main Street and Sunrise Highway, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. The Islip stop pulls buyers who commute, which supports the good houses and does very little for the ones that need a roof. We have bought enough here to know which streets take water, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what the Islip Union Free School District does to a resale price.
What happens to unpaid property taxes here
Delinquent property taxes in Suffolk County accrue interest and eventually lead to enforcement, so the current figure is worth getting from the county directly rather than working from an old bill.
We are careful about stating procedure as settled fact on a web page, because these processes change and the details matter too much to anyone in the middle of them. Ask the county for the current figure in writing, and ask an attorney what stage the back taxes have reached. Once you have those two answers the decision in front of you gets a lot simpler.
When the delinquent tax lien has already been sold
Back taxes that have reached the lien-sale stage are a different situation from arrears still sitting quietly with the county. There can be redemption periods and added costs involved, and none of that is something to take from a web page. Ask an attorney what applies to your specific case.
We have bought houses at this stage before. What we need from you is the honest position rather than a tidy one, because we would rather work with the real facts from day one.
What the two paths cost in Islip
These are the two routes open to you with a house with back taxes, priced against what Islip houses actually sell for.
Work it against Islip's own numbers. The median sale here is $677,000. A 5% commission on that is $33,850, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $13,540. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $47,390 gone before anyone counts the repairs it took to get the house listable.
There are two waits in a listed sale and people usually only count the first. In Islip the median house takes about 35 days to go from listed to a signed contract. Then it waits again, typically 45 to 60 days, while the buyer's lender orders an appraisal and underwrites the loan. Call it 80 to 95 days from sign to keys, assuming nothing goes wrong.
The part worth understanding is what a signed contract actually guarantees, which is less than most sellers assume. A retail buyer with a mortgage contingency can walk away right up to the end. If they do not qualify, if the appraisal comes in under the price, if they change their mind and let the financing lapse. A share of deals die exactly there, after months of waiting, and the house goes back on the market with time on it. We are not borrowing anything, so there is no lender to satisfy, no appraisal to come in low and no contingency to exercise.
| Listing with an agent | Selling to us | |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $677,000 (Islip median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$33,850 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$13,540 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 35 days (Islip median, once listable) | 24 hours to a written offer |
| Contract to closing | 45 to 60 days (waiting on the buyer's lender) | A date you choose |
| Total wait | 80 to 95 days if nothing falls through | Yours to set |
| Can the buyer walk? | Yes (mortgage contingency runs to the end) | No financing to fall through |
| Before repairs and carrying | $629,610 | The number we put in writing |
For the listing side we have used a 5% commission and about 2% in seller closing costs; your real figures may differ. Repairs and carrying costs are left out because they depend on the house. If yours is in good shape, a good agent may well get you more than we would, and we will tell you if so.
Why back taxes get worse quietly
The quiet thing about arrears is that there is no single alarming day. The balance grows steadily, and because nothing dramatic happens this month, nothing gets decided this month either.
By the time something dramatic does happen, a good deal of the equity has already been consumed. If there is real value in the house today, protecting it is mostly a question of acting while the number is still the smaller one.
What you do not pay when you sell a house with back taxes
Listing a house with back taxes the usual way brings each of these costs with it. Selling to us brings none of them.
- Agent commission
- $33,850 at 5% of the Islip median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $13,540 on a $677,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Everything a buyer would flag, paid for before you list none
- Cleanout and removal
- Dumpsters or haulers by the load, ahead of any viewing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities across the 80 to 95 days it takes to find a buyer and then wait on their lender none
Other routes worth asking us about on back taxes
Sometimes the total owed against a house, back taxes included, sits close to or above what the property will realistically fetch. We will say so early rather than after two months of title work.
That is not the end of the conversation. There are payment arrangements, hardship programs, and attorneys who handle tax matters every day, and we know who to send you to. Nobody gets turned away at that point, and the conversation has never cost anyone anything.
Common questions
How do I find out what back taxes I owe on my Islip house?
Ask the county directly and get it in writing. Do not work from a bill that is a year old, because interest will have moved the figure since it was printed.
Can you buy an Islip house with years of back taxes on it?
We buy houses with back taxes against them regularly. What decides it is not the size of the arrears on its own, it is whether the value of the house covers everything recorded against it.
Do I have to pay the back taxes off before closing?
No. The back taxes are settled from the purchase price at closing by the attorneys, and the house transfers clean. Paying out of pocket first is usually unnecessary.
What happens to the back taxes if I do nothing?
The balance keeps growing, and the options tend to narrow as it does. Ask an attorney what stage an Islip property has reached. We can recommend somebody if you do not already have counsel.
Will I have anything left after the back taxes are paid at closing?
That depends on the payoff against what the house is worth. We will tell you honestly if the arrears and the mortgage have consumed the equity rather than take you through a process that ends at zero.