Title search for tax sale

[mmcguire64]

I'm looking at some properties coming up at Harris County Tax Auction. I can get the lien info from the City Clerk. Will that cover most of the legal issues? Or, should I invest in a professional title search before the auction? The question is that title insurance is based on sale price - which you don't know ahead of the auction. This would be a cash purchase, so no mortgage involved. (I'm from an area that has better land registration, so am not familiar with "quality of title" issues.) Thanks in advance for your advice.

[rbarz]

I'm looking at some properties coming up at Harris County Tax Auction. I can get the lien info from the City Clerk. Will that cover most of the legal issues? Or, should I invest in a professional title search before the auction? The question is that title insurance is based on sale price - which you don't know ahead of the auction. This would be a cash purchase, so no mortgage involved. (I'm from an area that has better land registration, so am not familiar with "quality of title" issues.) Thanks in advance for your advice.

Title insurance is based on sales price, but you can not get title insurance on a tax auction. You can't even get clear title in a Tax Auction because of Texas' Right of Redemption laws (after they expire you can get clear title).

You need a title search which is much cheaper than title insurance, and you should probably conduct your own search, because the pros apparently screw up all the time (which I learned the hard way).