This 3-bedroom, 2-bath Boise house could be yours if you act fast. And it’s cheap
Until 2020, Ruth Martin was listed as the primary owner of a Boise Bench property on Holiday Drive.
But after years of unpaid taxes, according to Ada County records, the property will likely soon have a new owner. For now, the house sits wedged in behind overgrown trees that make it almost unnoticeable from the street.
Last year, Ada County became the primary owner and now the county is auctioning off the property through the tax deed process. The auction is scheduled to end at 8 a.m. Thursday, but it could be extended if a bid is placed in the final five minutes. As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, the highest bid was $175,100 — a bargain compared with Ada County’s assessed value of $354,100 and Zillow’s estimate of $415,500.
The buyer will get a 1,495-square-foot, one-story house built on a quarter acre in 1955 with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a garage and a 53-square-foot patio, according to the assessor.
The bidding began at $28,607.89, a minimum price set by the Ada County commissioners simply to recoup the unpaid taxes and cost of notifying the previous property owner.
The county won’t make a profit from the sale, Ada County Treasurer Elizabeth Mahn said in a phone interview. Any excess money would be sent to interested parties, like lien holders and the previous owner. Or if no one claims it, the money would be sent to the state treasurer.
“In a nutshell, it’s a statutory process to collect delinquent taxes for the taxing district,” Mahn said. “At the highest level, that’s what it is.”
Martin, the prior owner, is dead, Mahn said, and family members have been “in and out” of the property. Taxes were paid on the property through 2015, according to Ada County records. But each year since, they’ve been delinquent. The unpaid taxes total $24,207.42.
“In general (after a property owner dies), a family member might become the personal representative and take care of the estate. It just doesn’t look like that happened in this case,” Mahn said. “… Typically, someone will probate the estate or do something to wrap up the financial affairs.”
After taxes are delinquent for three years, the tax deed process begins. Each year, usually around 100 parcels fall in this category, Mahn said. Once the county notifies property owners, that number decreases significantly, since most people eventually pay up. Typically fewer than 10 properties are auctioned off annually.
This year, for properties that became delinquent in 2016, there are five properties up for auction. Only the one at 6945 W. Holiday Drive includes a house. As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, the highest bid for each of the four other properties was $5,500 or less.
The auction is a last resort.
“This is a circumstance we like to avoid,” Mahn said.
For the auctioned properties, the county doesn’t offer any assurances. Whoever wins the auction buys the property as is.
From 2000 to 2017, the Holiday Drive property was never assessed for more than $200,000. In 2018, Ada County assessed the property at $222,500, and it’s increased each year since. The assessed value rose to $263,500 in 2019, to $283,000 in 2020 and to $354,100 this year.
By Wednesday afternoon, it had at least 49 bids.
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 4:12 PM.
CORRECTION: The Holiday Drive house has not been up for auction previously. An earlier version of this story erred on that point.
