July 4, 2019 630 PM
MARFA – Over 50 people gathered around the front steps of the Presidio County Courthouse Tuesday morning in hopes of purchasing available properties at the Sheriff’s sale.
Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez and Danny Barrett of Purdue Brandon Fielder Collins and Mott, LLP conducted the sale taking less than 30 minutes and bringing in a total of $331,000.
Six tracts of property were identified as vacant and available for purchase in its current condition. Each bid started with the amount of property taxes owed and court costs. A property near the Dollar General was removed from the county tax rolls during the sale due to its location––in a creek bed.
David Branch and Kathleen Shafer, together, purchased two plots of land for a total of $140,000. The first property on W. Sacramento Street, behind The Water Stop, sold for $52,000, and the second property on W. San Antonio Street, near Food Shark, went for $88,000.
Patty Cater from San Antonio placed the winning bid for a property on West Philadelphia Street at $27,000.
Pat Daly and Mark Morrison won a small bidding war with Marfa City Councilmember Yoseff Ben-Yehuda paying $73,000 for property that is sandwiched between two houses on Plateau St.
Guadalupe Guerrero Parra of Marfa purchased a lot on Berlin Street near Mando’s restaurant. His bid was $91,000.
Winning bidders are required to pay for the property by cash or cashier’s check within an hour of the auction’s close. The buyers will receive a sheriff’s deed; however, the properties were sold under the rights of redemption, meaning that the prior owner could force a buyback within six months. Should that happen, the prior owner would have to pay the winning amount plus an additional 25 percent.
After property taxes and court costs are paid, the remaining funds from each winning bid will be held in an escrow account for over a year.
