Sell Land Facing Foreclosure or Loan Default in West Hills, TN
A West Hills area parcel with money owed against it does not fix itself. Delinquent property taxes are collected by the Knox County Trustee. Parcels that stay unpaid are turned over to the Clerk & Master and sold at tax sale through Chancery Court, and a tax-sale purchase carries a one-year redemption period. Around West Hills that means ground near Westmoreland, Deane Hill and West Hills, within sight of Kingston Pike. One written offer on the parcel as it sits, and a Knox County closing attorney handling the file.
What you are dealing with
Sound familiar?
- A balloon payment due on land you never got around to building on
- A substitute trustee's notice with a sale date already published
- A private seller-financed note holder who wants the land back
- No income from the parcel to cure the arrears with
Where we see this around West Hills
In the West Hills area we see this most around West Hills, Westmoreland and Deane Hill and the Knox County ground near Kingston Pike.
- West Hills
- Westmoreland
- Deane Hill
Zip codes: 37909
How it works in Knox County
The local process, step by step
- Step 1
Default or maturity
Missed payments or an unpaid balloon put the note in default. Land notes frequently carry short cure windows and steep default interest.
- Step 2
Notice and publication
Tennessee foreclosures are non-judicial. The substitute trustee sends notice to the borrower and publishes the sale in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the land sits, ordinarily three consecutive weeks.
- Step 3
Trustee's sale
The parcel is sold to the highest bidder on the courthouse steps. Vacant land often draws thin bidding, which is exactly how deficiency balances happen.
Knox County offices involved
- Deeds and plats
- Deeds, plats, easements, and mineral reservations for Knox County are recorded with the Knox County Register of Deeds at the City County Building downtown, and the chain is searchable back well over a century.
- Planning and zoning
- Zoning and subdivision review inside the city and the county run through the Knoxville-Knox County Planning commission, with separate city and county zoning ordinances governing minimum lot size, setbacks, and hillside disturbance.
- Septic and soils
- Septic and soil evaluations for parcels outside sewer service are handled through the Knox County Health Department's environmental health program under state rules.
- Delinquent taxes
- Delinquent property taxes are collected by the Knox County Trustee. Parcels that stay unpaid are turned over to the Clerk & Master and sold at tax sale through Chancery Court, and a tax-sale purchase carries a one-year redemption period.
- Probate
- Probate is handled by the Knox County Chancery Court, Probate Division, at the City-County Building at 400 Main Street downtown. An executor with letters testamentary can sign a sale contract once the court has appointed them. Tennessee has no statutory right of redemption after a foreclosure sale in most deeds, but tax-sale purchases carry a one-year redemption period. Probate in Tennessee typically runs 6-12 months; a house can be sold during probate with court approval or by the executor once appointed.
Legal notes
- • Tennessee does not require a lawsuit to foreclose on a deed of trust, so land timelines are short.
- • Most Tennessee deeds of trust waive the statutory right of redemption, so there is usually no buy-back window after the sale.
- • Owner-financed land contracts can carry different remedies than a deed of trust -- read the instrument or have an attorney read it.
- • This is general information, not legal advice.
Your options
- • Cure the arrears or pay the balloon
- • Ask the note holder to extend or modify the maturity date
- • List the land and hope a buyer closes before the sale date
- • Sell for cash on a date you control and pay the note at closing
How we handle it
Selling this parcel to us in West Hills
We buy land under a live sale date. We pull the payoff directly from the note holder, close with our own funds, and you keep the difference instead of watching it evaporate at a courthouse sale. Selling ahead of the sale also protects you from a deficiency claim on the shortfall.
West Hills is twenty minutes from the office, and we can usually get out there the day you call.
Our process
Three steps, no surprises
- 1
Tell us about the house
Call or send the address. We ask about condition, timing, and what is going on -- not for photographs or a clean house.
- 2
We walk the property
We look at it ourselves as a licensed contractor and price the repairs from real numbers instead of a padded guess.
- 3
Written offer, your date
You get a written, no-obligation offer, usually within 24 hours. You pick the closing date; we can close in as little as seven days.
FAQ
Land in Foreclosure in West Hills: common questions
- Who do I owe on a parcel in Knox County?
- Delinquent property taxes are collected by the Knox County Trustee. Parcels that stay unpaid are turned over to the Clerk & Master and sold at tax sale through Chancery Court, and a tax-sale purchase carries a one-year redemption period. We order every payoff -- county, association, and lienholder -- before closing so the settlement statement holds no surprises.
- Could Greenbelt rollback taxes hit me in Knox County?
- Knox County has a large amount of Greenbelt-classified agricultural and forest land, and a change of use can trigger rollback taxes that get calculated before closing.
- Are utilities available on West Hills area land?
- Water, sewer, and electric availability varies sharply by parcel here -- KUB serves much of the urban area while outlying parcels depend on utility district lines and well or septic.
- The sale is in two weeks. Is it too late?
- Not necessarily. Land title searches are fast and we have closed inside two weeks before. Call the same day you get the notice -- the earlier we start, the better the odds.
- Do you pay the lender directly?
- Yes. Payoff funds go from the closing attorney straight to the note holder, and you get a settlement statement showing every dollar.
- What if the payoff exceeds what the land is worth?
- Then we would talk about whether the note holder will accept a short payoff. We have negotiated those, though private note holders vary widely.
No obligation
Get your West Hills land offer
No survey, no soil test, no cleanup, no commission. Send the parcel number and we will come back with a written number.
Land in Foreclosure in West Hills
No obligation, no fees, no repairs. Tell us about the property and you get a written cash offer within 24 hours of the walkthrough.
Related
Other land situations we buy in around West Hills
Nearby
Same situation in nearby cities
Have the parcel number? Call (865) 277-6808 and we will look it up.
Call (865) 277-6808