We buy houses in Montgomery County, MS

Land under a deed of trust can be sold at a public sale. Mississippi law sets how that sale must be advertised (Miss. Code 89-1-55).

The sale can be held in the county where the land sits. It can also be held in the county where a borrower on the deed of trust lives.

The sale has to run in a county newspaper for three straight weeks. A notice must hang at the courthouse for that same time, naming the original borrower.

Without that notice, the sale is not valid, even if the loan papers say otherwise (Miss. Code 89-1-55).

If a notice has gone up, a real estate attorney can confirm your options and your dates.

The state Department of Revenue lists these Montgomery County levies for 2024 to 2025:

• county funds: 80.6 mills
• Winona: 49.5 mills
• Kilmichael: 58.5 mills
• Duck Hill: 65.5 mills
• Winona Montgomery Consolidated School: 48.03 mills

The same report puts the county average at 129.91 mills for 2024 to 2025.

Rental houses, land and other real estate are taxed on 15 percent of true value.

Your own home is taxed on 10 percent of true value. By our math, an $80,000 home you live in would owe about $1,039 a year at that average, before homestead.

File for homestead between January 1 and April 1. Owners under 65 can get up to a $300 credit. At 65, or if totally disabled, the first $7,500 of assessed value is exempt.

The county says land taxes are due by February 1. After that, it adds 1 percent interest each month.

An honorably discharged veteran rated with a total, service-connected disability can qualify to pay no property tax at all on a home that qualifies.

FEMA's flood study says Montgomery County can flood in any season, though most floods come in winter and spring.

Rain runoff is the main cause. The drainage basins are small, so a hard local thunderstorm can bring a flash flood.

The study also says no flood protection works are known in the area it covered.

Summers here are hot and humid, and winters are short and mild. The study puts the average at 40.0 degrees in January and 77.7 degrees in July.

The study puts average yearly rain at 57.04 inches. If your house sits near a creek, find out what the flood map shows before you sell.

Montgomery has long been farm country. The Mississippi Encyclopedia says the county once had the third most cattle in the state. About 73 percent of its farms were run by their owners.

Land held that long often passes to many heirs. If one heir asks a court to sell, the others have 45 days after the court's notice to buy that share out. The price is the court's value times that heir's share (Miss. Code 91-31-13).

A mobile home on land you own can be taxed as real estate. The wheels and axles come off, and the home is anchored and blocked (Miss. Code 27-53-15).

The assessor then files a certificate in the land records. The fee is $10 plus the filing fee (Miss. Code 27-53-15).

For a home on septic, the state health department inspects existing systems on Form 776. The form, revised in 2017, lists a $125 fee.