We buy houses in Craig County, OK

Oklahoma tax bills come due on November 1. Pay at least half before January 1 and the rest can wait until April 1. Miss the first half and the whole bill is late on January 1 (68 O.S. 2913).

Small bills work differently. If the whole tax is $25 or less, all of it is due before January 1. Late tax then grows by 1.5 percent a month (68 O.S. 2913).

Unpaid town charges can land on your tax account too. The Craig County Treasurer says town bills for sewer, water, weeds, cleaning, paving and nuisance work become a lien on the property once they go unpaid.

After that, the Treasurer must warn you in two ways. A list of late taxes runs in a county paper once a week for two weeks, between April and September. A notice also comes by mail (68 O.S. 3106).

The mailed notice goes to the owner on record as of December 31. It shows the amount owed and the legal description of the land (68 O.S. 3106).

Once taxes go unpaid for three years, the home is offered at the yearly resale (68 O.S. 3105). That sale falls on the second Monday of June, or that same week if it is held online (68 O.S. 3125).

If you live in the home, Oklahoma takes $1,000 off its assessed value for tax (68 O.S. 2889). You apply with the Craig County Assessor.

File by March 15, or within 30 days of a notice that your value went up, and it counts that year. File later and it starts the next year. Once you have it, you do not need to apply again while you own and live in the home (68 O.S. 2892).

Tornado victims get extra time. If a tornado with a presidential disaster declaration wrecked your home, and you buy or build a new one elsewhere in Oklahoma, you can file after March 15. The deadline is June 1 of the next year (68 O.S. 2892).

Selling also brings a state deed tax. It is 75 cents for each $500 of the price, once the price tops $100 (68 O.S. 3201). By our own math, a $120,000 sale owes $180.

Mining here began after the Civil War. The Oklahoma Historical Society says mines in the western part of the county were still producing coal in the early 2000s. Gas and a little oil turn up in the sandstone hills.

That history means the rights under your land may belong to someone else. Or they may have passed down through a family for generations.

When the owner of split off mineral rights dies, an heir can act. They can file an affidavit of death and heirship with the county clerk where the rights sit (58 O.S. 393). The law presumes its facts are true unless shown otherwise. A title company or attorney can check the records before you sell.

Around Ketchum, homes outside town get water from rural water districts. The town notes that country homes may also run on a private well. A buyer will ask which one serves your place.

Other services vary by road. Around Ketchum, power comes from Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative or PSO, depending on where you live. Gas is usually propane from private companies.

Water shapes this land. Creeks that feed the Neosho River drain the county, and Big Cabin Creek is the main stream in the south.

FEMA's newest flood maps for Craig County took effect on September 13, 2019. You can look at them in two places:

• Vinita City Hall, 104 East Illinois Avenue, for the city
• Craig County Emergency Management, 915 East Apperson Road, for Big Cabin, Bluejacket, Ketchum, Welch and rural land.