Currently around half of the states offer tax lien certificates
and the rest offer something called tax deeds or a combination
of both tax liens and tax deeds.
In a tax deed state, you do not buy the lien, you are bidding on
the actual property. If you are the winning bidder you will own
the property outright. It's yours, and you can do whatever you
want with it; renovate it, rent it, tear it down, live in it -
it's yours. These properties will almost always come with a
title that is free and clear of all liens and encumbrances and
you probably paid somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 - 70% of
market value. Which means, you could sell it tomorrow for 80% of
market value.
How does a property in a tax deed state end up at auction?
If you've ever been late paying a bill you know that you get
numerous notices of delinquency by mail or by telephone.
Normally you have quite a bit of time before anything really bad
happens. It is the same case when people go delinquent on their
property taxes. When they miss a payment the county will to
inform them and will "kindly" ask them to pay up. This continues
for a while until the county finally says enough is enough, "if
you don't pay up by this day you will lose your property."
Coincidentally that day is usually the day before the auction is
scheduled.
I want to point out that by investing in tax deeds you are in no
way stealing anyone's home. These property owners have had every
opportunity to repay the debt. The county will do everything in
their power to avoid sending a property to auction and in many
cases they wait 4 years or more before the property actually
gets there.
Typically you will end up paying more for a tax deed then you
would for a tax lien certificate but it is a different type of
investing. In tax lien certificate investing you are looking for
the guaranteed 8% - 50% return on your money with a chance at
higher if you get to foreclose but you have no right to the
property until the redemption period expires. In tax deed
investing you are buying the property outright and you can do
anything you want with it and there is potential for a huge
return on your investment in a short amount of time but it does
require more work on your behalf. It depends on your own
personality and investment needs as to which type you choose.
Free Tax Lien
Secrets
About the author:
Brad Olstad
Tax Lien
| Tax Lien Certificate Investing
