Change: Posting to Tax Lien Investing Tips Blog

All new articles will be posted to my Tax Lien Investing Tips blog at http://TaxLienInvestingTips.com.
I am combining my articles with my audios, videos, and anything else I can think of. The articles already here will stay here. So keep this blog site taged for reference, but make sure and note the new site for current,updated information. Look to http://TaxLienInvestingTips.com for continuing assistance with tax liens, tax deeds, and new strategies on investing in real estate.

Happy and Prosperous Investing,

Joanne Musa

April 2009 Q & A Webinar

The April 2009 Q & A Webinar is now posted on the Members Area of TaxLienLady.com. In this webinar I answer some questions about deed sales in California and in Pennsylvania, and I talk about what you can expect from tax lien and tax deed investing. It may not be what you think!

I've also posted a bonus video to show you how you can use Bid4Assets.com to find out about California online tax sales, including how to register to bid at the sale, and how to get the tax sale list.

If you're already a member of TaxLienLady.com's Members Area, just go to www.taxlienlady.com/membersarea and put in your name and password. Then click on the teleseminars link on the left side bar to go to the page with all of the recorded webinars and teleseminars. The April call will be at the top of the page.

If you haven't yet taken advantage of the 30 day free trial to the members area, you can do so at http://budurl.com/30daytrial.

Many California counties have online tax sales, and many of them are in April, May and June. So don't miss out, get your free 30 day trial and listen to the replay of April's webinar and the bonus video to find out how you can start bidding on California tax deeds. Go to http://budurl.com/30daytrial.

Update to Tax Lien Investing Book Review: New Edition of The 16% Solution

Just after I wrote a review of three of my favorite books about tax lien investing, I got a call asking me if I’d like to review a brand new edition of one of them. A second edition of The 16% Solution, by Joel S. Moskowitz, is now in bookstores and I’ve just finished reading it. It’s been a while (more than 6 years) since I read the original version of this book – which was somewhat outdated then, so I wasn’t sure just how different the second edition would be from the first.

I was pleasantly surprised! With all of the hype and recent infomercials lately touting tax lien investing as a way to get rich quick, this book is very refreshing. Right from the beginning Mr. Moskowitz sets the reader straight, giving honest and straightforward information. I was really impressed with the forward to this second edition where he likened the chances of someone getting a property for pennies on the dollar from a tax lien to someone winning one million dollars from a one-dollar lottery ticket. Yeah it happens every now and then, but it’s not likely. And then he tells you what you can expect from tax lien investing – “super-high interest combined with safety.”

This book is divided into four sections. In the first section Mr. Moskowitz explains what tax liens are, why they are such a safe investment, and why now, more than ever before you need to include them in your investment plan. At the end of the section he has a chart that shows how tax lien certificates compare to other investments in terms of income and growth potential, risk avoidance, safety, and liquidity.

Section 2 talks about how to buy tax lien certificates; how to choose a state and county to invest in and how to choose the properties to buy tax liens on. It also covers bidding at the auction and buying over-the-counter and assignment liens. There is even a chapter on how to get local officials to help you do your due diligence (This doesn’t always work in every county, but it’s certainly worth a try).

Section 3 of The 16% Solution talks about how you get paid on a tax lien certificate and how to foreclose on the property. Mr. Moskowitz explains how a tax lien certificate is redeemed, how to foreclose on a tax lien, and what to do with the property once you foreclose on it. Section 4 talks about avoiding and managing risks. Mr. Moskowitz explains just what the risks of tax lien investing are and how to avoid them. That’s something that most tax lien investing “gurus” never tell you until you give them thousands of dollars for coaching. I recommend that anyone interested in tax lien investing read this book for this section alone. Buy this book and save your thousands for investing in tax liens!

Also included in the book are a couple of appendixes with helpful information. In Appendix I there is a chart of state laws for all of the tax lien states. Georgia is included even though it’s technically a redeemable deed state. This chart is a good tool, but remember, just because a state has laws that allow it to have tax lien sales doesn’t mean that they actually have any. There are at least a couple of states on this list that either have only a couple of counties or municipalities that have tax lien sales, or have hardly any properties available in their sales.

Appendix II has some more detailed information for 14 of the tax lien states (these are the states that have an interest rate of 16% or higher). Some of these states are covered more thoroughly than others. My guess is that the states that are covered well are the ones that Mr. Moskowitz personally invests in. The states that are covered thoroughly are: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, and Iowa. Detailed information on the other states is lacking. If you are investing in one of the above-mentioned states or planning to invest in one of these states I recommend that you purchase this book. Also if you are planning to invest in tax liens on commercial or industrial properties there are helpful forms for avoiding environmental problems in Appendix III.

This book is great for beginner investors in tax liens, it does not have information about tax deed investing, but it does have detailed information for 4 of the more popular tax lien states, and one redeemable deed state, plus general information for the other tax lien states. It also discusses investing online and purchasing leftover liens. You can purchase this book at a discount on Amazon at http://budurl.com/vdns.