Step Seven to Building Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio

OK, so you’ve followed the first six steps to building your profitable tax lien portfolio and you’ve purchased your first tax lien certificate or tax deed. Now what do you do to insure that your investment is a profitable one? The seventh and final step to building your profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio is protecting your investment and maximizing your return.

Depending on whether you are investing in liens or deeds and which state you are investing in, these steps may include; recording your lien or deed with the county clerk, paying subsequent taxes, Clearing the title to the property, and foreclosing the right to redeem a tax lien. Regardless of whether you purchased a tax lien, a tax deed, or a redeemable tax deed, the first thing that you need to do is record your lien or deed with the county clerk. Unless it is recorded, all you have is a worthless piece of paper. In some states this will done for you, and you will be charged a recording fee when you purchase your tax lien certificate or tax deed. In many states, it is the investors responsibility to do this and you are given a specific time frame in which it needs to be done. In some redeemable deed states, like Texas for example, the redemption period does not start until the deed is recorded, so you’ll want to do that right away. It is to your advantage to check out ahead of time what the procedures and laws are in your state for recording a tax lien or tax deed.

When you purchase a tax lien, some states will allow you to pay the current unpaid taxes (remember that the taxes you paid in order to get the lien are most likely last year’s taxes) and any subsequent taxes that the property owner doesn’t pay. I recommend that you pay the subsequent taxes (referred to as “subs”) , if your state allows it, as soon as possible. Some states will give you the maximum interest on your subs and some will only give you the interest that you bid at the sale, but most states that allow you to pay the subs also allow you to collect interest on them. This is one way that you can maximize your profit in a tax lien.

When you buy a tax deed, in most cases you will get a non-warranty deed. That means that there is not warranty as to the condition of the property or the condition of the title to the property. Basically you are buying the property without clear title and if you want to resell it, you will need to clear the title. Very few states issue a warranty deed at a tax sale. You can clear the title to the property in one of two ways. You can either hire an attorney to do a quiet title process or you could hire a title company to do a title certification process. Which one of these processes are more cost effective and quicker than the other will depend on the state. I have heard that in Texas it is easier and cheaper to use a title company and I know that here in Pennsylvania it can be more cost effective to use an attorney. I do recommend that if you use an attorney that you find one that does a lot of this type of work.

If you purchase a tax lien and it is not redeemed within the redemption period, than you may need to foreclose on the property in order to get paid. In my experience this happens very seldom, but when it does you will need a lawyer to handle this for you. It may seem like a simple process, but there many steps that have to be followed exactly or you could lose your right to the property. I also recommend that you only use a lawyer who specializes in tax lien foreclosures. Lawyers who specialize in this area are familiar with the difficulties that come up and know how to handle them. Because they are very familiar with the process they will be able to get through it faster than a lawyer who does not do many tax lien foreclosures.

This is the last article in this series. For more information about how you can build your own profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio, I invite you to sign up for the free preview teleseminar to my new 8 week coaching course, "Build Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio." To register, go to http://tinyurl.com/f2hy4.

Tips for Bidding at a Tax Sale

Here are some tips from the Tax Lien Lady to help you increase your chances of being a successful bidder at a tax lien or tax deed auction.

Be one of the first to register for the sale and among the first to arrive at the sale. At very large tax sales it’s not easy for the tax collector to see the bidders in the back of the room. More bids are awarded to the buyers that are in front of the tax collector (or who ever is doing the auction). At some sales seating is assigned based on your bidder number, so register early for the sale. If seats aren't assigned, be sure that you arrive at the sale early so that you get a good seat. I like to get to a tax sale one hour before the sale begins, that way I know that I can get a good seat.

Make sure that you turn your cell phone off before the start of the sale. Every thing happens very fast once the sale begins and if you have to stop paying attention to what is going on in order to shut your phone off during the sale, you can easily loose tract of what property is being bid. Also do not talk to anyone while the sale is going on for the same reason. At one sale that I went to, someone came in late and sat down behind me and asked me what property they were on. Because I allowed myself to be distracted and answer his question, I missed the opportunity to bid on a property. Once the sale starts, you’ll have to pay strict attention and avoid distractions.

Know what your bottom line is on each property before you go to the sale. Have a spreadsheet with the maximum amount that you are willing to pay, or the lowest interest that you are willing to pay for each property, or have these numbers written on the tax sale list next to each property. You can easily loose tract of the auction if you have to figure out what you want to pay while the bidding is going on. Also keep a running total of what you are spending so that you don’t go over the total amount you can pay. If you do bid over the funds that you have available and you can’t pay for all of the liens or deeds that you were successful bidding on, you could be barred from attending any more tax sales in that county. It’s a good idea to take a calculator with you to the sale to help you keep tract of what you’re spending. Don’t forget to add in any other costs that you might have to pay at the sale; like recording fees, realty transfer fees, or auctioneer’s fees.

You also might want to have a highlighter and a pen with you. The highlighter is to highlight the properties that you want to bid on. The pen is for crossing out the properties that were paid before the sale and for changing the amounts on the properties where partial payments were made. This is another reason why you want to get to sale an hour early, you’ll need to get the final list and make all of these changes before the sale.

Step Six to Building Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio

This is the seventh article in a series of eight articles about how to build a profitable portfolio of tax lien certificates or tax deeds. If you missed the previous articles in this series, you can read them at www.taxlienconsulting.blogspot.com.

OK, so you’ve got the tax sale list and you’ve done your due diligence and you’ve made your preparations to go to the tax sale. You’ve registered for the sale, you have your paperwork in order and you’ve made arrangements to have the proper form of payment at the sale. Since most tax sales are auctions, the next step to building your profitable tax lien portfolio is to bid at the sale.

Before you bid at a tax sale you need to know what the bidding procedure is and what your strategy will be. You'll have to decide beforehand just how much you are willing to pay for each property that you want to bid on, or how low (in interest) you will bid. I suggest that you attend at least one tax sale before you bid so that you are aware of what is actually being bid and what the competition is like. It’s important to know exactly what you are bidding.

There are four basic types of bidding procedures that you will encounter at a tax sale. At tax lien sales, typically the interest is bid down, or the interest is not bid down and the price of the lien is bid up. This is referred to in the tax lien industry as “premium” or “overbid.” Different states may refer to it differently and they treat it differently. In some states the amount bid is only the premium or overbid amount, and the total price of the lien will be what was bid plus the lien amount. Other states will start the bidding at the lien amount so that the bid price includes the lien amount. Some states do not bid down the interest or bid up the price of the lien. They may use another bidding process in which the percent ownership in the property (should the property be foreclosed) is bid down. In this process it is the bidder willing to receive the lowest percent ownership in the property that wins the bid. Another bid process that is used in some states is random selection or a round robin bidding process. For both of these bidding procedures, the interest rate is not bid down and the price is not bid up; they remain constant. In counties that use the random selection process, a bid is randomly selected among the registered bidders at the sale. In counties that use the round robin procedure, the tax collector will go around the room in a specific order, offering the next tax lien to the next registered bidder in line. The bidder can either accept or refuse the lien; but if the lien is refused, another won’t be offered until his or her turn comes up again.

The procedure used for most deeds sales is the premium bid method. What differs among most tax deed states is the starting bid amount. In some states the starting bid will be the back taxes owed plus any penalties. Some states may start the bidding at a percentage of the assessed value of the property, and a couple of states will start the bidding at the market value of the property. You can see why it’s important to be familiar with the bidding process and what is being bid before you actually start bidding on tax sale properties! Also, you will want to be aware of other costs involved besides the amount you bid. When purchasing a tax deed, there will be other costs involved, not just the amount that you bid. There may be a realty transfer fee and a recording fee. Know what these fees are ahead of time and be prepared.

Due Diligence for Tax Sale Properties, or What You Need to Know Before You Bid

Due diligence is the most important step in the process of investing in tax liens or tax deeds. Whether you do this correctly or not could mean the difference between being extremely profitable or losing your investment. Due diligence for tax deed properties is a little more involved than due diligence for tax lien properties. When you purchase a tax lien certificate, you are not purchasing the property. You are paying the taxes on the property and recording a lien against it. When you purchase a tax deed, however, whether it’s a regular tax deed or a redeemable tax deed, you become the owner of the property and you will be held responsible for any other liens that survive the tax sale. You’ll also be liable for anything that happens on the property and any current taxes, association fees, or special assessments.

Even when you’re purchasing a tax lien, you still want to be sure that the property is worth a few times your initial investment. Even though you don’t own the property, if the property is not worth anything (if you purchase a tax lien on an unbuildable lot, for instance) then you are not likely to get paid. Don’t forget, you may have other costs besides what you pay at the tax sale for your certificate. You will have recording fees, subsequent tax payments (in states that allow you to pay subsequent taxes), and if the lien does not redeem – foreclosure costs.

For both tax lien and tax deed properties, you’ll want to see the tax assessment data for the properties in the sale. Sometimes this is included in the tax sale list that you get from the tax collector, but in most counties it is not. Most tax sale lists will only list the parcel number, a legal description of the property (usually just the block and lot), the name of the owner, and the amount due. The tax assessment data is the data that the county or municipality uses to determine the tax value of a property. It includes the size and type of the property and the assessed value, as well as the owner and property address. Sometimes it will even include the market value and/or last sale price of the property. To find out if you can get this information online, go to the county website and search for the tax assessor’s web page. You might find a link to it there. If it is not available online, you may have to go to the tax assessor’s office to have access to it.

An easy way to get all of this information without doing any work is to buy a detailed list from a tax sale list provider. Sometimes these lists can be expensive; you’ll have to weigh the cost of the list against the value of your time. If you don’t buy a detailed list, you’ll have to do the research yourself, and that could take a lot of your time. To help you to determine if you should purchase a detailed tax list or do the work yourself, you can read my article "When to Buy a Tax Sale List." You can find it at http://tinyurl.com/28ujj2.

Once you have determined what the property is worth, your due diligence for tax lien properties is almost complete. All you have to do now is look at the property. You’ll want to physically look at the property and take a look at the property on a tax map if you can get access to one. Sometimes you can get the tax maps online; other times you will have to go to the tax assessor’s or mapping office. When you look at the tax map you will be able to see if there are any easements or rights of way on the property, or if the property is land locked. These are all things that you want to avoid. Once you’ve done this, your due diligence for tax lien properties is complete; but if you’re going to a tax deed sale, your work is only half done.

The next step in doing due diligence for tax deeds is to search for any liens that survive the tax sale for the properties that you’ve determined you’re going to bid on. First you have to know what liens survive a tax sale. This will be different for different states, and some states can have different types of tax sales. In some tax sales certain liens will not survive the sale and in others they will. It’s very important to know which type of sale you are bidding at! You can either pay someone to do a title search for you, or if you know how, you can do this search yourself.

Even if you find no other liens that survive the tax sale on the properties that you are bidding on, your work is not over yet. You must also make sure that proper notice was given to any lien holders for those liens that do not survive the sale. The reason that these liens do not survive the tax sale is that they’ve been notified that the property is going to be sold for back taxes, and they have been given the opportunity to pay the taxes and keep the property from being sold. If a lien holder did not get properly notified, they could come back later and contest the sale. So the last thing that you want to do as part of your due diligence before you bid on a tax sale property is check to make sure that proper notification was given to all lien holders.

If you follow all the guidelines and steps in this article you will be able to minimize your risk in investing in tax lien certificates and tax deeds. Yes, there are risks involved in tax lien and tax deed investing, but if you know what the risks are you can avoid them. One way to avoid these risks is in doing proper due diligence on tax sale properties before you bid. But remember, even if you do due diligence on the properties before you bid on them at the sale, something could still go wrong; there are no absolute guarantees. But then nothing that is worthwhile in life is completely risk-free. Just remember the old adage, "Buyer Beware."

Step Five to Building Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio

This is the six article in a series of eight articles about how to build a profitable portfolio of tax lien certificates or tax deeds. If you missed the previous articles in this series you can read them at www.taxlienconsulting.blogspot.com.

Once you’ve done your due diligence on the tax sale properties that you intend to bid on it’s time to prepare to go to the tax sale. Preparing to go to the sale consists of registering to bid at the sale along with getting your paperwork and payment in order. In most states you need to register before the sale in order to bid. Depending on what state and county you are investing in, you may need to register as far as two weeks before the sale, or you may be able to register as close to the sale as a few minutes before it starts. I’ve even been to some sales in New Jersey where late comers are allowed to register and bid at the tax sale. Some municipalities do not require you to register ahead of time, only that you submit the proper paperwork if you are the successful bidder on a property.

Some counties will require a deposit in order to register. The deposit amount could be anywhere from $100.00 to a few thousand dollars (as in the case of many online tax sales). Large deposits are usually returned to the investor if nothing is purchased at the sale. Smaller deposits are sometimes returned and sometimes not returned, depending on the county. Nassau County, NY, for instance has a tax lien sale that typically is 3-4 days long. They have a registration fee of at least $100 for each day that you intend to bid and the registration fee is non-refundable.

You also need to make sure that you have the proper funds for payment before you go to the sale. For most tax sales, only certified funds are accepted. You need to figure out ahead of time how much money you think that you’ll need. This can be a little difficult because you don’t know what properties are going to be left in the sale and you don’t know if you will be the successful bidder on any of them. Sometimes you will be allowed time to go the bank and get payment after the sale. In this case you will be able to go to your bank and get the certified funds in the exact amount that you need. When you’re not allowed the time to go to the bank, you will have to have the certified funds, made out to the county tax collector, with you at the sale. In this case, come up with your best estimate of what you think is the most that you will spend and get certified checks made up in different denominations that total the amount you think that you'll need. This way if you have to wait for a refund check from the county for your change, at least it won’t be for a very large amount. Make sure you check with the tax collector a couple of days before the sale to find out what the acceptable forms of payment are and whether or not you will be allowed to go to the bank and get a check after the sale.

Another thing that you’ll have to have with you for the sale is the proper paper work. In some states you will have to fill this out when you register and in others you will need to bring it to the sale. Most tax collectors will require a W-9 form and a bidder information sheet. The W-9 form is a standard IRS form and you can get it online at the IRS web site. The bidder information sheet is usually filled out during registration and has your personal information, or your business information if you’re investing with a business name. This form is not always standardized and every county may have a different form. For most tax deed states there is another form that you will have to fill out if you are the successful bidder on a tax sale property and that is an affidavit of no taxes due for the county and/or state that you are purchasing a tax deed from. You see most counties will not sell a tax deed to someone who has unpaid taxes in their district. Sometimes a signed affidavit is all that is necessary, but in some states, as in Texas, the county clerk has to sign off on a statement verifying the fact that you do not owe any taxes.

This is a summary of step five to building a profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio. In subsequent articles I will take each one of the remaining steps in depth to give you an idea of what each step involves. For more information about how you can build your own profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio, go to http://www.taxlienlady.com/ProfitablePortfolio.html

When to Buy a Tax Sale List

One of the first things that you have to do to invest in tax lien certificates or tax deeds is to get the list of properties that are in the tax sale. Sometimes you can find this list online, on the tax collector’s website. In most counties the list has to be published in the local paper 2-4 weeks before the sale. In states where tax sales are held on the municipal level, most of these lists will be small (less than 100 properties) and easy to manage. But in large cities and in states where tax sales are held by the county, these lists can be quite large. Although you can get these lists for free, there are times when you will want to pay for a detailed tax sale list from a tax sale list provider.

The tax sale lists that you get from the municipality or county do not always have the information that you need. Often, they will not include the address or physical location of the property. Usually these lists will only list the tax ID or parcel number, block and lot, owner of record, and amount due on the properties in the tax sale. It will not tell you things that you need to know before bidding on the property like: the acreage, type of property, assessed value, last sale price, and whether or not there is a mortgage on the property. To find out this information you can either go to the tax collector’s or tax assessor’s office and look it up yourself, or you can buy a detailed tax sale list that provides all of the tax assessment information, including the physical address of the property.

For smaller tax sales you may want to buy a detailed list. You might think that since the list is small, you could save the money and look it up yourself. I have found that this process is time consuming and that for small lists I am better off buying the detailed list. It saves me a lot of time in my due diligence; I get all the information that I need; and I only have to go out and look at the properties. For larger lists, I would rather do my own research. Detailed tax sale lists that are over 500 properties can cost over $50 and lists that are over 1000 properties can cost over $100. Large counties and counties with big cities can have lists of a few thousand properties and that can cost a few hundred dollars. So how do you decide whether you should buy the detailed list or do the research yourself for these tax sale lists?

First remember that if the original tax sale list has 1000 properties, there will probably be only 500 or so properties left on the day of the sale. Since most tax sale list providers do not update the lists that they have for sale, you will have to purchase the detailed information on all 1000 properties even though you will probably only use half of the information. If you choose not to buy a detailed list, then you may be doing research on a lot of properties for nothing, since half of them will not be in the tax sale.

So here’s what I do. If there is an easy way to get the assessment information that I need, that is if it is available online, I wait until about 4 or 5 days before the sale, get an updated list from the tax collector, and then I get the assessment information on the properties. To make it even easier, I limit the properties that I research to only certain areas that I’m interested in investing in. I may limit it to only 3 or 4 townships in the county and to only certain types of properties. If the assessment information is not that readily available, I’ll buy the detailed list. Some list providers will allow you to filter the list by property type, thus you only buy information on the type of properties that you are interested in.

To find out more about the steps involved in building your profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio, go to http://www.taxlienlady.com/ProfitablePortfolio.html.

Step Four to Building Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio

Once you’ve completed the first three steps in the process of building your profitable tax lien portfolio, your real work begins. Now that you know where you’re going to invest and you have the tax sale information and have a list of the properties that are in the sale, you can progress to step four to building your profitable tax lien portfolio, which is doing due diligence on the properties in the sale.

This is the most important step in the process and whether you do this properly or not could mean the difference between being extremely profitable and losing money on your investment. You need to do due diligence on tax sale properties before you bid at the tax sale. The exact procedures that you follow will vary depending on which state you are investing in and whether you are investing in tax lien certificates or tax deeds. You will have to be a little more rigorous when doing due diligence for tax deeds than you than you do for tax liens.

When you buy a tax lien, you are not buying the property, you are only paying the taxes and putting a lien on the property. But when you buy a tax deed, whether it is a regular tax deed or a redeemable tax deed, you are actually purchasing the property and you are now the owner of record. That means that you are now responsible for paying the taxes and any assessments on the property and you are liable for anything that happens on the property. If there is an environmental problem with the property, you're responsible for cleaning it up and that could cost you more than any profit that you might make on your investment.

Another reason that you’ll want to check out tax sale properties for deed sales a little more rigorously than tax lien properties is that not all tax deeds are sold “free and clear” of any other liens. You may have been told that when you buy a property at a tax deed sale you are not responsible for any other liens on the property, like an existing mortgage, for instance. Depending on the state, this may or may not be true. Different states have different laws regarding what liens survive a tax sale. You need to know if there are any types of liens that do survive the tax sale and you need to look for them before you bid on a property in the sale. Even for liens that do not survive the tax sale, you still need to check to see that proper notification was given to all lien holders. If proper notification was not given to a lien holder before the tax sale, the lien holder could contest the sale.

Whether you are investing in tax liens or tax deeds you will still have to find the value of the property to make sure that it’s worth it. You do not want to buy a tax lien certificate on a property that is not worth a few times your initial investment. You have to plan on your expenses for recording your tax lien certificate, paying subsequent taxes for the duration of the redemption period (in states that allow you to pay them), and any foreclosure costs that you might incur if the lien is not redeemed. The property should be worth at least 3 times what you determine your investment will be, taking all these expenses into account.

You can use one of two different methods to find the value of tax sale properties. You can find the tax assessment data, or you can check with a web site that gives recent sales prices of properties in the area. Some states have assessment data online. If the tax assessment information is not online, you will have to make a trip to tax assessor’s office to find the information that you need.

This is the fifth article in a series of eight articles about the seven steps that you need to follow in order to build a profitable portfolio of tax lien certificates or tax deeds. If you missed the previous articles in this series you can read them on this blog.

For more information about how you can build your own profitable tax lien portfolio, I invite you to listen to my mini seminar at www.taxlienlady.com/ProfitablePortfolio.html.

Organizing Your Business for Success

Report From the Women's Power Summit - Part 3

In my first two articles on the Women’s Power Summit, I summarized presentations from Jeanette Cates, the Technology Tamer and Loral Langmeier, the Millionaire Maker. I consider both of these women to be my mentors, since I have taken their courses, read their books, and heard them speak before, though I had never met them in person. So of course I was looking forward to meeting these two very successful women that I continue to learn from. But the presentation that I really needed to hear at the Women’s Power Summit was “How to Play to Win with Your Business,” given by Barbara Hamphill.

Barbara Hamphill is a nationally renowned professional organizer. She is a past president of the National Association of Professional Organizers and has appeared on many television shows including Today, Good Morning America, and CBS This Morning. She is a sought after speaker and who counsels major corporations on organizing for efficiency. She is the creator of Taming the Paper Tiger Software and the Author of Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and Taming the Paper Tiger at Work. Her presentation, “How to Play to Win with Your Business,” was all about how to organize your business for success.

Her organizing SYSTEM is an acronym for Saves You Space, Time, Energy, and Money. According to Ms. Hamphill there are three essential components to any system of organization. Your individual methodology, or a way to think about organizing that works for you. Tools that you will need to get organized. And maintenance, which is the actual system that you will use to stay organized. Ms. Hamphill argues that there is no one organizing system or method that works for everybody, but that you have to find a method that works for you.

Start with a productive setting or environment. A productive environment is one in which everything around you supports who you would like to be. One of her favorite statements in her organizing seminars is “have nothing which you do not know to be useful, think to be beautiful, or love.” You know that you have a productive setting when there is no clutter, there is a place for everything, you can find anything you need, and you have a beautiful environment.

Although there is no one “system” that works for everyone, there are six tools that everyone needs to have in order to get organized. Barbara calls them the “magic six.” These consist of: your desk top tools, she recommends a 3 tired box consisting of an in box, an out box and a “to file” box; your waste basket; your calendar, which is actually three different calendars – a planner pad, your personal calendar and your family calendar; your database; your action files; and your reference files.

Barbara teaches the FAT system to get rid of clutter. FAT stands for File it, Act on it, or Toss it. She says that when it comes to clutter, these are the only choices that you have. One of the skills that you need have in order to deal with the clutter in your home or office is something that she calls “the art of wastbasketry.” When you go through the mail or anything that comes into your inbox, ask yourself these questions:

Does it require action?
Is it recent?
Is it difficult to get again?
Does it have legal or tax implications?
Does it have a specific use?

If you answer yes to any of these questions either file it or act on it. If you answered no to all of these questions, then ask yourself what is the worst possible thing that could happen if you tossed it out. If you and your organization can live with the consequences, then toss it, if not, file it.

For more help in the clearing clutter and getting your home or office organized, you can read one of Barbara Hamphill books. Her books are also available on CD and she also has a Taming the Paper Tiger software program.

This is the third article in a series about the Women’s Power Summit that was held in Atlanta in October of 2006. If you missed the previous articles, you can read them on this blog.

Joanne Musa is a tax lien investing consultant and creator of taxlienlady.com, an educational web site to help people that want to learn how to invest in tax lien certificates and tax deeds. To find out more about tax lien investing, go to http://www.taxlienlady.com/.

Step Three to Building Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio

This is the fourth article in a series of eight about the seven steps that you need to follow in order to build a profitable portfolio of tax lien certificates or tax deeds. If you missed the previous article in this series you can read them at http://www.taxlienconsulting.blogspot.com/.

Once you determine where you are going to invest, the next step in the process to building your profitable tax lien portfolio is finding the tax sale information. You need to find out when and where the tax sale is held and obtain a list of properties that are in the sale. For most areas this step will be easy, you just need to know where to go and who to contact to get this information. Sometimes you will have to pay for it and sometimes you will be able to get it free of charge.

In my e-book, Tax Lien Lady’s State Guide, I tell you who to contact in each state to find out about tax sales. I also give links to the state and county web sites. I recommend that you first contact the county tax collector, or whoever is responsible for the tax sale and ask for the tax sale information. Ask for a list of tax sale properties. Usually you can get this list for free and sometimes you can even get it online.

All tax sale lists are not created equal. Some lists will have all the information that you need to do your due diligence (the next step in the process of building your profitable tax lien portfolio) and some will only list the properties tax number, block and lot, owner of record, and amount due. It may not even include a physical address. If that is the case, then you have two choices, you can buy a detailed tax sale list that includes all of the information that you need, or you can look the information up yourself, which can be a very tedious process.

Very large detailed tax sale lists can be quite expensive, even a few hundred dollars, so if there are a lot of properties in the tax sale you would be better off to limit the amount of properties that you are interested in and look up the information that you need yourself. You can limit yourself to a particular area or to only certain types of properties to make the next step in the process a little easier. If the list is not that large and costly you may want to buy the tax sale list from a tax sale list provider. It will save you lots of time in doing your due diligence. This is a summary of step three to building a profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio. In subsequent articles I will go over the remaining four steps to building your profitable tax lien portfolio in depth to give you an idea of what each step involves. For more information about how you can build your own profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio, I invite you to sign up for the free preview teleseminar to my new 8 week coaching course, "Build Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio." To register, go to http://tinyurl.com/f2hy4.

Step Two to Building Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio

This is the third article in an 8 part series. If you missed the first two articles in this series you can read them at http://www.taxlienconsulting.blogspot.com/.

Once you’ve completed the first step to building your profitable tax lien portfolio and you know what your purpose is for investing, you can move on to step two in this process, which is to determine where you will invest. You need to identify the area or areas that you will be investing in. If you want to invest in multiple areas or more than one state, I suggest that you start in one area and learn how to be successful with that one before moving on to another area. Each state and in some cases, each county may have different laws and procedures regarding tax sales. What worked in one area may not work very well in another.

The easiest thing for you to do would be to invest in the state that you live in. If you want to invest in tax liens and the state that you live in only sells deeds, then you might want to look at a nearby state, or perhaps a state that you like to vacation in. Maybe you could write off your next vacation if you attend a tax sale while you’re vacationing. I believe that it’s always best to invest in areas that you know, so I think that it’s better to invest in your own backyard. Some states, for various reasons, are just not good places to invest in tax sale properties. Either the laws in that state are not favorable to the investor, or there is not much available, or they may not have any tax sales at all. In that case you may have to go to a different state and an area that you know absolutely nothing about. I suggest that you find someone who is familiar with that area and partner with them. There are different ways that you could do this. You could form and LLC or Partnership with them and split the profits of your investments or you could just hire them to do the footwork for you.

I am frequently asked about investing online and through the mail. People want to know if they can invest in tax liens or tax deeds without actually going to the sale. There are some states where you can do this, but I don’t recommend it unless you can look at the tax sale properties or have someone that can look at them for you. Although you can do some of your due diligence online, I always recommend that you physically look at the property. I’ve been burnt, early in my tax lien investing endeavors, by not looking at the property before I bid on it. I still have a couple of worthless lots in my tax lien portfolio.

This is a summary of the second step in a 7 step process necessary to building a profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio. In subsequent articles I will take each of the remaining steps and go over them in depth to give you an idea of what each step involves. For more information about how you can build your own profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio, I invite you to sign up for the free preview teleseminar to my new 8 week coaching course, "Build Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio." To register, go to http://tinyurl.com/f2hy4.

Step One to Building Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio

The first step to building a profitable portfolio of tax liens or tax deeds is to decide on the purpose of your tax lien or tax deed investment portfolio. Why do you want to invest in tax liens or tax deeds in the first place? Your reason for investing will determine what type of investment will be best for you; tax lien certificates, tax deeds, or redeemable tax deeds. It will also be the determining factor in deciding where you will invest and in forming your bidding strategy and how you will profit from your investment later on. Basically everything that you do to develop a profitable portfolio of tax liens or tax deeds will be based on this decision.

Do you want to invest for your retirement? If so, you may want to invest with before tax money in a self-directed IRA. If current income is your goal for your investment portfolio than you will want to use after tax money to invest and you may want to invest through a corporation or LLC so that you can pay any expenses related to your investing out of that income before you’re taxed on it.

Keep in mind that income from tax liens and tax deeds may be treated differently. Interest income from tax lien certificates is reported as interest income on a 1099 form. Income that you receive from the sale of tax deed properties would be treated as capital gains if you hold the property for at least a year before you sell it.

Are you building a tax lien portfolio because you want to obtain properties for back taxes? If so, you are better of with tax deeds or redeemable tax deeds. The chances of actually foreclosing on a tax lien property and getting the property are pretty slim. In some states if your tax lien does not get redeemed within the redemption period, the property will have to go to a deed sale and the property will go to the highest bidder. Then you will be paid on your lien along with any interest and penalties. This is the second article in an 8 part series. If you missed the first article in this series, “7 Steps to Building Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio,” you can view it here. In subsequent articles I will take each one of these steps and go over them in depth to give you an idea of what each step involves. For more information about how you can build your own profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio, I invite you to sign up for the free preview teleseminar to my new 8 week coaching course, "Build Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio." To register, go to http://tinyurl.com/f2hy4.

Report on the Women's Power Summit - Part 2

In part one of my report on the Women’s Power Summit, I summarized a presentation by Jeanette Cates, the Tech Tamer, on how to play to win with your expertise by creating cash flow from what you know. In this article I’ll introduce you to another one of my mentors, Loral Langmeier, The Millionaire Maker. Loral gave a presentation on how to play to win with your money.

Loral Langmeier grew up on a farm in Nebraska. At a very young age she decided that she was going to be a millionaire. She started her first business at the age of 17 and at the same time started working with mentors in the finance and wealth industry. She set a goal to be a millionaire by the time she was 35 and actually became a millionaire when she was 34. Among her mentors are well know personal success guru Bob Proctor and financial educator Robert Kiyosaki. She is the author of the best seller, The Millionaire Maker, and her new book, The Millionaire Maker’s Guide to Wealth Cycle Investing. Now a multi-millionaire, she is a master coach and financial strategist who has helped thousands of individuals take control of their finances and become millionaires. She is the founder of Live Out Loud, a coaching and seminar company that teaches her trade marked Wealth Cycle program.

Loral’s approach on “how to play to win with your money” is refreshing and different from what you may have heard from other wealth building gurus or financial planners. One mistake that she sees people making with their money is paying down their debt first. Many financial planners will tell you to get out of debt and they make that a priority over saving and investing. Loral says that once you pay down your debt, you have nothing. Now you have no debt, but you also have no savings and no assets. The thing to do is work on accumulating assets that will pay your debt. Then when your debt is paid off you have assets that are generating an income for you.

Another thing that a lot of people don’t do right is that they try to do everything themselves. Loral says that there really are no “self-made” millionaires. She say’s that millionaires make their fortunes by relying on a lot of advisors and support people. They do it with the help of a “team.” She claims that in order to get the best and highest use of your time you should strengthen your strengths and hire your weaknesses. In other words, hire out the things that you do not do well or do not like to do – don’t spend time and money learning how to do them yourself. Instead, work on strengthening the skills that you are good at and enjoy doing.

In order to make $100,000 per year, you need to make $400 per day. Ask yourself, “What am I going to do to make $400 a day?” In order to make $400 a day, you will need to say “no” to some things and “yes” to others. What are you willing to say no to and what are you willing to say yes to in order to meet your goal? For example, meeting your goal may mean saying yes to things like; spending time with successful people, getting your life supported by hiring a house cleaner or organizer, and building a team for success. It might mean saying no to; negative people, negative thinking, and using negative language.

You’ll need to have specific goals about what you want your net worth to be, what assets you want to have, and how much you want to make. Your goals might look something like this:

• Have a net worth of 1.8 Million
• Own 4 Million in real estate
• Have a passive income of $120,000 per year
• Have nationally diversified assets
• Pay no taxes

Now ask yourself, “What are the non-negotiable activities that I need to do each day in order to reach my goals?” These activities should include journaling each day and spending time with like-minded people. Another question to ask yourself is, “Who do I need on my team right away in order to meet my goals?” Your team may include; a house cleaner, an organizer or assistant, a marketing or sales person, a bookkeeper, and a CPA.

Most of the things that we have been talking about so far have to do with what Loral refers to as your “Cash Machine.” Your cash machine is just on of the building blocks in Loral’s wealth building cycle. To find out more about Loral’s Wealth Cycles and to find out how you can become a millionaire, read Loral’s books The Millionaire Maker and The Millionaire Maker’s Guide to Wealth Cycle Investing.

7 Steps to Building Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio

There are seven steps that you need to follow in order to build a profitable portfolio of tax lien certificates or tax deeds. Regardless of which state you are investing in and whether you are investing in liens or deeds, you need to take these same seven steps. The details of how you accomplish each step may change depending on which state you are investing in and whether you are investing in tax lien certificates, tax deeds, or redeemable tax deeds, but the seven steps remain the same. In this article I will outline these steps and give you a brief description of each one.

Step One: Decide on the purpose of your tax lien or tax deed investment portfolio

Are you investing for the future or for current income? This will determine what type of investment will be best for you; tax lien certificates, tax deeds, or redeemable tax deeds. It will be a big factor in deciding where you will invest and in determining your bidding strategy and how you will profit from your investment later on. In short everything that you do to develop a profitable portfolio will be based on this decision.

Step Two: Determine where you will invest

You need to identify the area or areas that you will be investing in. If you want to invest in multiple areas or more than one state, I suggest that you start in one area and learn how to be successful with that one before moving on to another area. Each state and in some cases, each county may have different laws and procedures regarding tax sales. What worked in one area may not work very well in another and you may have a different learning curve for each area.

Step Three: Get the tax sale information

Now that you know where you are going to invest, you need to find out when and where the tax sale is held and obtain a list of properties that are in the sale. For most areas this step will be easy, you just need to know where to go and who to contact to get this information. Sometimes you will have to pay for it and sometimes you will be able to get it free of charge.

Step Four: Do your due diligence on the tax sale properties

This is the most important step in the process and whether you do this properly or not could mean the difference between being extremely profitable and losing money. Once you have a list of properties that are in the sale, you need to do your due diligence on these properties before you bid. The exact procedures that you follow will vary depending on which state you are investing in and whether you are investing in tax lien certificates or tax deeds. You have to do a little more due diligence for tax deeds than you do for tax liens.

Step Five: Prepare to go to the tax sale

Preparing to go to the sale consists of registering to bid at the sale along with getting your paperwork and payment in order. In most states you need to register before the sale in order to bid. Depending on what state and county you are investing in, you may need to register as far as two weeks before the sale, or you may be able to register as soon as right before. Some municipalities do not require you to register ahead of time, only that you submit the proper paperwork if you are the successful bidder on a property. Some counties will require a deposit in order to register. The deposit amount could be anywhere from $100.00 to a few thousand dollars (as in the case of many online tax sales). Large deposits are usually returned to the investor if nothing is purchased at the sale. Smaller deposits are sometimes returned and sometimes not returned, depending on the county. You also need to make sure that you have the proper funds for payment before you go to the sale. For most tax sales, only certified funds are accepted.

Step Six: Decide on a bidding strategy

Before you bid at a tax sale you need to know what the bidding procedure is and what your strategy will be. You'll have to decide before hand just how much you are willing to pay for each property that you want to bid on, or how low (in interest) you will bid. I suggest that you attend at least one tax sale before you bid so that you are aware of what is actually being bid and what the competition is like.

Step Seven: Protect your investment

Once you purchase a tax lien certificate or tax deed, you need to take steps to protect your investment and maximize your profit. Depending on whether you are investing in liens or deeds and which state you are investing in, these steps may include:
a) Recording your lien or deed with the county clerk
b) Paying subsequent taxes
c) Clearing the title to the property
d) Foreclosing the right to redeem

This is a summary of the steps necessary to building a profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio. In subsequent articles I will take each one of these steps and go over them in depth to give you an idea of what each step involves. For more information about how you can build your own profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio, I invite you to sign up for the free preview teleseminar to my new 8 week coaching course, "Build Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio." To register, go to http://tinyurl.com/f2hy4.

Selling Your Tax Lien Certificates

I recently did my first tax lien assignment. I “assigned” or sold one of my tax lien certificates to another investor. This was a tax lien that I though I was going to lose money on. Why was I worried about losing money on this tax lien? Let’s just say that I purchased this tax lien certificate early in my tax lien investing career and did not do the proper due diligence. I had made three critical mistakes when I purchased this tax lien certificate. My first error was in purchasing a tax lien certificate on a property that I did not look at myself. I relied on the word of another tax lien investor, someone who was bidding for a large company and is actually my competition. My second mistake, since this was a vacant lot, was in not checking on the zoning. The lot turned out to be undersized thus un-buildable. My third mistake was in paying the subsequent taxes for almost 2 years before I checked the zoning.

By the time I had realized my errors, the redemption period was almost over and it was time to foreclose on the property. I did not want to start foreclosure because I didn’t think that there was anything I could do with the property, and I did not know if I would be able to sell it. I tried to sell this lien to other investors, packaged with a couple of good liens, but no one was interested. So how did I find a buyer for this tax lien and make over 40% on my investment?

When I attend tax sales I like to meet other investors and get to know them, especially the investors that see repeatedly at tax sales and have more experience than I do. I happened to find out that one of the investors who I often saw at these sales used to be a builder and he specialized in undersized lots. He knew how to apply and obtain variances on undersized building lots. I told him about the lien that I was looking to assign. I sent him all of the information about my tax lien certificate with a report of what I had paid in subsequent taxes and what the lien would redeem for. He took a look at the lot and determined that it was a good lot that he could do something with. He paid me the redemption amount of the lien and I assigned my tax lien certificate over to him. I gave him the certificate and signed an assignment contract. Since the tax lien certificate and subsequent taxes paid were at 18% per annum interest, and I had held the lien for more than two years, I received over 40% profit on my investment. I was happy to sell him the lien and get the interest and he was happy to have a tax lien certificate that was ready to foreclose on a property that he thought he would eventually be able to get a variance on and build on.

If you have tax lien certificates that are ready to foreclose, and you don’t want to go through the trouble of foreclosing on them, you may want to consider assigning them to another investor. Tax liens are hot right now; there is a lot of interest in them and it is usually easy to find a buyer for your lien. Not all states allow the assignment of a tax lien from one investor to another, however, so check with the laws in your state first. Assigning your tax lien certificates to another investor is one way that you can reap the rewards of tax lien investing without ever having to foreclose on a lien or own and manage the property. As always, make sure to do your due diligence and you’ll have no problem finding a buyer for your tax lien.

For more information on how to buy profitable tax lien certificates and tax deeds get my Tax Lien Investing Secrets II home study course at http://www.taxlieninvestingsecrets.com/.

Report on the Women’s Power Summit – Part 1

Last week I attended the Women’s Power Summit in Atlanta Georgia and what a great experience that was! The Women’s Power Summit is a one-day seminar held for women only. It coincided with the Big Seminar and is for businesswomen and woman entrepreneurs. The theme of this year’s seminar was how to “Play to Win” as opposed to playing not to lose.

I got to hear excellent presentations from five amazing women on topics from how to get organized to how to beating cancer and building a successful business at the same time. I’m a firm believer that the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else, so I’m going to pass on to you what I’ve learned at the Women’s Power Summit. Since I took a lot of notes, and I learned quite a bit, I’m going to break it up for you into a series of 4 or 5 articles. Since one of the highlights of the seminar for me was meeting my long time mentor Jeanette Cates, I’ll start off this first article in the series telling you about Jeanette’s presentation.

Jeanette Cates has earned the reputation of being the Technology Tamer. Some of the things that I have learned from Jeanette over the past couple of years in her teleseminar courses include how to set up a web site and a blog, and how to do teleseminars. At the Women’s Power Summit, which Jeanette co-hosted with Alex Mandossian, she talked about how to make money from what you already know. She has a program called “Drain Your Brain” that teaches you to “Create Cash Flow From What You Know.” Jeanette’s formula for doing this is simple. First you must recognize your expertise, secondly you need to figure out a way to monetize your expertise, and lastly, you need to systematize your expertise.

According to Jeanette, we are all experts at something. The first step is to recognize what areas you have expertise in. You can do this by asking yourself the following questions. What is your hobby? What do others tell you that you’re good at? What do you really enjoy doing? What is your professional training? What do have a lot of experience in? From the answers to these questions you should be able to come with some areas in which you have expertise.

Once you discover an area of expertise, the next step to creating cash flow from what you know is to monetize it. Monetizing your expertise will create a revenue stream for you, reward the efforts that you are already putting forth in that area, and re-enforce your confidence and self-esteem in that area. One of the ways to do this is to create information products about your area of expertise. Along with this you will need a way to generate leads for your products and follow-up with customers. You can generate leads for your information products by giving something of value away in exchange for their contact information. One way to create an information product is to start writing tips on your topic of expertise. Once you have a collection of tips, they can be put together in numerous ways. If you have enough tips, you can turn them into a book or e-book.

Now that you know your area of expertise and you’ve created a product to sell, you need to systemize it. By systemizing your expertise you will expand your influence, save time, save money, and increase your rewards. You want a system that will let you start small – start where you are. For instance, you can take written content that you already have and develop it into audios. You can repurpose the content that you already have, add to it and make it more valuable. Your system needs to provide cutting edge ideas, methods to capture new ideas and should include the resources necessary to monetize your ideas.

If this sounds interesting to you and you would like to learn more about Jeanette’s Drain Your Brain Program and learn how to “Play to Win” with your expertise go to www.taxlienlady.com/drainyourbrain.html.

Happy and Prosperous Investing -

Joanne

Tax Deed Investing: Are You Making These Costly Mistakes?

Recently someone asked me what would happen if they purchased a tax deed in an “upset” tax sale in Pennsylvania that had a mortgage on it; would they be liable for the mortgage? Pennsylvania actually has three different tax deed sales and while most liens do not survive the judicial sale and the repository sale, all liens do survive the upset sale. This means that if you purchase a tax deed at the upset sale you are liable for any other liens on the property. You would have to pay these liens or risk loosing the property. If you bought this deed in your own name, your credit would also be affected if you do not satisfy these liens.

A person is this situation has made three costly mistakes that many first time deed purchasers make. Their first mistake was not checking into the state laws for deed sales. Each state has different laws regarding tax foreclosure sales. In most states other liens are wiped out by a tax sale, but this is not true for every state and this is something that you need to know about before you bid on a property in a tax deed sale. Even in states where most liens are extinguished by a tax sale, some liens may survive the sale. You need to know what liens survive a tax deed or tax foreclosure sale in your state and you need to know how to check for these liens.

The second mistake made in this situation was not having done proper due diligence on the property and checking for other liens. While this step is not always necessary when you’re investing in tax liens, it is critical when you’re buying a tax deed. After you’ve purchased a tax lien certificate on a property, if you decide that you’ve made a mistake and the property is not worth it, you can always walk away and only loose your initial investment. You are not the owner; therefore, you have no liability. If however, you purchase a tax deed on a property, you become the owner of the property. You are now responsible for any liens on the property that survived the tax sale as well as for current taxes and assessments on the property.

The third costly mistake made in this situation was buying the property in the investor’s name instead of in the name of a business entity. Because the tax deed was purchased in the investor’s name, they became personally liable for the property and any other liens held against it. As the owner of record, they would also be liable if anyone got injured or hurt on the property, and as mentioned in the previous chapter, they are also responsible for current taxes and any other assessments or association fees if the property is in a community. If they decide that the property isn’t worth it, they cannot just walk away and only loose their original investment. Now there is more at stake. If they had purchased the deed in the name of a business entity that they had previously set up for this purpose, however, they would not be held personally liable for all of these things.

To learn more about asset protection and business entities for tax deed investing you can download this free recording of a teleseminar interview that I did with Texas attorney and tax deed expert Darius Barazandeh. To download the replay of this teleseminar, just right click on the following link and choose “save target as’ to save it to your computer and listen to it any time you like. Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/yabhn2.

To learn more about how to do due diligence for tax lien and tax deed investing and how to avoid the risks involved, check out my step-by-step audio course at www.taxlieninvestingsecrets.com.

Tax Lien Investing: Are You Making This Critical Error?

Recently I got a question from someone who was looking into getting involved in tax lien investing in the state of Indiana. She was surprised at the amount of money being paid for tax lien certificates and was wondering if it was worth it. It seems like the people that she was getting involved in tax lien investing with were making some of the typical mistakes that new investors make. They were buying liens on “junk property” and she could not see the benefit to this. Also she witnessed institutional buyers bidding large premiums for tax liens and couldn’t understand how they are making a profit on their investment.

The reason for her confusion has to do with the type of bidding method used (premium or “over-bid”) in Indiana and the Indiana state laws that govern the tax lien investing process. What she witnessed in Indiana is extreme competition due to favorable state laws for tax lien investing. In Indiana there is a hefty penalty (10 – 15%) on the certificate amount and you do get interest on the premium or “over-bid” amount if the lien is redeemed. You also get interest (10% per annum) on any subsequent taxes paid as well. The redemption periods vary from county to county, but are short - from only four months to one year. And all you have to do to foreclose is petition the court for the deed to the property. Everything has to be done in a timely manner however, or you could loose your claim on the property.

When most new investors go to these sales and see the large over-bids paid for tax liens, they assume that the companies and investors that are paying these large amounts are doing so in hopes to foreclose on the property. While occasionally that might be true, whenever you see banks doing this there is usually another reason for it. Banks do not want to be in the property management business, they want to invest their money at higher returns than then they can get by lending it out, and they wish to diversify their investments. The reason why they are paying so much for these tax liens is because it is worth it – they are making good profits on their investment.

Because they have the ability to let large amounts of money sit in an investment, institutional buyers can bid large amounts on properties that they think will redeem. And because they have done their due diligence on these properties, they know that even if the property doesn’t redeem they will be able to sell it and make a hefty profit. The danger for new investors is that they see these institutional lien buyers and other seasoned investors paying large premiums for tax liens and they start paying large premiums for tax lien certificates on properties that they did not check out. Maybe they heard about tax lien investing from a real estate guru who touted tax lien investing as being totally risk free and “government guaranteed.” What they need to realize is that no one guarantees that you will get paid on a tax lien certificate and that the only thing guaranteeing the lien is the property. Therefore the property better be worth more than what you paid for the lien. And because you will have other expenses involved in your investment and you will have to pay subsequent taxes, the property should be worth a few times what you paid for the tax lien certificate.

If you are considering tax lien investing you might want to read all of the articles on the article page of taxlienlady.com at www.taxlienlady.com/articles.htm, and the rest of the articles on this blog. Here you will find a wealth of free information about how to due diligence for tax lien investing and how to determine if tax lien investing is right for you. If you want more detailed information about how to start investing in tax lien certificates and tax deeds you may want to take a look at my step-by-step audio course at www.taxlieninvestingsecrets.com.

For more information about tax lien investing you can also send an e-mail to MoreTips@taxlienconsulting.com.

Happy and Prosperous Investing,

Joanne Musa

More Book Reviews from the Tax Lien Lady

Here are my reviews of three of the books that I have read in the past couple of months. These books are not about tax lien investing but about building wealth, becoming successful at your business and successfully marketing your business. I found each of them to be very helpful to me and I thought that you would like to know about them. You can find all of my book reviews on Amazon.com. You can order any of these books, or find out more about them, by clicking on the title of each one.

Outrageous Business Growth by Debbie Bermont

A Must Read for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs
In Outrageous Business Growth, Debbie Bermont explains each of the three principals that make up her formula for business success. She starts with explaining how to develop an internal prosperity consciousness, so that your business will thrive no matter what is going on in the economy. She than shows you how to align yourself only with people who want to buy your products or services so that you don't waste time and money advertising to the wrong market. Finally she explains how to develop lifetime relationships with your customers to create customer loyalty and increased sales for your business. This version of the book comes with a free one year e-subscription to Outrageous Business Growth Weekly, a $97.00 value.


The Millionaire Maker by Loral Langemeier

Best Book About Money
Out of all of the books that I have read about how to make and manage money - this one is by far the best! Loral Langemeier actually shows you step-by-step how to develop your own plan for becoming a millionaire. In The Millionaire Maker, she explains her system for developing wealth, which is very different from what most financial professionals advise their clients. She explains each of the components of her "Wealth Cycle" in detail by using real life example from her clients. This book will show you how to get out of debt while building your net worth, how to create a business to give you more money, and how to get your assets working harder for you - creating passive income. This book comes with two free tickets to see Loral live at her Team Made Millionaire event. These tickets are worth at least ten times the price of the book.

Web Wonder Women by Lynne Klippel

A Must Read for Women in Business
Wow, this book is excellent! A must read for any women in business. Not only is Web Wonder Women an inspiration to all women, but it's a great place to find services from other woman owned businesses, and it's a great place to find Joint Venture partners. I purchased this book because it highlighted a couple of my mentors. After reading Web Wonder Women, I've found more mentors for other areas of my business and my life. This book is just chock full of ideas to help your business, tips on how to get started in different businesses, managing your time, balancing your life, and marketing your business. I am really enjoying the bonuses that come with this book. There are so many that I haven't taken advantage of all of them yet. The bonuses that you get when you purchase Web Wonder Women are worth many times the price of the book!

Five Things to Look for in a Tax Lien Investing Coach

No doubt you've heard the saying "buyer beware." You've probably heard me apply it in one of my teleseminars, articles, or e-books to buying tax liens or tax deeds. Well it also applies to buying information and coaching for tax lien investing. I just heard from one of my subscribers who was looking for information online on how to get started with tax lien and tax deed investing. She came across a company that was supposedly had a 12 week coaching program on how to buy tax deeds. They wouldn't give her any details about the program until she gave them a credit card number and paid the $4000.00 up front for the course.

Fortunately she didn't have her credit card with her and when she got off the phone with them she sent me an e-mail. After some e-mailing back and forth I asked for her phone number and gave her a call. On further investigation of this companies web site, it was evident to her that they really do not teach you how to buy properties at tax sales. Instead they coach you on how to approach owners of properties that are in the tax sale and try to get them to "sell" their property to you at a discount. In some states, this could be illegal! Though the tax sale list is published in the local paper and is public information, in many states it is published with a caveat that says that the list is not to be used for solicitation. Many states are trying to stop loan sharks from taking advantage of the delinquent tax payers.

I happened to get her e-mail right after doing a teleseminar/interview with Steve Waters, a well known tax lien investor and coach. He has a great coaching program for tax lien investing and tax deed investing. His program delivers results. I know because I am one of his former students. His program is also very affordable ($197.00). The value that his program delivers is worth more than 10 times the price!

Please don't pay thousands of dollars for information on how to invest in tax lien certificates and tax deeds unless the coach that your working with is actually going to take that money and invest it for you! This is money that you can use to invest. I've interviewed some of the best tax lien and tax deed coaches in the country. They have great home study programs that come with coaching and they're always available to help you and answer your questions. Here are five things that you should know before hiring a tax lien or tax deed investing coach.

5 Things You Should Know Before You Buy a Coaching Program

• Identify who you will be working with and what their experience is

Every state is very different in the way that tax sales are held. some states sell tax liens and some sell deeds and some sell redeemable deeds. Each of these are completely different. Lien States have different bidding procedures. There are at least 5 different bidding procedures with variations on each. It is important that you have a coach or mentor that is familiar with the bidding procedures in your state. Deed states differ in how the deed is conveyed and in what liens survive a tax sale. This is important information that could be the difference between buying a profitable deed and loosing money on your investment. Make sure that your coach has experience in the state that you are investing in.

• Know what you are paying for - Will you get ongoing support?

Just one coaching session is not likely to be enough to get you started purchasing tax lien and/or tax deeds. How many sessions will you get? Will you get any support materials such as access to a web site with resources that will help you with due diligence, or an e-book, or audios? You should. In my experience phone in teleseminars where anyone can call in and ask a question is not enough to give you the information that you need to get going and take some action. You either need some one-on-one consultation or some type of intruction (like a course or e-book) in addition to the opportunity to ask questions.

• Will your coach or mentor be available to answer your questions?

Once you have enough information to get out there and start doing it, your going to come accross situations that bring up questions that you haven't thought of before. You want someone who will be available to answer your questions as they come up. Make sure that your coach or mentor will be available to you, either by phone or by e-mail, and that they will get back to you in a reasonable amount of time. I think that within 24 hours is reasonable.

• Beware of guarantees that promise you will make a certain amount of money in a short time.

Nothing in life is guaranteed, especially high yeilding investments. There has to be some risk involved or the return wouldn't be as good. Completely safe investments do not deliver high returns, and they are not as safe as we think they are either. Your mentor might be able to guarantee that the information that they give you is good information, but they cannot guarantee that you will make a profit on your investment. So much of that is up to you, the one who is doing the investing! I to suspect high priced coaching programs with outrageous claims - for instance, that gaurantee that you will make $10,000 in a few months or they'll return your money. Make sure you get that in writing!

Tax liens and tax deeds are not a get rich quick type of investment. You may have to wait a few months before you see any return at all, and in some states you may have to wait two or three years to see a return on your investment.

• Does your coaches reputation depend on your success?

If it does then you have a better chance of succeeding. Someone who works for a large organizatiton may not have their reputation at stake. When you work with someone who has a reputation to protect as a tax lien or tax deed investing coach that gets results, they will work harder to insure your success. But ultimately it's up to you. Are you really ready to put in the time and money necessary to succeed at tax lien investing. If not, don't hire a coach or mentor because that would just be a waist of both of your time. To find out if you're ready read my article Tax Lien Investing: Are You Ready to Get Started?

Tax Lien Investing Secrets Revealed!

You haven’t heard much from me lately. I’ve had my nose to the grindstone finishing a brand new product that is going to blow your socks off! You see, I’ve just finished revising my first ever all comprehensive home study course on investing in tax lien certificates and tax deeds.
Here are just a few of the things I’ve put into this course:

• Four Audios – to take you through everything you need to know to go to your first tax sale, from the difference between tax liens and tax deeds to where to find out about tax sales, to how to do due diligence, how to prepare for the sale, various bidding procedures, and what you need to do after the sale to protect and maximize your investment.
• A Manual to go along with the audios – with all the information that is given in the teleseminars plus resources, forms and articles to help you get ready for your first tax sale IN RECORD TIME.
• Checklists - One for doing due diligence for tax liens and one for preparing for your first tax sale, step by step guides so that you know exactly what you have to do when.
• A bonus teleseminar on the investing tax free through a self directed IRA. This is a recording of a teleseminar interview with Liz Koos, retirement plan specialist with Equity Trust Company. In this seminar Liz reviews the five steps that you need to take in order to invest in tax lien certificates or tax deeds using your IRA.
• Even more resources in my State Guide – to make it easier for you to find the information that you need about tax sales in every state in the US.

And a lot of other additions that will explode your profits in tax lien investing!
Whether or not you’ve considered investing in tax lien certificates or tax deeds before, now is the time to take a look at this course. You won’t find a faster method for getting started! And with my new audios, manual, and other features you can be up and running, going to your first tax sale and purchasing profitable tax lien certificates or tax deeds IN ONE WEEK!
Get all the details at:
Tax Lien Investing Secrets II

Happy and Prosperous Investing,
Joanne