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.
Showing posts with label Building Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Building Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, February 05, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, January 22, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
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.
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.
Friday, December 29, 2006
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
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.
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.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
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.
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.
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