There are a lot of fall tax sales coming up in various states. Here’s a primer on what’s happening this season around the country for tax sales…
Fall Tax Deed Sales
The Michigan tax deed sales start in August and go all through the rest of summer and fall. Each county has a tax sale only once a year and the counties stager their tax sales throughout the summer and fall. Anything that doesn’t sell in the first sale is sold in a second “no reserve” sale and many of the counties have both of these tax sales online. To give you an idea of what’s possible at these tax sales, a couple of years ago, I helped one of my coaching clients get 3 properties for $35,000 at one of the “no reserve” sales. He wholesaled one property to another investor, fixed and flipped another for a nice profit, and fixed and rented out the third for cash flow.
Wisconsin and New York State also have counties that have online tax deed auctions in September, October, and November. Another state that has some counties with online tax deed auctions in Florida. Some Florida counties have tax deed auctions as often as once a week! In the south, Louisiana counties have their Adjudicated Property sales. These sales are great to buy property from because you get clear title to the property. Many of these tax sales are online.
If you live in the northeast and can attend in person, you might want to check out the “upset” tax sales in Pennsylvania. Most PA counties will conduct this sale in the fall but beware, in the upset sale the buyer of the property is responsible for any liens, judgments or mortgages on the property. Many PA counties have 2 tax sales each year. Whatever doesn’t sell in the upset tax sale is later sold in a “judicial” tax sale. Properties sold in the judicial tax sale are sold free and clear of liens and judgments – including mortgages. Properties that go unsold in the judicial sale are taken by the county and put on the repository list. They are essentially sold as over the counter deeds for a minimum bid. Other states with tax deed auctions in the fall are North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia. These states, like Pennsylvania, do not have online tax sales.
Fall Tax Lien Sales
If it’s liens you’re interested in and not deeds, you have a couple of options in the fall. Early fall is the time for tax sales in the most profitable tax lien state – Illinois. These sales are held from September through November and I believe there a couple of counties that even have tax sales as late as December. Since Illinois is the most profitable tax lien state, there is also a lot of competition, but there is no online bidding so the competition is limited to those who can show up live at the county to bid.
The state of Kentucky also has tax lien sales in the fall. Like Illinois, all these sales are live auctions. Also in order to bid on more than 3 tax liens in a single county in Kentucky or more than 5 tax liens in the entire state, you must register with the state of Kentucky months before the tax sales. So unless you’re already registered to bid at these sales, you’ll be limited to buying no more than 3 tax liens in any county and no more than 5 tax liens over all for this year.
Indiana tax lien sales also happen in the fall. Many Indiana counties have their tax sales in September or October. Tax Liens that are not sold in these tax sales, will be certified to the county commissioner and sold a few months later in the commissioner’s tax certificate sales. What is notable about the commissioner’s sales is that the price of the lien is lowered and the redemption time is shorted from 1 year to 4 months.
New Jersey is another state that has a lot of fall tax sales. Tax sales are conducted by municipalities, not the counties in New Jersey. There are over 500 municipalities in NJ and most of them will have a tax sale at least once a year. They are scattered throughout the year but most of them are held in the late spring and in the late fall. June and December are the biggest months for tax sales in NJ. There are a few sales in August and then the tax sales ramp up from September through December.
Many of these tax sales are now online. New Jersey has a very unusual bidding method, where the interest is bid down and then premium can be bid for liens. It’s a very competitive state to bid in, so you have to have deep pockets to be successful in NJ. For the online tax sales, you need to have a budget of at least $10,000 in order to bid.
For online tax liens, Colorado is your best bet this season. Colorado counties have different methods of bidding so you’ll want to make sure you understand the bidding process before you take part in the tax sales. Counties in Colorado actually have 2 different bidding procedures. For larger liens, premium is bid, and you do not get your premium back when the lien redeems! Smaller liens in some counties are sold by a random selection process and you have to attend these auctions live.
Redeemable Deed Sales In The Fall
There are plenty of redeemable tax deed sales coming up in the fall. It’s good to consider investing in redeemable deeds instead of tax liens if you have the money to invest (the price of the deed is bid up at the tax sale), and if you’re after getting the property. Most tax liens will redeem, but you have a better chance of getting the property with a redeemable deed than with a lien. And some redeemable deed states make the process of getting the deed easier. Counties in Texas and Georgia have tax sales all year long. Some of these counties have tax sales once a month! This fall you’ll also find tax sales in Connecticut, South Carolina, and Davidson County Tennessee. Towns in Connecticut and Counties in South Carolina will have a tax sale only once a year. Most counties in Tennessee only have tax sales once a year as well, except for Davidson County. They have a tax sale almost every month.
Louisiana counties, besides having the adjudicated property sales, also have tax certificate sales. Although some consider these to be tax liens, they are really more like redeemable deeds. Regardless of whether you consider them to be liens or redeemable deeds, the bidding procedure for these instruments is very different from bidding in most other states. The percent ownership of the property, should the tax certificate not redeem is bid down. That means that if you get the deed to the property, you could wind up owning only a percentage of the property. This is not very good for investors.
Want More Information and Training For Fall Tax Sales?
You can get more education and training for bidding in the online sales for Colorado, New Jersey, and the other states that have online bidding in my Buying Tax Liens Online home study course available at http://BuyingTaxLiensOnline.com.
CLICK HERE to find out how you can get access to the Buying Tax Liens Online course as well as detailed training for all upcoming tax sales.
Find out how you can get access to the Buying Tax Liens Online course as well as detailed training for all upcoming tax sales at: www.TaxLienLady.com/MembershipMain.htm.
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