Getting Tax Lien Redemptions

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Joanne

I just love it when I get checks in the mail from my tax lien redemptions. But what do you do when your liens don’t redeem and the redemption period is over? This is somewhat state specific because some states don’t give you much time to foreclose once the redemption period is over. You may only have 6 months after the redemption period before the lien expires, in those states you will have to start the foreclosure or deed application process right away and hope for the best.

But in states where tax liens have longer expiration periods there are things that you can do to maximize your return on your investment and get paid when you want to. Since I invest in a state that has a 2 year redemption period and a 20 year expiration period, I can let my liens go way past the redemption period and not worry about losing my investment as long as I pay the subsequent taxes. In fact the more I let the lien ride and pay my subsequent taxes, the more money I’ll make. But there comes a time when I have more money into the lien than I want to have. I don’t want the redemption amount to approach the value of the property; I don’t want it to come close to half the value of the property. I don’t want it to be more than 25% of what the property is worth. Continue reading →

Posted in Tax Lien Investing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Don’t Buy Tax Lien Certificates Unless You’ve Done Your Homework!

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Joanne

This is another article that I wrote a few years ago that has information that is very much needed today. I thought that I should publish this article again because I frequently get people that e-mail me after they’ve already gone to a tax sale and purchased a lien or deed on a property that hadn’t done proper due diligence on. Sometimes they luck out anyway, but often they get burnt. I want to keep you from making the mistakes that could cost you your investment or at least prevent you from making a profit. So please read this article and don’t buy tax lien certificates unless you’ve done your homework!

I went to a tax sale yesterday in an out of the way rural municipality in New Jersey. Unlike most of the tax sales in New Jersey this sale was poorly attended. New Jersey is a very competitive state for tax lien investing so this was an uncommon event. Continue reading →

Posted in Due Diligence, Tax Lien Investing, tax sales | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Monday Motivation: Why Do Some People Quit So Easily?

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Joanne

Here’s another message from my Friend Arnfried Klein-Werner from Be Motivated Today:

One of the reasons why some people quit easily, is because they don’t see themselves as Winners and Achievers. Because of trials and struggles, some people actually believe that they were born to fail.

Here’s a true story:
A man, on holiday in London, walked past a tattoo store and saw a tattoo that read ?Born to lose?. He could not believe that anybody would have such a statement tattooed on their body. So he went inside to ask the owner of the shop about it. The owner, a Chinese man, said that people actually do have that tattooed on their bodies. ?Why? responded the man? The Chinese man answered: ?Before tattoo on body, tattoo on mind?

To help you persevere at anything, you need to develop your success beliefs. Keep telling yourself that you are a success in every area of your life! Continue reading →

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Answers To Your Questions

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Joanne

Here’s a recent question that I got from Mark in Ohio:

I just was curious to see what your thoughts were on what to do with the $8k?I have left in my IRA/llc I bought a rental with the other $17k and this part is just sitting there. I thought about doing a small loan but also about buying tax liens.?Any thoughts? I have never bought them before but have always been interested. I?live in Ohio. Continue reading →

Posted in Online Investing, Tax Deed Investing, Tax Lien Investing | 2 Comments

When NOT To Buy A Tax Lien Certificate

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Joanne

Recently someone contacted me with a very “valuable”  lien that they had for sale. They didn’t have the money to foreclose on the lien and wanted either to sell it or partner with someone on foreclosing it. (Have someone else hire a lawyer to foreclose on the lien and share in the profits). When I checked into the property, I found out that it was a vacant piece of land with little value, and the lien holder had already invested more than $16,000.00 into this lien. They had paid subsequent taxes over a few years and when they stopped paying the taxes the lien was struck off to the municipality.

Because this was not a good property the municipality never foreclosed the lien as well. The original lien was purchased back in 1993. The municipality picked up the lien in 1997 and the back taxes owed on this property now are probably more than the property is worth. I had to give her the bad news that her lien is not worth foreclosing on and she won’t be able to sell it. If she only knew when NOT to buy a tax lien, this bad investment would have been avoided.

So here is a list for you of a few reasons not to buy a tax lien. Be sure check the items on this list for tax sale properties before you purchase a tax lien certificate on the property and you’ll avoid taking an unnecessary risk with your money. Continue reading →

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