Want to know about the tax lien investing tools and resources that I use the most? If you’ve been following me, you know that there are smart and not so smart ways to invest in tax liens and tax deeds. I’m all about the smart and easy ways to invest.

Tax lien and tax deed investing has gotten a lot easier since I started investing in tax liens in 2002 and tax deeds in 2005. There are online tools and resources that either didn’t exist when I got started or I just wasn’t aware of then. Some of these resources are free online tools that I use all the time to find upcoming tax sales and research tax sale properties. They make tax lien and tax deed investing a lot easier than it used to be. Most of them are free. Although I do use a paid version for the one resource that I use the most.

In this article, I’ll list the top three tools and resources that I use to make tax lien investing easier, and explain how I use them.

My Favorite Tax Lien Investing Tools:

Tax Sale Finders – This is the tax lien investing tool that I use the most. I use a paid version and I provide the paid version to members of the Tax Lien Profits Accelerator™ and my coaching clients. The first thing that I use this resource for is to find out what tax sales are coming up across the country. I can filter the upcoming tax sales to find just the type of tax sales I’m looking for all across the country or in the state of my choice.

Once I find the tax sale that I’m looking for, I can filter the list of properties in the tax sale. I can filter the list down to a manageable number of properties to research. And I don’t have to waist my time researching properties in areas that I don’t want to invest in, or types of properties I’m not interested in.

Then I can get reports on the properties that I want to research further. The reports include a map showing the parcel boundaries and assessment data, market value of the property (according to the county), mortgage data, any environmental concerns and flood risk. I’ve only described part of what is provided by Tax Sale Resources, but these are the features that I use the most.

If you would like to get access to Tax Sale Finders and learn how use TSF along with the other resources listed in this article to find out what tax sales are coming up around the country, filter the tax sale lists and choose the right properties to bid on, check out the new Tax Sale Success Workshop at www.TaxSaleSuccess.com.

Niche.com – I like to use this free resource to find the best places to invest when I’m going to a tax sale in a state or county where I don’t know the area. I use it to find the best counties in a given state. And to find the best cities or towns to invest in inside any given county. While many of the resources that show real estate values that used to show crime ratings no longer do this, Niche.com does. So I also use Niche.com to check crime ratings in areas that I’m considering investing in.

Zillow.com – Tax Sale Resources gives the market value of tax sale properties according to the county, but that does not always keep up with the market. So I use Zillow to find a better estimate of what the market value really is. Zillow doesn’t always keep up with the market either. In a lagging market, it is usually a little higher than what the property would sell for. And in a rising market it’s a little lower. But it is still more up to date than the county records.

How can you have tax sale success in 2022? What’s changed this year in the online tax lien sales in the online tax lien auctions in spring and summer?  To begin with, one of the major online tax lien platforms – RealAuction.com, has changed their website and it looks totally different. RealAuction.com handles many of the Florida and Maryland online tax sales as well as all of the New Jersey online tax lien sales.

Allowing or Not Allowing Foreign Bidders

You’ll also find this year that that most of the online tax lien sales do not accept foreign bidders. For the counties that do not accept registrants who are not U.S. citizens, foreigners will only be able to invest in these tax sales through a US identity with a US bank account. All of the New Jersey tax online tax sales do not accept foreign bidders. Most of the Florida and Maryland tax sales do not accept foreign bidders, but there may be a couple of counties that do. You will have to check the bidding rules for each county to find the counties that do accept foreign bidders. Palm Beach county does accept foreign bidders, but their registration ended on May 20. So if you’re a foreigner, check them out next year. You can also check to see if they have a follow up sale.

Single Simultaneous Bidding Rule

While many of the Florida and Maryland counties had the single simultaneous bidding rule in effect last year, most do not this year. No single simultaneous bidding rule means that you can bid as different entities. It also means that both you and your spouse can register to bid separately, even if you file a joint tax return. It also means that hedge funds can register in multiple names and the competition can be even more intense.

New Requirement for Some Florida Counties

There is a new requirement for bidders in some Florida counties. That bidders registering an entity with an EIN number must provide either proof that the entity is registered in the state of Florida, or an affidavit of their registration to do business in Florida, with the name and address of their Florida agent. Not all Florida counties require this yet, but some do. This means that if you are bidding in the name of an entity, your entity will have to be registered in Florida. It may just be easier (as it is in other states that require this) to bid in your own name.

Tax Sale Success Workshop – June 2022

Most of the Florida tax sales will be over by June 1. But they will have their cleanup sales in June. Everything that doesn’t sell in the initial tax sale will be listed in the cleanup sale. These liens will be sold on a first come first serve bases at the maximum interest rate – 18%. There will also still be some online tax lien auctions in Maryland in June. And June is one of the busiest months for New Jersey tax sales, both online and live.

You can get help for registering and bidding in these tax sales in our 2 day Tax Sale Success Workshop. The workshop will take place Thursday and Friday, June 2 & 3 from 12pm – 2pm Eastern time each day. And if you enroll by May 31, you can get into the workshop at 80% off! Get the details at www.TaxSaleSuccess.com and Enroll Now!

If you’re new to investing in online tax sales, whether it’s tax lien or tax deeds, beware of the registration and deposit deadline for the online auction. The deadline for registering to bid at the tax sale may be days or even weeks before the auction begins. Don’t make the mistake of choosing a tax sale to invest in and doing all your due diligence, picking the right properties to bid on. And then find out that you missed the registration deadline. You also want to make sure that you get your deposit in on time.

For many online tax sales, you have to get your deposit in a week ahead of the auction start date. But for some tax sales, it can be even more in advance. The Lake County Indiana Commissioner’s Sale for example starts on May 9, but the registration deadline was March 17! That’s long before the tax sale shows up on most tax sale list provider’s websites.

If you were one of my coaching clients investing in the online tax sales, you would know where to look to find out just when the county tax sale you want to attend is happening, when it opens for registration and when the registration deadline is. And I will also help you easily do your due diligence and choose the right properties to bid on in the sale. Find out more about my Get Profitable Tax Liens Coaching Program at www.GetProfitableTaxLiens.com.