Are Sewer Liens Worth Buying?

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Joanne

This is in reply to a question from Gina on the previous blog post “New Jersey Tax Sales“, but I thought that it would also be good information for everyone else, especially for those of you who invest in New Jersey.

First of all for the benefit of everyone else on who’s reading this blog let me explain what a sewer lien is. Delinquencies other than property taxes may be sold at a tax sale, like unpaid utility liens, sewer, water or garbage charges. basically anything that the local government (township, municipality, county or taxing district) would assess the property owner. These can be sold at the tax sale and tax lien certificate is issued. It is the same as purchasing a tax lien, the lien-holder is in first position and can foreclose on the property if the lien is not redeemed within the redemption period. The lien-holder also has the ability to pay the subsequent utility charges (or even the subsequent taxes) if the property owner does not pay them on time. Continue reading →

Posted in Tax Lien Investing | 46 Comments

RANT: Do Your Research Before You Make Accusations!

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Joanne

There’s been some very bad press lately on tax lien investing – in the form of articles written by journalists who don’t know what they’re talking about! I think that their view of tax lien investing is a little skewed. I’ve read 2 such articles recently in the Huffington Post about how the big banks and hedge funds are taking advantage of Americans by investing in tax liens.

Now, I am a tax lien investor and I teach individual investors how to invest in tax lien certificates because it’s a safe alternative to the stock market. Individuals can invest in tax lien certificates with money from their IRA or 401(k) and it’s a much safer investment than speculative securities. As an individual investor I don’t like the competition from the big banks, but the authors of these articles have got their facts wrong. They make it sound as though the “greedy” banks and hedge funds are in tax lien investing to profit from the poor distressed homeowner who can’t pay their taxes. They make it sound as though the banks add interest and fees to the tax lien and go after the homeowner for the money or foreclose on the property. But that is not the way it works. The banks simply get what the county or municipality would normally charge the tax payer. Continue reading →

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Another Way to Buy Tax Liens

Posted on December 22, 2010 by Joanne

There is another way to invest in tax liens besides purchasing tax lien certificates either at the tax sale or purchasing left-over liens from the county.

You can also purchase liens from another investor.

Some states allow for the assignment of a tax lien. That means that if you purchase a lien and you don’t want to wait out the redemption period in order to get paid for whatever reason, you can sell your lien to another investor. It also means that as a tax lien purchaser you can purchase mature liens that are ready to foreclose from another investor. Some tax lien investors are really not interested in foreclosing on the property, they would rather get double digit interest on their money than have to worry about owning and selling real estate, even though they could make more profit by foreclosing on their lien. So when the lien gets close to maturity or even after the redemption period is over, they will sell, or assign the lien to another investor.

A great place to look for liens for sale from investors is on TaxLienLady-database.com, and you don’t need to have a subscription or membership to browse the liens and deeds for sale.? You can go to www.TaxSaleResources.com, the parent database for TaxLienLady-database, and sign up for a free subscription. The free subscription won’t allow you to get the tax sale lists but it will allow you access to the forum and to the market place where you can browse tax liens and tax deeds for sale by other investors. I recently listed one of my own liens for sale. This lien is mature and ready to foreclose, you’ll find the details on the database. Continue reading →

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Stretching Your Comfort Zone

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Joanne

Have you ever tried something new?

Something that you knew you wanted to do, but had never done before, and it scared you a little bit, or maybe a lot, but you went a head and did it anyway?

Getting?out of our comfort zone is how we learn new things. Personal growth is only possible if we stretch our comfort zone. There is always the possibility that we will fail or that things won’t turn out as we planned, but then there’s also the possibility that we’ll be successful and get what we aim for. You’ll never know unless you try!

Last weekend when I was at the USA Weightlifting American Open Championship with my son Peter, I attended the technical meeting along with my team’s head coach to find out what the final count of lifters were and?the lifting schedule for the competition. During the meeting is was made known that there were more lifters than expected for the weekend (over 230) and more sessions had been added in order to accommodate them. More officials were needed to help run the competition. Since I don’t have national credentials as an official I never volunteer to officiate at these national contests, but at this particular contest they did not have enough national officials and? they needed people with local credentials (which I do have) to help with different aspects of officiating the meet.? With the encouragement of one of my colleges, who is a national referee, I volunteered to run the clock at a few of the sessions. He assured me that it would be easy to do. Continue reading →

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Will Tax Lien Investing Help Me?

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Joanne

I get a lot of questions? from people who are in financial difficulty and they want to know if tax lien or tax deed investing is the answer to their problems. Some of these people are young, in their 40’s with a mortgage, young children, and they have a failing business or they have lost their job, and they want to know how soon they can replace their income with tax lien investing, and can they really get houses for “pennies on the dollar.” Others are retired or closer to retirement (in their 50’s or 60’s) and they’ve lost most of the money in their 401(k) and want to know how long it will take to make up for lost time with tax lien investing if they move all of the money in their 401(k) into a self-directed IRA and start investing in tax liens. Most of these people have already purchased someone else’s course on tax lien or tax deed investing but still haven’t made any money yet, and don’t know if it’s really possible. It’s amazing how many people find me after they spend a lot of money with someone else, and then expect me to answer their questions. So if this describes you, let me save you some time and answer your questions before you ask them. Even better yet, let me answer your questions before you spend any money learning about tax lien or tax deed investing.

First of all, can you still buy houses for “pennies on the dollar?” The answer is, yes you can in some tax deed states. But think about it: Pennies on the dollar means that you can buy a $300,000 property for around $30,000. Do you have that much money that you don’t need to live on or to keep in an emergency fund? People forget that this is an investment, not a get rich quick scheme especially today when real estate is not selling quickly. Continue reading →

Posted in Tax Deed Investing, Tax Lien Investing | Tagged , , , , | 28 Comments