How Do You Find Out About Tax Sales?

Posted on December 4, 2010 by Joanne

One of the most frequent questions that a get about investing in tax liens and tax deeds is “How do I find out about tax sales?”

In other words how to you know what tax sales are coming up, where they are held, and how do you get the tax sale information, including the list of properties in the sale.

Tax sales, whether for tax liens or tax deeds are usually conducted as auctions. They are usually held by the county, but sometimes by the municipality (in the Northeast), or a law firm (in Texas). One way to find these sales is to search the county website. If you would like to have your work made easier for you and be able to find out what tax sales are coming up and where they are held, without having to check every county that you want to invest in, then you may want to pay for a service that lets you do this.

The Resource I Use to Find Out About Tax Sales 

The resource I use to find out what tax sales are coming up across the country and get the tax sale information, is Tax Sale Resources. It lets me do a custom search for tax sales nationwide. I can search for online tax sales coming up in the next month or counties that have over the counter tax deeds. And I also have access to the procedures and laws in each state, and links to county web sites to do my due diligence. A free membership to Tax Sale Resources is included with a subscription to the Tax Lien Profits Accelerator™.

If however, you are actually looking for a web site where you can bid on tax liens or tax deeds online, I do have a free resource for you. It’s my 16 Tax Sale Websites Swipe File and you can get it at http://taxlieninvestingsecrets.com/sweet16.  Included with the swipe file is a step-by-step training video and a 5 point tax lien investing check list to get you started.

How to Get More Information About Tax Sales

To find out which of these tax sales are online and which ones you have to attend live, what the bidding procedures are, and which are the better ones to attend, join us for our next member training. These recorded webinars are just one of the benefits of the Tax Lien Profits Accelerator™. During these live sessions, I let members know about upcoming tax sales, which ones are the better tax sales to attend, how to register for them and what the bidding procedures are. Members also get a chance to get their questions answered and get some coaching from me on these calls. Find out about some of the other benefits to membership in the Tax Lien Profits Accelerator™ at http://TaxLienLady.com/MembershipMain.htm.

Get Access to the Tax Lien Investing Basics course, a $297 value, when you become a member of the Tax Lien Profits Accelerator™. This course will help you pick the best place for you to invest and show you how to get all the tax sale information. Or find out how you can get lifetime access to the Tax Lien Investing Basics course at http://www.TaxLienInvestingBasics.com

Note from the Author

This article was first posted in 2010 and updated and reprinted for 2019 on May 11, 2019.

Posted in Tax Lien Investing, tax sales | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Should You Buy Tax Lien Certificates in Your Name?

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Joanne

should you buy tax lien certificates...

“Should I buy tax lien certificates and tax deeds in your name or a business name?” Is a question that newbie tax lien and tax deed investors ask me quite often. The answer to this question really depends on your specific situation. It’s my opinion that when buying tax deeds, it’s better to buy the deeds in a business name because it affords you some liability protection. That is something you can to discuss with your lawyer and accountant. When you buy tax lien certificates, however, it’s not always an advantage to buy them in a business name for 2 reasons.

First, If you purchase a certain volume of tax liens and you do it through business entity, your profits will be considered business income and not investment income. That could make a difference come tax time. So this is something that you need to discuss with your accountant.

Secondly, many states require that your business entity be registered to business in their state in order to register to bid at the tax sale. If you’re bidding in your own name in another state, however, there is no such requirement. So it can cost you more to register to bid at tax sales that are in states other than the state your entity is registered in.

Your tax liens or redeemable deeds are not going to show up on a title search or credit report. If someone wanted to find out what tax liens you own, they’d have to do a search in every county you invest in. And since you don’t own the property, you don’t have any liability for it yet. Not until you actually foreclose the right of redemption and record a deed to the property to you actually own it. And at that time you can transfer it to a business or holding company. Don’t let not having a business entity to invest with stop you from investing in tax liens!

You can also buy tax liens and tax deeds inside your self-directed IRA or Solo 401K. In order to purchase tax liens or redeemable deeds, you’ll need to acquire a unique tax ID number for your retirement account. The county or municipality will require that you provide a tax ID number. You can’t use your custodian’s tax ID number because other investors might have the same custodian for their account. You can request a EIN (Employment Identification Number) for your IRA, Solo 401K, or Qualified Retirement Plan from http://irs.gov.

Note from the Author: This article was first published in 2010 and updated and republished in May 2019. I am not an attorney, or accountant, nor am I a financial planner. This is simply my opinion as an investor.

Posted in Tax Lien Investing | 40 Comments

Myths About Tax Lien Investing

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Debby

Do you fall for these myths about tax lien investing?

There are many myths out there about tax lien investing and it’s difficult to know fact from fiction, and it’s even more difficult to know who to listen to any more. Here’s what I’ve come to know and discount about tax lien investing after investing and teaching others how to invest in tax lien certificates for the past 8 years.

Myth # 1: You can buy a house for as little as $200

The truth is that you can purchase a tax lien for as little as $200, but in my experience 99% of all tax liens will redeem and you do not get to foreclose on them. Not only that but most tax liens on decent properties are more than $200. Think about it. How much do you pay for the taxes on your house? If all that is owed in taxes is $200 what kind of property do you think that is? And even if it did turn out to be a good property with a house on it and it wasn’t redeemed and you got to foreclose on it, you would still have to pay all of the taxes from the time that you purchased the lien to the time that you got to foreclose on it, plus any attorney fees for the foreclosure. That still would be a great deal, but it’s not going to cost you only $200. Continue reading →

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

Answering Your Questions About Tax Lien Investing

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Debby

I have gotten so many questions for our webinar tonight about how to invest in tax liens. We already have over 100 registrants for tonight?s webinar and expect that we?ll have close to 200 by the time we kick off tonight. I?ve got so many great questions from you already and I can?t wait to answer them. But I know that I may not get to answer all of them thoroughly on tonight?s call, so I wanted to give you an example of the type of questions that I will be answering tonight and answer a couple of these questions for you right now to save us some time and space on the live webinar.

Here is a list of a few of the questions that we have for tonight so far:
? What are the best areas to invest in tax deeds in the Northeast?
? What?s the easiest way to get started with a little bit of money?
? How can I find out if the property is occupied or vacant?
? Can I do this from outside the US?
? How can I get a final list of liens for sale days before the auction?
? Where can I get a Redeemable Deed for under $5000?
? Can you go over how to do due diligence on tax sale properties?
? If I buy a tax lien on a farm can I foreclose on it after the redemption period?
? How do I approach tax lien investing online?
? What are the best states for tax lien investing? Continue reading →

Posted in Answering Questions, Tax Lien Investing, Webinar | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Don’t Buy Tax Lien Certificates Until You Do Your Homework!

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Debby

Now that I’ve told you what tax lien sales are going on from now until the end of the year, I’d like to remind you how important it is to do your due diligence on tax sale properties. Four years ago a wrote an article entitled “Don’t Buy Tax Lien Certificates Until You Read This!” You can read the article at http://taxlienconsulting.blogspot.com/2006/07/dont-buy-tax-lien-certificates-until.html. Because the information in this article is still very important when it comes to investing in tax liens today, I’ve revised it a little and made it into a video for you. Here it is for viewing pleasure, narrated by my assistant Debby.

Posted in Due Diligence, Tax Lien Investing, Video Article | Tagged , | Comments Off on Don’t Buy Tax Lien Certificates Until You Do Your Homework!