In July of 2002 I claimed my independence from the volatility of the stock market, and have gotten steady double digit returns on my investments ever since. Later that year, I purchased my first really profitable tax lien. It was a small investment that I was able to add to each year, for the next 6 years and then I did nothing for the next 2 years. When I finally forced redemption by sending pre-foreclosure letters to the owners and the bank that held the mortgage on the property, I made over 150% interest on my original investment – almost doubling my money over 9 years on the original lien and I made over 72% in 8 years on a subsequent lien that I had purchased on that same property.

That may not seem like much, but keep in mind that my original investment was less than $500 on the lien purchased in 2002, and in 2003 I purchased another lien on the same property for less than $500 and kept adding a little to it each year for the next 5 years. My total investment in the second lien was $3457 and it redeemed for $5972. I made $2515 in profit on only $3457! Continue reading →