Archive for the ‘Tax Lien Sales’ Category
Sunday, January 10th, 2010
The municipality that governs your property tax, in most instances this is the county, keeps records on your property.
Tags: Acquiring, Estate, Estate Tax, Instances, Lien, Municipality, Properties, Property Tax, Real, Real Estate Taxes, Tax Lien Properties, Taxes
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Saturday, January 9th, 2010
Tax lien auctions create Excess Funds – that you can get for yourself!These Proceeds comes from foreclosures.These foreclosure sales can come from a substitute trustee foreclosure, a foreclosure from a home owner assoc, or a result of a county tax auction. If someone goes to foreclosure on real estate, they are collecting on a debt secured by the property, and are making a person or entity to sell their jproperty to pay that amount owed.The problem that occurs for the bank is that the home can get more than the debt that needs to get paid. For instance, say a bank forecloses on Joe Smith because he is way behind on his payment. Let’s say he has a mortgage for $200 Grandtwo hundred thousand dollars} to the mortgage company and that his home sells as a result of a foreclosure for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Where does the $ end up?The mortgage company – or usually the substitute trustee for the mortgage co – pays out the debt owed on the real estate, with the tax folks – meaning any unpaid property taxes get paid before others in line. After that the bank has a right to what’s left. But, the bank can’t keep any overage. Assume there were $5K in lawyer costs due to the foreclosure sale, &) there were still owed taxes to be paid to the tune of five thousand dollars.What we have is:$250K sales price-Five thousand $ taken out to pay the municipality for taxes owed.-Five thousand $ paid to the law firm running the foreclosure sale.-$200,000 paid out to the bank.There now surplus of forty thousand dollars.Who gets that?Good question:, in a perfect world, surplus funds is due to the person who was foreclosed on. Here’s the problem – the municipality where the foreclosure was filed does not have the timed needed, skills, nor staff to track down the owner of those funds. Also the mortgage company doesn’t have a reason to track down person owed either – their only focus is to prove that they don’t keep any overage from the foreclosure sale. As a result the surplus goes into an earnest $ account, referenced to the file residing in the county clerk’s files. There it will remain for a long time:for up to a decade, before it is transferred to the states escrow coffer.Listen Up! During the time the cash is deposited in an escrow account for the municipality and then for the state, it is make interest. The county and then the State can claim that interest due to the fact that they’re keeping it for the past owner. At this point the obvious question that hits people is–Does the person due can just call the State or hit the internet and claim the funds from the state – or from the county if its been a short time – Right?No sir. Most times the cash is out of the rightful owner’s name at the point where it becomes a part of the states escrow acct. Its found by a case number that references the foreclosure case file in the municipalitys courthouse. So inquiries directed to the state commonly go unanswered or hit a dead end due to the fact that the cash is not in the name of the person due.Then What you just drive to the clerks office, find the case file, & show youre id, correct? Too Easy.. First, identifying the file has it’s own unqique prob’s, becaues the records aren’t called, ‘woohoo – look here records’. In the rare event you miraculously get to the storage place of the records, you have to look through the files (one at a time to ascertain which of the files thatwhich actually have surplus funds in them. But, once you identify one such file, you can locate much more using a easy method.Now Assume you locate the records, and see big amounts of dough for the rightful owners. Can you pull out that cash?Not without a special form. At this writing, many States don’t let you get over a tiny slice of the money when you identify it, specially if you attempt to make a deal with the person owed for identifiying the surplus. They often call these folks as ‘finders’, and limit their commission to 10-15%, and some States also require a Private Investigator’s license to be allowed. Then is the chance gone at this pt?Nope. BUT you can get those surplus in your name, regardless:nevermind the person who should have it implementing a program called the ‘Gold Mine’ – go get it at http://www.surplusfundsriches.comThere are 2 additional considerations here…1. It doesn’t make any difference how long the surplus has been in the earnest money acct. There is overage dating back 40 years plus yrs – so it doesnt make any difference if property values have lately dropped- pull cash from files that came about when the real estate market was on the rise.2. The System also can be used for tax auctions.Tax lien sales are just foreclosures that are due togovernment going after:attempting to collect taxes due on a home and are foreclosing to get that debt. The differences in tax auctions are:1. There is a chance for a much larger cash amount. chew on that. Unpaid taxes of $20K on a home that has other debt and sells for 300 grand. Yes ma’am!2. There might be a ‘redemption period’ of a (few years where you are required to sell the home back to the ex-owneryour buy price plus improvements. You could lease the house, put a small amount of update money into it, and make that $ back, betting the owner does not come back in the middle of the redemption time. That works cuz you will recoup what you have in it, if the owner does come back, and return the rent. However, the Gold Mine Program teaches you a much better way to benefit from sales from a tax auction. You will literally, using the ebook, let the home to be auctioned at a tax auction, and then claim the surplus funds due to the rightful owner Yourself! Seriously! We trust this program cuz we designed it. Its available at http://www.surplusfundsriches.com
Realtor since 1993
1,000+ Sales
Father of 3
Married 19 Years
Author
Deed Flip Specialist
Foreclosure/Short Sale Specialist
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Tags: Certificate, Collecting On A Debt, Foreclosure Sales, Foreclosures, From, Good Question, Hundred Thousand, Joe Smith, Lawyer Costs, Lien, Mortgage Co, Mortgage Company, Municipality, Perfect World, Proceeds, Profiting, Resul, Surplus Funds, Tax Auction, Tax Lien Auctions, Tax Lien Certificate, Thousand Dollars, Trustee, Unpaid Property Taxes
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Friday, January 8th, 2010
Just after I wrote a review of three of my favorite books about tax lien investing, I got a call asking me if I?d like to review a brand new edition of one of them. A second edition of The 16% Solution, by Joel S. Moskowitz, is now in bookstores and I?ve just finished reading it. It?s been a while (more than 6 years) since I read the original version of this book ? which was somewhat outdated then, so I wasn?t sure just how different the second edition would be from the first. I was pleasantly surprised! With all of the hype and recent infomercials lately touting tax lien investing as a way to get rich quick, this book is very refreshing. Right from the beginning Mr. Moskowitz sets the reader straight, giving honest and straightforward information. I was really impressed with the forward to this second edition where he likened the chances of someone getting a property for pennies on the dollar from a tax lien to someone winning one million dollars from a one-dollar lottery ticket. Yeah it happens every now and then, but it?s not likely. And then he tells you what you can expect from tax lien investing ? ?super-high interest combined with safety.?This book is divided into four sections. In the first section Mr. Moskowitz explains what tax liens are, why they are such a safe investment, and why now, more than ever before you need to include them in your investment plan. At the end of the section he has a chart that shows how tax lien certificates compare to other investments in terms of income and growth potential, risk avoidance, safety, and liquidity. Section 2 talks about how to buy tax lien certificates; how to choose a state and county to invest in and how to choose the properties to buy tax liens on. It also covers bidding at the auction and buying over-the-counter and assignment liens. There is even a chapter on how to get local officials to help you do your due diligence (This doesn?t always work in every county, but it?s certainly worth a try).Section 3 of The 16% Solution talks about how you get paid on a tax lien certificate and how to foreclose on the property. Mr. Moskowitz explains how a tax lien certificate is redeemed, how to foreclose on a tax lien, and what to do with the property once you foreclose on it. Section 4 talks about avoiding and managing risks. Mr. Moskowitz explains just what the risks of tax lien investing are and how to avoid them. That?s something that most tax lien investing ?gurus? never tell you until you give them thousands of dollars for coaching. I recommend that anyone interested in tax lien investing read this book for this section alone. Buy this book and save your thousands for investing in tax liens!Also included in the book are a couple of appendixes with helpful information. In Appendix I there is a chart of state laws for all of the tax lien states. Georgia is included even though it?s technically a redeemable deed state. This chart is a good tool, but remember, just because a state has laws that allow it to have tax lien sales doesn?t mean that they actually have any. There are at least a couple of states on this list that either have only a couple of counties or municipalities that have tax lien sales, or have hardly any properties available in their sales.Appendix II has some more detailed information for 14 of the tax lien states (these are the states that have an interest rate of 16% or higher). Some of these states are covered more thoroughly than others. My guess is that the states that are covered well are the ones that Mr. Moskowitz personally invests in. The states that are covered thoroughly are: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, and Iowa. Detailed information on the other states is lacking. If you are investing in one of the above-mentioned states or planning to invest in one of these states I recommend that you purchase this book. Also if you are planning to invest in tax liens on commercial or industrial properties there are helpful forms for avoiding environmental problems in Appendix III.This book is great for beginner investors in tax liens, it does not have information about tax deed investing, but it does have detailed information for 4 of the more popular tax lien states, and one redeemable deed state, plus general information for the other tax lien states. It also discusses investing online and purchasing leftover liens. You can purchase this book at a discount on Amazon at http://budurl.com/vdns.
Joanne Musa works with people who want to build an extremely profitable portfolio of tax lien certificates or tax deeds FAST. She is the author of the Tax Lien Investing Basics system for learning how to invest in tax lien certificates and tax deeds for maximum profit, and founder of Tax Lien Consulting LLC, a consulting company specializing in tax lien investing coaching and education. Go to www.taxlienlady.com for more information about tax lien investing.
Tags: 6 Years, Book, Coun, Dollar Lottery, Due Diligence, Edition, Favorite Books, High Interest, How To Buy Tax Lien Certificates, Infomercials, Investing, Investment Plan, Lien, Liquidity, Lottery Ticket, Moskowitz, New Edition, One Million Dollars, Original Version, Pennies On The Dollar, Review, Right From The Beginning, Risk Avoidance, Solution, Tax Lien Certificates, Tax Liens, Update
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Thursday, January 7th, 2010
A tax lien is the lien placed on a homeowner’s property by the county or municipality in the intent to collect a debt. Specifically, it is the action taken by the government to satisfy delinquent real property taxes on real estate. The governmental agency authorizes the tax lien to collect any lien which consists of delinquent taxes, accrued interest, and the cost associated with the sales. In many jurisdictions, the tax lien is the initial lien on the property; thereby granting it permissible to be sold at a tax lien auction as a tax lien certificate.
After placing a successful bid, prospective investors at a tax lien auction would have purchased a governmental- issued tax lien certificate. Subsequently, a tax lien certificate allows the investor to obtain two (2) things; a state- mandated yield from the lien or title to the property. The yield from the lien commands that the delinquent taxpayer pays in order to release the lien. After a certain amount of time (set by the jurisdiction), the certificate guarantees you the title of the property if the delinquent taxes aren?t paid. As a tax lien certificate holder, your investment is generally safe. Occasionally, investors have lost money in such procedures; therefore it is wise to fully comprehend the rules and laws of the area that you are bidding in, and be cautious not to pay too much for the tax lien itself.
There are five (5) basic methods to invest in tax liens in the event that more than one investor seeks the same lien. The winner is dependant upon each state’s laws, of course. Firstly, the prospective investor can bid down the interest. With this method, a buyer can accept lower rates of return. The winner of the tax lien certificate is the buyer that has accepted the lower rates. The premium buying procedure suggests that the investor who is willing to pay the highest “premium” (or excess beyond the lien amount) is declared the winner. Unfortunately, the premium may or may not earn interest and the investor may or may not be reimbursed upon redemption of the lien. Some states awards tax lien certificates randomly by selecting bidder numbers for each of the real estate properties that are up for auction. This is significant in that the concept of public auctions is becoming more and more mainstream and popular with the general public. In fact, within large counties, there are substantially developed internet- based auctions allowing outside bidders to participate. Yet, another tax lien buying procedure is the rotational selection. The rotational selection gives the investor holding bidder number one the first lien offer, whom actually has the right of first refusal. However, if bidder number one chooses to refuse, he will not be offered another bid until his number appears again in rotation. The final method for purchasing tax lien certificates is to bid down the ownership. In most instances, the investor will avoid bidding on liens for less than full right to the property or sale proceeds. None-of- the- less, the bid down the ownership method allows the investor to purchase the lien for the lowest percentage of encumbrance on the property. If the investor is willing to accept that the original owner will own the remaining percentage, then he/she will be awarded the lien.
It is important that you conduct your due diligence prior to making a final decision as tax lien sales aren?t for everyone. Furthermore, there are prominent benefits as well as risk to tax lien investing. One particular benefit is that the maximum rate of return in a tax lien is much higher than other investments. Unfortunately, the payment is required at purchase and failure to pay the full amount results in the cancellation of all lien certificate purchases.
The wealthy have been buying tax lien certificatess for years and banks have also been very active in this market It’s realistically one of the most recession-proof investments out there because the returns(15-50%!) are guaranteed by the government. Visit http://www.NewHotBizOpportunity.com to get a free 7 day online course that will teach you exactly what you need to know about investing in this lucrative industry.
Tags: About, Amount Of Time, Certificate Holder, Delinquent Taxes, Delinquent Taxpayer, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Homes, Government, Government Foreclosure, Government Tax, Governmental Agency, Homes, Jurisdiction, Jurisdictions, Know, Lien, Municipality, Need, Property Taxes, Prospective Investor, Prospective Investors, Purchasing, Real Estate, Tax Auction, Tax Foreclosure, Tax Lien Auction, Tax Lien Certificate, Tax Liens
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Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
Frequently I get asked this question: “I really want to start investing in tax liens, but I live in a deed state. Should I look into investing in tax liens in another state, or try to invest in tax deeds in my own state.” In this article I’ll give you what I recommend for investors want to invest in tax liens, but find that in their state they only sell tax deeds. It’s not a one-size fits all answer, it really depends on what your goals are and on your particular state.You really have two options, either find a way to invest profitably in your state, or look at some of the online tax lien sales; you may even want to do both. First, find out what goes on in your state. Are there many deed sales? How often are the tax sales? How many properties are available and how competitive are they? You will actually have to go to some tax sales and see what they are like.Some states just don’t have very much available, if that’s the case; you may want to try the online tax lien sales. Other states may be very competitive and properties may get bid close to market value. If that’s the case there is still a way that you may be able to profit from tax deed sales in your state. Some counties give the excess proceeds – that’s the amount that’s bid in excess of the minimum bid amount, back to the owner of the property. Here’s how the excess proceeds strategy works in a nutshell. Instead of waiting for the tax sale you contact the owner of the property before the sale and see if they are going to let their property go for back taxes. If they have already decided to walk away from the property, perhaps they would be willing to give you a quitclaim deed to their property for a small fee. You record the deed with the county clerk a few weeks before the tax sale. Let the property go to tax sale and after it is sold you apply for the excess proceeds. This strategy only works in a few deed states that give the excess proceeds back to the owner of the property – not all deed states do this. So before you try this strategy check with the county tax collector or county treasurer and make sure that the owner of record of the tax delinquent property can apply for the excess proceeds from the sale. Also you do have to check for any other liens, since you are buying the property from the owner and not purchasing the deed at the tax sale, you will be held responsible for any other liens on the property.
Joanne Musa is a tax lien and tax deed investing expert who helps investors buy profitable tax lien certificates and tax deeds. You can find out more about the excess proceeds strategy of tax deed investing and get a Free mini-course at http://www.TaxForeclosureFortunes.com.
Tags: Back Taxes, Bid, Contact, Deed, Excess Proceeds, Goals, I’m, Invest, Investing, Investing In Tax Liens, Investors, Liens, Nutshell, Options, Ow, Property Tax, Quitclaim Deed, Start Investing, State, Strategy Works, Tax Deed Sales, Tax Deeds, Tax Lien Sales
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Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
There are two sorts of property tax sales.
In a tax lien sale, the tax authority, usually the county, offers its right to the lien on the property for sale.
Tags: Buying, Certificate, Lien, Property For Sale, Property Tax Sales, Sales Tax, Sorts, Tax Lien Certificate, Tax Lien Sale
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Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
What if you are really interested in buying tax liens, but you don?t live in a state that has tax lien sales, and you don?t live within driving distance of a state that does sell tax liens? One alternative to buying tax liens at a physical auction is to participate in the online tax sales. Only a few states have tax lien sales online, but fortunately each state that does have online tax sales conducts their sale at a different time of the year. So you can participate in an online tax lien sale somewhere in the United States in almost any season of the year.There are only 5 states that have tax sales online; they are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, and Maryland. Even in those states, not all counties have online tax sales. You can find a list of these counties with links to the tax sale websites, and other details about their tax sales in my ?Guide to Buying Tax Liens Online? on the members area of TaxLienLady.com. The online tax sales are very different in each state, but they do have a few things in common.You need to register for online tax sales days or in some counties weeks ahead of the actual sale. You register for the tax sale and bid on the properties online. You are not actually bidding on the property, but on the tax lien certificate that is being auctioned. These sales usually require a deposit, and some of them have a non-refundable registration fee. Payment for the liens that you are successful bidding on is required within a day or two of the close of the tax sale for tax sales that use wire transfers as the method of payment. For tax sales that use ACH Debit as the method of payment for tax liens, you usually have to pay the day of the close of the tax sale. For these tax sales, you agree before hand to allow the county treasurer to debit your account for the tax liens that you purchase.These counties make it easy for you to register and bid online. The hardest part of buying tax liens online is doing your due diligence for the tax sale properties. Unless you purchase a tax sale list from a tax sale list provider, or in some cases from the county, you don?t always get to see the list of properties that are in the tax sale. Instead the properties are listed individually or in batches by an id number and you have to click on the property number to get the rest of the information on the property. For some counties there is very little information given about the property. This is where buying a detailed or enhanced list, with all of the assessment information for the property can me very helpful.
Joanne Musa works with people who want to build an extremely profitable portfolio of tax lien certificates or tax deeds FAST. You can find out more about buying tax liens online in my Guide to Buying Tax Liens Online. It?s a free bonus for you when you try the members area of TaxLienLady.com. To find out more about the extra bonuses that you get when you try the members area of TaxLienLady.com go to www.TaxLienLady.com/Membership.htm.
Tags: Auction, Bid Online, Buying, Buying Tax Liens, Colorado Florida, County Treasurer, Different Time, Driving Distance, Due Diligence, Florida Indiana, Liens, Members Area, Online, Refundable, Register, Registration Fee, State Tax, Tax Lien Certificate, Tax Lien Sale, Tax Lien Sales, Tax Sale Properties, Wire Transfers
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Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
I am a newbie investor in Chicago. The Cook County annual tax sale is in progress and I would like to look on only this year. Can anyone give the basics as above, and also anyone made any money from buying these?
Tags: Anyone, Cook County, Deed, Investor, Lien, Money, Rundown, Sales, Sales Tax, Tax Deed Sales, Tax Lien Sales
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Friday, January 1st, 2010
are these tax lien sales worth investing in and can i make some good money doing it?
Tags: Invest, Investing, Lien, Money, Sales, Sales Tax, Should, Tax Lien Sales
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