Posts Tagged ‘Certificates’

Understaning Bidding Methods When Buying Tax Lien Certificates

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Tax lien sales have many different variations. The statutes vary by state. In many areas, the rules will also vary at the county level.

One of the most important things that you need to remember when buying tax lien certificates at a tax auction is understanding the method by which the county determines who is going to buy the tax lien certificate. In some areas, this is determined by the investor bidding down the interest rate for the lien. In many other areas the county will sell the liens on a percentage of ownership basis. In other jurisdictions, the county uses a round robin procedure to determine the winner of the auction. In this article, I will explain the differences between the methods and the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

The most common type of auction is the bid down auction. The auctioneer simply starts the bidding at the top rate for that jurisdiction and then the rate is bid down until the lien is sold. In certain areas, investors can make up for a low rate by paying subsequent taxes and through minimum rate guarantee statutes.

The advantage of the bid down method is you can easily bid on the exact lien that meets your needs. You also don’t have any possible co-ownership scenarios that can make it difficult to file foreclosure and take full possession of the property.

In other states, it is on a percentage of ownership basis. What this means is that the interest rate remains flat, but in the event of foreclosure, the investor and the property owner become co-owners of the property. The initial bid is with the investor at 100% and it goes down until the lien is sold.

This method is great for high interest rates. Iowa uses this method, which means that you are guaranteed a very nice 24% rate. The problem with this is that if you end up as a co-owner with the taxpayer, you may have an expensive legal hassle on your hands to actually take possession of the property.

In other states, the bidding is on a round robin basis. In these areas, the auctioneer offers the lien around the room until someone buys it. They are always at the maximum rate allowed by statute.

In round robin states, you get a nice guaranteed rate of return on your tax lien certificate, and don’t have to mess with the co-ownership issue. However, in round robin states, it is much more difficult to actually get the liens that meet your needs. If you decline during your turn, then you have to wait for luck of the draw to see if you get the lien that you want. If you are a big money investor, then it’s not that big of a deal because you can buy a lot of different liens. But as a smaller investor who can only afford a couple of the liens on the book, this restriction can be very limiting.

As you can tell, the bidding procedure is something that is very important in the tax lien research process. With proper planning, you can wade through the minefield and reap great rewards!

Carlos Scarpero is an experienced real estate investor who specializes in land. On his blog at http://www.scarpero.com/real_estate, he discusses innovative and creative real estate strategies to make your real estate investing more profitable.

How Can I Obtain A List Of Tax Lien Property Sales In San Diego County?

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

On the regular website it says it does not offer certificates, whatever that means, but that it does do sales. Anyone know?

Tax Lien Certificates and Subsequent Tax Procedures

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Tax lien auctions have gotten more and more competitive in recent years. Some factors that have led to this trend include: more awareness among small investors because of new courses on the market, more Wall Street money entering the market and the new trend of internet tax sales.

If you have been to the tax lien sale lately you may have noticed something interesting. The big dog investors are bidding the properties down to next to nothing. In Florida, it’s very common to see properties bid down to one quarter of one percent. Has your banker gone insane? Or do they know something that you don’t?

It’s probably a little of both, or they are probably playing the sub tax game. What’s the sub tax game? It’s very simple, really. In many states, the regulations allow tax lien investors to pay the taxes for the following years, also called subsequent taxes. In other states, the investor is actually even required to pay the sub taxes. Even more interesting, many states also have minimum penalty statues on the books that make investing there very attractive.

For example, in Florida, it is very common for the tax liens to be bid down all the way to one quarter of one percent. However, Florida also has a 5% penalty clause and an 18% normal interest rate. So, in Florida, the investor will often buy the lien at the quarter percent bid. If the lien redeems in three months, then he has made a 20% return. Worst case, the lien does not get paid for the whole year and the investor still makes 5%, which is a lot better than bank cd’s.

Then, the investor has the sub tax rule to make up the difference. He simply pays the following year’s taxes and is at the full 18% for the sub lien without any competition. Not only that, he is secured by high quality real estate. The two liens together will average well over 10%. So, the investor either gets a nice high rate of return, or he gets a nice Florida house.

Of course, that’s assuming that a hurricane doesn’t blow the house down. Heck, he is even covered there, because the tax lien investor gets first dibs on the insurance money, ahead of the homeowner and even the mortgage company. What a deal!

So, as you can see, subsequent taxes are an area of tax lien investing where you need to know the rules and learn to play the game. If you do it properly, then you can make some huge profits!

Carlos Scarpero is an experienced real estate investor who specializes in land. On his blog at http://www.scarpero.com/real_estate, he discusses innovative and creative real estate strategies to make your real estate investing more profitable.

Tax Lien Certificates – Fat Investment Profits Backed By The Government!

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Tax lien certificates are a little known or understood investment type that can reap tremendous rewards for their owners. Essentially they combine the potentially high returns usually associated with riskier investments with the security offered by lower income financial instruments such as bonds.
Here is how they operate:
1. The investor purchases the tax lien certificate which is secured to the property it relates to – in effect the investor is paying the property tax on behalf of the property owner.
2. As an example, the tax lien may relate to real estate/land owned by someone who has not paid their property taxes. This is where you step in – by paying off the tax lien and getting a certificate in return. This certificate entitles you to (a) interest on the lein and (b) the amount of the tax.
3. Interest payable on the property is passed directly to the certificate holder. The entire billing & collection process is done by the government administration and paid to the certificate holder. The rate of interest on the lien varies but tends to be between 8% and 50% per year.
4. Research shows that over 98% of tax lien certificate holders receive payments to the value of their investment within two years – and if they do not, the tax lien certificate holder can end up owning the property for little more than the amount that was paid for the certificate.
While you may be forgiven for thinking that tax lien investments are reserved for the very rich and experienced, you would in fact be wrong. They are quite simple and can be obtained for as little as a few hundred dollars.
Some experts believe that tax liens are one of the best kept secrets within the investment world – they offer high returns on capital and it is an investment backed by the government itself. In fact, investment expert Robert Kiyosaki has mentioned the benefits of tax lien certificates in his Rich Dad Poor Dad books.
Consider these staggering advantages of investing in tax lien certificates:
Tax liens typically earn incredible rates of interest on your investment. Where else can you achieve typical rates of 15%, 25% and more per year on a low-risk investment?
The investor is never responsible for ensuring that the interest, taxes etc are collected by the non-payer. This is the duty of the government who will handle all of this on the investors behalf.
Should the non-payer fail to settle the monies owed, the investor has the legal right to foreclose on their land/real estate for an incredibly low fee. The length of time can vary between one to three years before foreclosure becomes a possibility.
Tax lien investing is fairly simple – and arguably a lot easier to understand than stocks (and certainly less risky).
As with all investments, it’s important to be well armed with knowledge and experience on your side plus an understanding of the potential problems you may face when deciding to put some of your capital into tax liens.
Below we outline some important considerations:
1. To uncover the most profitable tax lien opportunities can take somewhat more capital and research than standard ones. It involves visiting tax lien sales which can be time consuming – and before bidding on anything you should consider visiting the real estates mentioned in the tax lien sales. This can be harder than it sounds because the amount of information available is very basic.
2. Remember, that aside from buying the tax lien, you will also need to pay the taxes on the property until it is redeemed. Once you do invest in tax liens, you cannot retrieve your initial investment – instead you must wait till the lien is redeemed or the property falls into foreclosure.
Tax liens are wonderful things – high yields, the opportunity to pick up real estate for just pennies on the dollar and returns that are backed by the U.S. government. Start investigating them now before they become common knowledge.

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