Tax Delinquent Property Investing From Your Kitchen Table + Over The Counter Tax Liens = $$$ Post 27

Coach Mitch’s REFLECTIONS™

Imagine, you if you could make a telephone call and for free, get a database of properties that have motivated sellers!

There are precious few ways that a treasure trove of leads will fall into your possession. Investing in county held Tax Lien Certificates could be that treasure for you. Of course, what you do with this information is up to you.

Those who wish to invest in real estate should be investigating each and every way that there is to invest in real estate. Then they should choose which area of real estate investing is suitable to their personality, their pocketbook, their lifestyle, their goals, etc.

Investing in Tax Lien Certificates – Over The Counter

People without experience are easily daunted by the prospect of entering or doing something new. And well they should be. For there is danger lurking and it is often significant danger. For those choosing to look at investing in Tax Lien Certificates (TLC’s) going to a TLC auction can be one of those daunting experiences.

Potential investors might believe that they may get caught up in “auction fever” and may over pay for a particular Tax Lien Certificate. Or, they may want to invest in tax lien certificates but they are just not comfortable going to an auction, so they effectively pull themselves out of contention to profit from this area of real estate investing.

It is certainly true that the most common venue to invest in Tax Lien Certificates is at the live TLC auction which are usually held once per year in a taxing jurisdiction. Auction dates vary widely across the nation. You must be in touch with your local County Tax Collector to see when they have their auction and ask about any other taxing jurisdictions within the county that may have authority to have their own TLC auctions. Each county has their own rules and there are 3332 counties in this country.

One of the least known secrets in tax delinquent real estate investing is the idea of investing in TLC’s or tax deeds, Over The Counter (OTC).

An Over-The-Counter certificate is a TLC that was offered for sale at the live TLC auction, but the certificate was not purchased by anyone.

An Over-The-Counter tax deed is a tax deed that was offered for sale at a live tax deed auction, but the deed was not purchased by anyone.

When the tax certificate or the tax deed does not sell, it is sent back to the county and put into storage. The common phrase or term used is the certificate was “struck off” to the county. The county tax collector maintains a list of these Struck-Off tax liens or deeds in their office. Any person can call the tax collector and ask the smart question: “I’m calling to find out about the counties inventory of struck off tax lien certificates – those tax lien certificates that are held by the county.”  Ask for tax deeds, if appropriate for that county.

You could / should be given a printout or a listing of available tax lien certificates. Each data item on that list is important and should be understood completely. You would use the Parcel Number or the Tax Identification Number as the starting point to gather data regarding that lien.

Increasingly the information will be on a special page on the County Tax Collectors website. It would be prudent to check their website, should there be one, prior to calling the county. Additionally, investigate the County Tax Assessor’s website also for the data set that is available. Marketing has taken hold, and around the country, the Tax Assessors are changing their name to County Appraiser.

Using the County Tax Collectors database and the County Tax Assessor’s database, you would start doing your research on any particular property.

Where possible, be sure to physically view the property. If the properties are far away, then view the properties via satellite photo, i.e. Google Earth.

You must see what your collateral consists of. You must see the property that collateralizes the lien. Otherwise, you are going to buy a pig in a poke and you will be burned. This is the biggest mistake that TLC investors make. Over-The-Counter certificates are liens that did not sell at the regular tax sale. Why is that? Be warned, see the collateral!

With this strategy, you are investing from your kitchen table in Over the Counter tax liens or tax deeds, and you should be making a significant Rate Of Return. With proper planning, you can be a real armchair investor.

See Coach Mitch’s “Ridiculously Simple System…” ™ for details.

Prudent investing,