Tax Sale Times Newsletter: July 2011
We are starting a monthly newsletter for our members to share information concerning the tax sale industry as well as what is happening at TSR. We appreciate feedback! If you have information you would like to contribute, please contact us.

Investing 101…
Before attending tax sales, most jurisdictions require pre-registration. There are even many counties and municipalities that require a deposit. These deposits range from hundreds to thousands of dollars or a percentage of your estimated investing amount. There are even certain states such as Kentucky that require you to register with both the county AS WELL AS the state if you plan to buy more than 5 liens statewide or 3 in one county. As part of your investing due diligence, it is extremely important to investigate the state or states where you plan to attend sales and understand the entire registration process.. Using Kentucky as an example once again; If you wanted to purchase a large quantity of liens, you would have needed to register with the state by last May for the sales upcoming in July.

New At TSR…

Extensive Expansion
o If you have been watching TSR closely lately, you will notice that we are quickly expanding into several new states including but certainly not limited to Connecticut, Vermont, Kentucky, Iowa, and Ohio. By the end of September, 2011, we will have 30+ states with full coverage including controlling entity contact information, tax sale specifics and property data integrated tax sale lists. Stay tuned and keep an eye on the progress!
Upcoming upgrades to the New List Delivery System 2.0:
o Direct Downloading – Members will no longer be required to go into the list delivery system to download the data. If all you want is the information in an excel sheet, you will have that option immediately upon accessing the list.
o A More Detailed Full Report – Now you will be able to quickly access a full report including all the data available on each property without having to individually generate them. It will also include the birds-eye view from Bing©.
o Additional Quick Report – This is a new report including critical information, several properties per page as well as a space to keep notes is great for live auctions. It is designed specifically for lien investors who want to print out the entire list and attend auctions with it “in hand”.
o List Filtering Capability – This incredible feature will allow you to quickly filter the lists based on property specifics and narrow down which items meet your criteria for investment. The filter applies to all other list delivery features allowing you to optimize everything available at your fingertips.

Check Out This State…

This Month: District of Columbia
Do not miss out on the tax sale in the District of Columbia from July 18th-July 20th. With over 6300 parcels available, there is ample investing opportunity. DC will hold the tax lien sale at 1101 4th Street, SW in Suite 250. Registration is necessary with the Office of Tax and Revenue including filing a Form FR-500 and including a deposit of at least 20% of potential purchases. For more information visit http://www.taxsaleresources.com/member/sale_data.aspx?auto_id=2420.
Year-Round: Georgia
There are several states that offer sales all year round. Georgia offers Redeemable Deed tax sales each month on the first Tuesday. All sales are live but pre-registration is not required. In most counties, you can register on the day of sale. TSR offers Georgia as a full coverage state with lists available for every county. For more information go to:
http://www.taxsaleresources.com/taxsalelists.aspx?state_id=12.

Industry News…

NEW JERSEY LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL
In a legislative proposal in New Jersey, tax lien investors could be eliminated from the tax sale process. This proposed legislation would give municipalities the option to adopt a process whereby properties eligible for tax lien would go directly to the municipality; therefore, no sale would take place. Instead, the municipality would acquire the lien, and the homeowner would pay the lien, penalties, and interest directly to the city. If a homeowner did not pay within the two-year redemption period, the municipality could foreclose on that property and gain title to do with as they choose. This is, of course, is very different from the current system. Currently, the city offers a lien sale to potential buyers with a bid down method on the rate of interest return. Homeowners then can pay investors within the two-year redemption period, and if they have not done so by the end of the period, investors may proceed with the foreclosure process. With the proposed system, the municipality would fund the tax receivable with a short-term bond or note. The overall concern for this proposed legislation is the elimination of the tax lien investor and their role in the system. This action is still pending in the State Legislature.

Industry Tools To Check Out…

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR INVESTMENTS!
As an investor, you already know how important it is to keep control over your money and investments as well as the bonuses of tax free investing. Did you know you can invest in tax liens & deeds tax free? There are many incredible ways that you can invest your money with the control and tax benefits of a retirement account. Equity Trust Company can help you roll over an existing 401(k) into, or setup an entirely new Independent Retirement Account (IRA). The self directed IRA allows you to invest in tax liens & deeds using your existing savings TAX FREE. The Equity Trust Company is hosting an Equity University Networking Conference with successful investors as speakers to help teach about these powerful investing tools. For information about ETC visit http://www.trustetc.com/.

OBTAIN TAX DEED TITLE INSURANCE FASTER & CHEAPER
Do you need title insurance? Tax Title Services (TTS) primary objective is to qualify tax deed properties for title insurance. There is no need for quiet title action. They provide nationally recognized Foreclosure Due Process Certifications and Curative Work. Since they do all of the work “in-house,” they are faster and less expensive than the more common practice of using an attorney. Their partner underwriters will issue insurance based on their curative work package, thus allowing your property to be sold or to obtain a mortgage. They are thorough, fast, and inexpensive. TTS has been in business since July of 2000 and has successfully certified over 11,000 tax deed properties in that time. For more information about TTS, go to http://taxtitleservices.com/.

Things to Remember…
Jefferson, Kentucky holds their tax sale on July 21st, but remember to have your priority bidding list in by July 11th per Kentucky state statutes.
o Other sales include Fayette (7/12), Bullit (7/14), and Grayson and Kenton (7/18) counties.
o All priority bidding lists must be submitted no later than 10 days in advance.
o Kentucky has an interesting bidding system so be sure you understand their rotational, lottery style bidding structure.
o Research ALL upcoming sales in Kentucky at:
http://www.taxsaleresources.com/Jurisdictionspage.aspx?state_id=20

Be sure to check out the tax sale calendar at: http://www.taxsaleresources.com/state.aspx?calendar=1. We have all upcoming sales for July and August from 25 states!

Equity University Networking Conference in New Orleans: September 9-11 at the Sheraton New Orleans. For more information and registration go to: http://www.sdiranetworking.com/

Member Submissions…
We welcome your news submissions, comments, suggestions or helpful tips. Please email us at news@taxsaleresources.com with your thoughts and be sure to include where you are from!

Standing Out From the Hype

Real estate investments come in many forms including tax deeds and tax liens, which are another valuable source of potential income in the real estate market. Although tax liens are a viable source of reliable, steady income, tax deeds allow investors to potentially obtain property well BELOW market value. Currently there is a lot of hype surrounding the tax sale arena and therefore scamming operations linger in the industry providing ‘get rich quick’ schemes. Thankfully, there are a few trustworthy companies supplying crucial information for successful investors. And, until now there has not been an excellent all-in-one resource for tax deed investing.

On September 24, 2010, Steve Davis of LienSource.com and Brian Seidensticker of Tax-Lien-Database.com announced they are joining forces to create Tax Sale Resources, LLC (TSR): a dynamic online database for tax sale investors. Excitingly, this new team has produced a quality, investor-driven database with the information necessary to invest successfully! They are on the cutting edge of the tax sale industry and wish to serve investors so they can successfully invest in tax deeds and tax liens nationwide.

Rules and regulations governing tax sales vary greatly from state to state. Depending on what investors are looking for, the best areas suited for their investment model also varies. At TSR, Seidensticker and Davis have included up-to-date information specific to each state so an active, interested investor can search for an area(s) best suited to his/her needs plus find all the details essential for investing in tax deed or tax lien sales. Included are sale process summaries, county contact information, links for due diligence, sale dates and locations, and local contacts. Instead of wasting hours scouring the web to obtain this hard to find information, TSR has made a user-friendly, one-stop shop.

TSR supplies other services including enhanced tax sale listings, a lien & deed exchange to buy and sell existing lien or deeds, and a discussion board for investors to share information. The professionals at TSR are constantly updating information and adding counties every day. Investors are encouraged to interact in the discussion board and with the online support team to make sure all the information is accurate and current.

If you are an existing tax deed/lien investor or are newly interested in tax deeds/liens, visit http://www.TaxSaleResources.com. Sign up to receive their monthly free newsletter and begin using this valuable and reliable resource.

Online Auctions: A Win/Win!

Online tax lien and tax deed auctions have become available in more and more counties across the country. Counties have realized that by going online, they have more investor participation and collect a larger percentage of their liens which benefits the bottom line for county budgets. What does this mean for you as an investor? Simple…it’s amazing. It’s investing at your fingertips.

Most counties outsource their online auctions to companies such as Bid4Assets, Real Auction and Grant Street Group. This means that once you register for one county, you are actually able to bid on several different auctions as they come available. By having one registration i.d. and password, you will streamline your investing process.

Other counties do use their own systems and are generally quick and easy to use. As with live auctions, online auctions require some sort of deposit (usually $250-$500 or more), or they require that you come in with 10% of the estimated amount that you plan to invest. In a nutshell, make sure you are prepared before you even bid on a property.

Once you are registered, on most sites, you then have access to the property lists. Usually, these lists and registration for online auctions opens up 4-6 weeks before the auction begins. Some auctions, such as Michigan, only last one day (they are held simultaneously with the live auction) while others may last 1-2 weeks or even a whole month. Online auction rules and procedures still must follow state statutes and advertising is still required in most states.

As with ANY auction that you attend, whether live or online, it is still crucial that you practice your due diligence. Online auctions usually offer enhanced lists that will allow you to really get an up close and fairly personal view of the property, but think about connecting with local real estate agents to find out what the home’s market value would be. Always be sure to take the same steps that you would with any investment…investigate, investigate, investigate.

©Rachel A. Seidensticker is an administrator of the comprehensive database http://www.tax-lien-database.com. For more information on tax lien and tax deed investing, visit this dynamic website which is geared for investors of all types!

Your Due Diligence, In Conclusion...

Reach Out to Other Investors

A great way to practice due diligence is to reach out to other investors and networking. Tax lien investing has become a fairly well-known investing adventure for the ‘common’ folk. Resources abound on the web including blogs, ezines, and discussion boards.

If you have a question about a particular state or county that you are interested in investing in, don’t be afraid to ask “experts” and other investors. They can be your greatest, experienced resource.

It is best to research your state and county laws and procedures yourself. This is accomplished best by either calling the state/county entity or subscribing to a trustworthy website that researches all of this key information. However, sometimes there are minor details that only a seasoned investor may know. ASK SOMEONE!

An informed, knowledgeable investor is a successful investor. We all had to start somewhere and most investors are willing to share their knowledge.

Our website has a great, open discussion board that already has discussions ranging from state specific questions to others about over-the-counter liens. ( http://tax-lien-database.com/blogselect.aspx ) Stay tuned to this blog and don’t be afraid to ask questions and expect quality answers!

No matter what type of investment you put your hard-earned money into, you would always make sure you understand before you jump in. Tax liens and tax deeds aren’t any different. Gain knowledge from those before you and don’t be afraid to gulp your pride and make sure you fully understand before making the leap.

Happy Investing!

©Rachel Seidensticker is an administrator for the comprehensive database http://www.tax-lien-database.com. For more information on tax liens or gain access to the dynamic, updated information regarding tax liens and tax deeds, visit the website and become a member.

Your Due DIligence, Continued...

Don't Invest Without Investigating!

There are several ways to practice your due diligence when investing in tax liens/deeds. As stated in the previous blog, it is important to know your state and county laws, contact local agents, and proceed with caution if using investments agents. I want to look further into investigating! The biggest step to your due diligence is knowing the property that you are investing in and what type of lien you are buying.

Even if you are only investing in tax liens, you still have the potential of OWNING that property one day, so it is crucial that you invest your hard earned money that will make a return on your investment.

Investigate, investigate, investigate…

Once you have a thorough understanding of the laws surrounding your county that you are investing in, it’s time to track down the SALE LIST! From this list, you can obtain a tax i.d. number (usually a geocode) that can be used to search county property records. Most county property records are now available online. It is considered public information, so if it isn’t online, you can call or visit your local treasurer’s office to retrieve this information. These property records will give you the address of the property that you may want to invest in. This is where either contact with a local real estate agent comes in handy or more investigating on the internet on your own.

1. Find out neighborhood information by searching other property in the area that is for sale to see its potential market value (usually available on real estate agency websites)

2. Google Earth the location to see a glimpse of the area.

3. Check out a local newspaper to find out more about the town or certain section of a town.

All of these simple facts and steps safeguard your investment.

Tax sale lists are available through the county entity holding the auctions, local newspapers, or even more convenient, on our website. Our website has all the information you need to practice your due diligence including property record websites.

These lists are your connection to protect your hard-earned money! Don’t ever invest in anything with a blind eye! Get out the spy glasses and become an investigator.

Practicing Your Due Diligence

Interested investors are coming out of the wood work to try their hands at tax liens/deeds. However, since this form of investing is starting to become well-known and popular, there are more and more inherent risks, including scam artists. There are several steps an investor can take to heed caution and protect his/her hard-earned money.

1. Know the state and county laws

Every state varies in their laws governing tax liens/deeds. The first and foremost pertinent information would be finding out if a state uses a tax lien, a tax deed, a redeemable deed, or any combination thereof, because they are all very different processes.

The laws governing tax liens/deeds determine when, where, and how a sale is held in each county. Most states require the tax lien sale lists to be published in a newspaper 3-4 weeks in advance. This is important information to know because before you purchase a lien, you will want to know what is available for purchase.

Other laws include the redemption period for the tax lien/deed. These vary as well between 2-4 years. This, too, is important since as an investor you will want to know how long you will be receiving your return as well as when you may potentially foreclose on the property for ultimate ownership.

Overall, to practice your due diligence, the first step is to understand the laws governing that state’s tax liens/deeds. Although there are varying differences, most states have a similar overall procedure. It’s the minor details that can catch you off-guard and leave you dangling with no investment to speak of.

2. Investigate the lien and the property it is against

Another step to your due diligence is to simply become an investigator. The first step is to find out what type of tax lien is held against the property and of course how much it is for. This is simply stated in the tax list itself or found in assessors’ site, treasurers’ sites, or other public records sites. By gaining access to the lists from the county entity, newspaper, or online database, you will find extremely important information in helping find out more about the property itself and the lien against it. It’s crucial to weigh all the factors surrounding the property and the lien including the amount to know if it is a worthy investment.

a. Seek service from a real estate agent

A great resource to find out about the property that the lien or deed is against is through a local real estate agent. Once you have the address of the potential investment property, which can be found using the tax id number on the tax sale list, a real estate agent can be of great service. Have him/her search the location of that property and what its market is doing. Once you know a property’s market value including the neighborhood and services available in that area, you will be able to make the best, informed decision about whether or not to invest in that property. Whether or not it would be a good rental, easy to flip (fix up and sell), or possibly live in, it is important to know everything you can about the property!

3. Hire an attorney who specializes in tax liens/deeds

If you obtain or plan to obtain a tax lien, it is important to seek the legal advice of an attorney who specializes in tax liens/deeds in order to safely invest your money. They will guide you through the process of eventual foreclosure if the property owner never pays off the lien. There will be significant paperwork involved and although most county entities will assist you, they cannot give legal advice and will only help so far.

4. Hire an investment agent to work for you

If you are a large investor or uncomfortable practicing your own due diligence, a good resource is an investment agent. However, BE WARE! As stated above, scam artists are out there and this is a big area of caution. Again, practice your due diligence by looking up the agent and their credentials including a Better Business Bureau search or contacting past clients to find out about their experiences.