Throughout our education material we mention the importance of beginning your tax lien investing in your own backyard.  We get a lot of emails from phone calls from students who are concerned about this.  It is either difficult to invest in tax liens or tax deeds or they want to buy tax liens and only tax deeds are available (and vice versa) in their home county.  This might be a problem for investors, but there are a few suggestions. The main reason we suggest you begin in your home county is because it gives a new investor the opportunity to learn the process face-to-face.  A visit to the county building to have a discussion with the right county worker isn't a bad idea.  This gives the new investor a valuable education that stretches to other tax lien and deed counties across the nation. If you're interested in that then here is your solution.  Since noriskinvestor.com was created it makes investing across the country very simple bringing accessibility to new levels.  An investor had to either visit or negotiate by phone but now the information can just be retrieved through the site.  State and county information, tax lien lists, tax deed lists, and investing education can be downloaded in just a few seconds.  So an investor in California who is interested in tax liens and cannot purchase California tax liens because they don't exist could log into the site and could buy tax liens across the country with just a few clicks. Tax lien investing is an incredible strategy where returns are high and risk is low.  It would be nice if executing the strategy were simple as well.  Despite what you may hear at seminars, in the past it has been one of the most time-consuming and daunting tasks, but with No Risk Investor, it has become one of the most simple investment strategies.  It's rewarding, safe, and simple! No Risk Investor is the most trusted resource for tax lien and tax deed investing.  People all over the world have joined the ranks of tax lien and deed investors using No Risk Investor's simple resources to make money in tax liens and tax deeds.  No other source provides as many quality lists and tools to help investors quickly find great investments that will return 16% - 50% every year.

In the last post we gave a couple examples of ways that you can run into trouble with tax liens and tax deeds.  Although it's fairly difficult to lose money in tax lien properties and tax deed properties, it is possible, and we want to make sure you avoid it. So here are the due diligence steps that will help you avoid those costly mistakes. KNOW THE STATE AND COUNTY When deciding where to invest it's important to know the laws and regulations for the area.  Find out when and where tax liens and deeds are purchased.  Is the investor required to attend a tax lien sale, or can he or she purchase tax liens and deeds over-the-counter?  When does the investor have to submit payment for the tax lien or deed purchase?  If you're buying tax liens, know how long the redemption period is.  This can range from 6 months to 3 years depending on the state.  You should know how long the life of your investment will be and when you can take ownership of the property, if the opportunity arises.  It is also important to understand the process of taking a tax lien to deed, when that opportunity arises.  Although it is rare when a tax lien goes through the redemption period and you can take ownership (unless it's in the middle of the Arizona desert), you may want to understand that process just in case. KNOW THE PROPERTY This is probably the most important step during due diligence but is an easy thing to do.  Find out what the property type is.  Is it a single family residential home?  Find out what the assessed and market values are for the property.  Make sure that your investment is backed by valuable property.  If you're buying a $500 tax lien certificate, the property doesn't need to be worth $1,000,000; just make sure there is sufficient value so that if you end up owning the property, you are the owner of valuable property. As you're purchasing tax lien foreclosure properties, you may want to hire a real estate agent who is familiar with the area.  It is common practice to call local agents and have him or her take a look at the property for you.  Let the agent know that you're looking to sell a property and you want him to take a look at it.  You may also get information about how things are selling in the area. You may also want to get a real estate attorney that is familiar with tax deeds and tax liens.  They would help you foreclose on tax liens, when it is necessary.  The real estate attorney will help you dot your i's and cross your t's. No Risk Investor is the most trusted resource for tax lien and tax deed investing.  People all over the world have joined the ranks of tax lien and deed investors using No Risk Investor's simple resources to make money in tax liens and tax deeds.  No other source provides as many quality lists and tools to help investors quickly find great investments that will return 16% - 50% every year.

Tax liens and tax deeds are the Nation's most intriguing investment strategy.  Returns for tax lien certificates range from 8% to 50% and tax lien foreclosure property returns can be 300% and more.  It's important, though, to do proper research and due diligence for potential investments to protect yourself from potential losses. Although there aren't many ways to lose in tax liens and tax deeds, unless you're investing completely haphazardly, here are a couple ways that one might lose money.  If you purchase a tax lien on a property with little value you could potentially lose money.  If you were to buy a tax lien certificate on raw land in the Arizona desert 100 miles from civilization, this might be one of those situations.  It sounds ridiculous, but I've seen it happen.  Unless you want to take ownership of the property and move your trailer out there, there isn't much one could do with that kind of property.  What we've seen in this scenario is the property owner doesn't redeem because they don't care about the property, and then the investor takes ownership of the property.  The good news is the investor is a property owner.  The bad news is that the investor owns property with little value and probably may not have a legitimate exit strategy.  That is the main mistake tax lien investors have encountered, but can be easily and quickly avoided during due diligence. If you purchase a tax deed property that has small margins or the low property values, it may be difficult to execute your exit strategy.  This is primary error for tax deed investors.  Let's say you were able to purchase a tax deed for $5,000.  You're probably pretty excited, but what if the property was only worth $8,000 and the property isn't desirable?  What are you going to do with it?  Once again, avoiding that investment error is quite simple during due diligence.  So let's get into some of the main due diligence points that you should examine. DUE DILIGENCE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT BLOG POST No Risk Investor is the most trusted resource for tax lien and tax deed investing.  People all over the world have joined the ranks of tax lien and deed investors using No Risk Investor's simple resources to make money in tax liens and tax deeds.  No other source provides as many quality lists and tools to help investors quickly find great investments that will return 16% - 50% every year.

In our previous blog post on tax deed exit strategies, we talked about selling or flipping your tax sale property and living in your tax sale property.  In this post we will finish the discussion by talking about selling your contract, renting the property, and holding your tax sale properties. In addition to the exit strategies mentioned in our previous post, you can also sell your contract to other investors.  Depending on where you are in the purchase process, you can sell your purchase contract to an investor.  The idea is that the investor would get the property under contract without investing money, or investing as little money as possible, then selling the purchase contract to another investor.  The advantage of this strategy is the investor potentially makes money through the contract sale without using any of your own money.  Due diligence and know-how are the main requirements. Another strategy one can utilize is renting your tax lien foreclosure properties.  Renting provides an awesome opportunity to create a cash flow system.  Instead of making $10,000 at one time, many investors prefer to rent the property and make a steady monthly income from the property.  An investor may have renovation or repair costs to get the property in rentable shape, but it may be worth the costs, time, and labor. The last exit strategy we will talk about is holding the tax lien foreclosure property.  This should probably be your last option because little money is made in holding the property these days, unless property is dramatically increasing in the area.  In this economy, though, where property values are stagnant in most areas, holding should be your last option.  In the past this strategy has been used to make money through appreciation.  A better alternative is renting a property while it appreciates. No Risk Investor is the ultimate resource and tool for tax liens, tax deeds, and real estate investors all over the world.  No Risk Investor takes incredible pride in its ability to help students take action, get into properties, and begin the journey to financial freedom.  No Risk Investor provides county lists, property lists, online auction lists, comprehensive training and education, an auction calendar, an online auction center, an investor community and much more for its members.