Many students ask "what is the fastest way to get my money working for me where I can see results quicker?'  This is a question that we all want to have the answer to.  Let me first say that working with tax deeds will yield more money; however, there is a bigger risk and typically requires larger capital investment.  Let me explain what I mean.  When you are working with a tax deed you are actually buying the property.  Let's say you are the highest bidder and have won the property.  Now you are a property owner.  It didn't take very long, just a few hours at the auction to own this property.  Now you want to go to the recorder's office and put the title into your name so that you have completed the process.  This is a great way to get going in the fast zone.  Once you own a property then you can do with it whatever you want.  You can sell it making a profit, remodel and then sell making an even greater profit, or you can rent it out guaranteeing a cash flow every month, or you can live it in yourself and be mortgage free and rent free.  With your tax deed investment, you are able to open the door to make money sooner than later, but in order to buy a tax deed you generally have to spend more money. Tax liens are typically sold through the auction for only the amount owed to the county by the property owner.  But because you are buying the actual property, and not just a tax lien certificate, when buying a tax deed, you typically end up paying more.  The bidding starts where the county is owed, but through the auction process bidders will generally bid up the price closer to fair market value.  Therefore, you tend to spend more on tax deeds. There are many variables that come in to play when you own a property.  Tax deed investing is a great way to get a jump start into the real estate world.  The risk with ownership is that now you are responsible for the taxes.  If you are borrowing money to get started then you want to make sure that you have an exit strategy so that you make money from your investment.  This could include finding a buyer, renter, or perhaps you want to donate it to charity and use it for a tax deduction.  There are many things that you can do with property once you become the property owner.  Just to make sure that you have things in place, you can line up a buyer and use a real estate agent if you want to get the ball rolling faster.  Working with tax deeds can be an accelerated way to make money faster.

Many students ask how we research and read tax lien lists and what all the numbers mean?  Also many students wonder why there are tax lien lists available from a year that has already past.  The one thing that you want to understand is that it takes a year for a tax lien to be delinquent.  So if you are looking at a list from 2009 or 2010 and it is now 2011 and you are wondering why the list isn't a current list, then let us explain the process a little bit more.  First of all, if you are in the year 2011 then you will be working from a list of 2010 or 2009 depending on the state.  Arizona is a state that waits for the taxes to be delinquent for two years before they sell a tax lien at an auction.  Therefore, if you have a tax lien from the year 2009 it will be sold at an auction in 2011. Let's take Florida for an example.  If you have a tax lien from the year 2010 then it won't be sold until the first week of June in 2011.  So the most current listings in Florida are currently from the year 2009.  The next listings coming up will be in June of 2011 and the over the counter listings won't be until a couple of weeks later or the end of June 2011. Next, when considering a list and you look at a parcel number and it doesn't have an address with it, then you will want to go to that county's assessor's website, the county's property appraiser's website, or the county's appraisal district, depending on what state you are in, to do further research on the property.  Oftentimes, the list will only show basic appraisal, owner, and lien/deed information, but may or may not list all property information.  Most of the time, this information is easily accessible through the county websites.  Once you go to that county's website for the property appraisal then you will be able to plug the parcel number in and get the information you're looking for.  This information will include the property address and usually it will break down the difference of land value and improvement value, helping you to make a good decision on your tax lien purchasing. As for the lists on our website, we typically just leave the lists from past years on the site.  Don't be offended.

One of the things that have to take place when purchasing a tax lien is making sure that you have everything in order that is required by the county.  If you are purchasing at an online tax lien auction, then you will already have these things in place. First you want to make sure that you have a bidder registration number.  Many of the counties have what is called a bidder registration form.  You can obtain this from the website or call the county and have them fax one to you.  This will give you a bidder number. If you do not fill out a bidder registration form, then you would need to send a letter along with your investment checks to the tax collector of that county or the collection department. Make sure that all of your contact information is on the letter.  Even the tax liens that are purchased over the counter or after the auction will be assigned a bidder number to them.   You will be known as that bidder when purchasing any tax liens, during an auction, or after the auction. One more thing that is necessary when you purchase any tax liens, is a W9 form.  This can be found on the irs.gov website under forms.  This is assurance for the county that you will be responsible for the taxes on the interest that you earn.  When you get a check from the county for the interest that you have earned then you will report the interest on your taxes.  For people from other countries that want to purchase in the United States, they will need to obtain an ITIN number or an EIN number to fill out the W9 form with.  This will allow them the opportunity to purchase tax liens from another country. Once these steps are in place then you will be secure in your purchases.  You may only receive a certificate by email regarding your recent purchase depending on what county you are working with, so if you would like a paper receipt then make sure that you request it from the county.   One more thing to remember is that when you send out checks to the county, make sure that you send separate checks for each parcel being purchased.  This will stop your money from being tied up in case one of the parcels that you want has already been purchased.

Many times I talk to students who say, "Do you have a step by step process that I can follow for tax lien investing?"  In the website you will find that it is all there; however, there are some things that you have to learn first to understand the actual format that needs to be followed.  So since we have established that there is a learning curve for all new investors, it will be faster for some than others.   When I first started investing I still didn't understand just how to go about it.  So, here are a few basic steps for you to follow. Once you have decided what you want to do, tax liens or tax deeds, or both then you will have a direction to follow.  I always look at the auction calendar to see when the next tax sale auctions are coming up.  I do this because it will let me know, if I want to do over the counter investing, when and where to do it.  Once a county has their tax sale or auction, and it is a tax lien auction, then you can be sure that anything that did not sell, providing that they offer assignment purchasing or over the counter purchasing, will be offered for sale shortly thereafter.  For instance, if Arizona has their sale in the first week of February then the over the counter properties will begin being sold approximately two to three weeks after the sale. Remember the saying that the early bird gets the worm?  This process of over the counter tax lien investing is similar to the saying in that if you get the list before others then you have the first pick of the properties that are available.  As the year goes by it becomes less and less likely to find good deals and towards the end of the year the pickings can be fewer and fewer. So the first thing you want to do is decide where you are investing.  Find out when the auction is on our tax lien auction calendar and then be ready to jump on the left over list shortly after the auction to get the fresh list of properties.  Some of the counties are doing their county held certificates (or over the counter certificates) online and you will be able to find this information from studying the county of interest on the website.  When you use the tools available to you, you will find listings on the website of all the tax lien states in the USA.  This will cut down your research time and make it easier for you to establish when and where you want to invest.  Knowing when the auctions are in any state will help you to grasp a focal point of when you need to be ready to invest.