The process of successfully purchasing tax lien certificates or tax deeds to help build wealth, financial stability, and future security can be broken down into 7 simple steps. Whether you are seeking the high yielding interest rates of tax lien certificates, or if you would like to purchase a property for 5, 10, or 20 cents on the dollar, you need to take these 7 steps consistently regardless of the state. The 7 steps will always remain the same however the details of how you accomplish each step may differ depending on if you are in a tax lien, tax deed, or redeemable tax deed state.
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Decide if you want to invest in tax liens or tax deeds.
The easiest way I can explain the difference is tax liens are an investment, while tax deeds are a purchase. If you want a passive investment with a guaranteed high-yielding ROI (return on investment,) start with Government Secured Tax Lien Certificates. If you want a more active investment and you want to start a cash flow business, begin purchasing Tax Deeds. If you would like to take a few hundred or a few thousand (depending on how much money you have set aside to invest with) and invest it in tax liens, you can expect 1 of 2 outcomes. Usually you will receive all of your money invested back, plus a high interest rate depending on what state you invested in. You get paid back when the tax lien certificate gets redeemed by the property owner or someone on his or her behalf. The redemption period (the amount of time the property owner has to redeem the tax lien before the tax certificate holder can foreclose on the property and obtain the deed to the property free and clear of any mortgages) can be as short as 6 months and as long as 4 years. If the property owner does not redeem the property in the allotted time permitted by the County, then the tax certificate holder can foreclose on the property and receive the deed free and clear of any mortgages.
Why should you be investing in tax lien certificates? First of all, tax lien certificates are a measurable and lucrative investment. Tax lien certificates are predictable, certain, and secure. Tax liens are predictable because the guaranteed rate of return never changes no matter what the market does. Tax liens are certain because when you invest with the government your $$$ is protected by the Government Property Tax Codes. You will get the guaranteed ROI, or you will get the property free and clear of any mortgages (with the exception of the state of New Mexico.) Tax liens are a secure investment because the certificate that is issued is always attached directly to the real estate. A parcel number is attached to an area of land when property lines are drawn around that piece of land. The certificate is attached to this parcel number, thus making the tax lien certificate always the 1st priority lien.
What is the real benefit with investing in tax lien certificates? The answer to this is you can earn guaranteed high yielding interest rates that you can find in no other investment arena in America that I know of. Let me show you how your money will progress by simply taking it out of your savings account and investing it in tax lien certificates in the state of Florida for example. I’m writing this article in December of 2009, and right now Bank of America (who by the way is the single largest purchaser of tax lien certificates in America today) is offering a savings account with a 1.59% annual percentage yield. I don’t think you will be able to build much security at that rate, but for fun we can do the math to check. Start with a $2,000 investment and just keep rolling it over every year. With a $2,000 investment at 1.59%, after 10 years you will have $3,548. After 20 years you will have $6,294. This means that after 20 years you would have earned only $4,000. So this means that Bank of America gladly takes your money, invests it in tax lien certificates that pay 16%, 18%, 25%, all the way up to 50% in some cases, and then returns to you a 1.59% annual rate. If Bank of America is investing in tax liens, should you be? I think you already know the answer to this question.
Now let’s take the same initial investment of $2,000, and instead of putting in a savings account at 1.59%, we are going to invest in Government secured tax lien certificates in the state of Florida. I think you will like these numbers much more. With the same $2,000 investment at 18%, after 10 years you will have $10,467. Well that is pretty good, but take a look at how much you will have after 20 years. After 20 years you will have $54,786. So that same investment of $2,000 put in tax liens will generate $50,000 more than a savings account. What sounds better to you after 20 years, $6,200 or $55,000?
Now let me show you something that should get you excited about the tax lien business. You and I are going to stay in Florida for a minute. Now instead of starting with $2,000 we are going to start with an initial investment of $10,000 and invest it in tax liens in Florida that pay 18% a year. After 10 years you will have $52,338. That’s pretty good, but what will my initial investment of $10,000 be after 20 years? After 20 years you will have $273,930. Take $10,000 and invest it in tax liens in Florida and 20 years later with a little time and effort invested you should have at least $200,000-$270,000. I don’t know about you, but $250,000 will definitely add some security to my retirement plan. (Please note that you will not always lock in a 18% annual interest rate, unless you are purchasing the over the counter certificates which are generally raw and developed land, but land is great if you know how to market it. Also, as long as the certificate is not bid down to 0%, the certificate will pay a minimum of 5%. So, if the property owner came in the next day and paid the taxes, you would earn 5% in 1 day. So in some case you can actual earn more than 18% a year. If you bought a tax lien and it was redeemed within a month, and you kept buying another one, you could earn an annual return of 60%)
Now why do you think I said in the last paragraph that you should have at least $200-$270,000? I said this because if you keep purchasing tax lien certificates over the years, the statistics show that you will acquire properties 3-5% of the time (although the chances of getting one in FL is less than 1%). That means if you purchase 100 tax certificates, you will end up with about 3-5 pieces of property for just the unpaid property taxes, free and clear of any mortgages. I like to call these tax liens that don’t get redeemed as “Homeruns.” Maybe you bought the tax lien for $5,000, it didn’t get redeemed, and you turn around and sell the property with little effort for around $30,000. Now you have just made an extra $25,000. The only question is, do you want to buy a new car for yourself, or do you want to invest it in tax liens and build even more wealth? That’s the tough question. What is the smartest thing I can do with all the money I’m now earning?
If you would like to invest in tax deeds, this means you are prepared to purchase a property at a tax sale, and then once you acquire the property you can either rent it out or sell it. Typically you can make larger profits in a much shorter time purchasing properties at a tax deed sale and then selling them in the same condition (or with minimal improvements) to another investor or family looking to buy a home at a great price. Let’s say for example a home at the tax sale is worth $100,000, and the minimum bid is $6,000 (or the total amount of delinquent property taxes owed.) There is a good chance (depending again on the state) that you will be able to purchase that property for around $10,000 - $20,000. This means you have now successfully purchased a property for 10-20 cents on the dollar. Not a bad deal, right? Now after waiting a few months to get a clear title, you can resell the property fairly easy for $35,000-$40,000 in today’s market, or maybe even more. This means you have profited around $15,000 - $25,000 in just one deal, sometimes even $30,000 or more. I have reviewed many case histories where people have made $60,000 - $100,000+ in only 1 deal (although this will be much less common in 2010 with the current market conditions.)
