tax sales

Tax Sales Are Sales On Taxes

A lot has been said about tax sales recently. They seem to be all the rage in the real estate industry. Yet, many people don’t know what they are. They don’t know what they consist of, how to get involved, or if they even care to be involved with these tax sales. While tax sales are often mentioned in passing, not much is known about them.

Tax sales are auctions held by the county auditor where properties belonging to delinquent tax payers are bid upon. They come in two forms; tax lien certificates and tax deeds. With tax lien certificates the government gives you a percentage of interest (18+ %) upon your payment over the course of however many years are decided upon (varying by state) and with tax deeds the investor gains ownership over the property (sometimes with encumbrances attached, such as paying off the owed taxes).

You also have the option of purchasing properties before the tax sales even occur. In order to do this you can pick up a list of the properties being offered from the county auditor. These lists are usually available 1-2 months prior to the tax sales and can often be found on the internet with weekly updates. When you have the lists you need to do some research on the properties and then contact the owners.

By contacting the owners you can try and work out a deal to get the property before anyone else does and without the stress of having to compete at auction. Tax payers who haven’t paid up to the point of the tax sales generally don’t have the money and are in a stressful situation themselves. They are often willing to work with investors and will let them secure a great deal, because it helps them out as well.

Make sure that you also research the properties. Research is essential to successful investment, because you need to know what you are getting yourself into. It is possible that the property could be in poor enough condition that even a small amount of money spent at tax sales would not be worth it. So, drive by, talk to the owners, do some internet research, whatever it takes to make a good decision.

Tax sales can be intimidating, but with the right amount of effort put into it you can make a good amount of money and returns. Though the general public hasn’t learned much about these tax sales until recently, the wealthy have been using them as a guide to their affluence for years on end. You too can aspire to and reach that same level of financial security.

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