Now is the Time for Short Sales

By Joanne Musa and Carl Williams

It's no secret that we are in a slumping economy. All you have to do is read the headlines. For the average person without many other options outside of their current job, these times can be difficult. According to an article in Bloomburg.com on March 13, home defaults and foreclosures rose 60% nationwide in February of this year. Leading in foreclosures were Nevada, California and Florida, and February was the 26th consecutive month of foreclosure increases. Recently in my own local paper there was an article about the increased number of animals for adoption due do families being forced from their homes by foreclosure.

Yet there are a select few people who have chosen to take advantage of the fact that lenders are working directly with investors like you and I by accepting huge discounts on active mortgages just so the property does not have to go into foreclosure. You can actually help people that are loosing their homes to foreclosure by negotiating with the bank. In this way you can help homeowners that can’t afford to stay in their home avoid foreclosure and possibly save their credit, thus making it easier for them to get into another home or rental that they can better afford. That means that you can find a property today with no equity, negotiate a lower payoff, and literally turn a profit overnight just by understanding how to do a short sale. What this means for you is that there is no better time for you to start doing short sales than now. When home prices were continuing to rise, banks did not want to deal with investors. They would just list foreclosed properties with a realtor and most likely make all their money back and then some. But now the tables have turned. They are not likely to sell foreclosed properties and break even, much less make a profit. So they are willing to make deals, and they have a large inventory of properties that are in default.

So how do you do it? How do you find these deals and negotiate short sales with the bank? I’ve found an excellent and affordable course that explains the whole process. You can find out all about it at http://www.shortsaledeals.com/cmd.php?af=751335

It not enough to just have a desire to become a real estate investor, you need to find a niche based on the current market conditions. And this is the PRIME OPPORTUNITY to do short sales.

A few years ago the amount of U.S. foreclosures were nowhere near what they are today. A vast majority of homeowners owned a great home with growing equity. Not to mention a mortgage payment that was comfortable. Homeowners and investors alike were able to enjoy the fruits from a thriving real estate market.

Fast-forward to 2008 and the tables have turned. Mortgage payments have ballooned, interest rates have skyrocketed, and that thriving real estate market has literally disappeared overnight, unless you are looking at the market through the eyes of a well-trained short sale investor. Do yourself a favour and take this opportunity to learnstep-by-step how you can locate and close your first short sale in less than 45 days.Even if you decide that short sales are not for you the fact that you have a no questions asked money back guarantee makes it totally risk free. Don't miss out! Go to – http://www.shortsaledeals.com/cmd.php?af=751335


Happy and Prosperous Investing,

Joanne

Tax Lien Investing FAQs

Recently I sent an e-mail out to my subscribers asking them some questions to find out what it is that most people want to know about tax lien investing. I got a lot of good questions and I won’t be able to answer them all in this article, but I want to try to answer those that were asked most often that weren’t answered in my new free video course.

I especially like to answer questions that start out with the words “How do I…” or “How can I...” This type of questions shows me that someone is really interested and is ready to take action. So lets answer some of these types of questions that are not answered in my video series. So here are some frequently asked questions about tax lien investing.

Q1: How can I buy tax liens or tax deeds without going to the auction?

A: In most states you have to attend the auction in order to bid, or have a representative there to bid on your behalf. But there are 2 ways that you can purchase a tax lien or deed without physically going to the sale. A few states do have online auctions, but not all counties in these states conduct their auctions online. Usually just the larger counties do. Many counties in Florida, California, and Arizona have online tax sales. And I know that some counties in Colorado and Illinois have online tax sales as well. Another way that investors have bought tax lien and tax deeds without going to the sale, is to bid on left-over liens, this can usually be done through the mail. The only problem is that as tax lien and tax deed investing become more popular, there are less and less good properties left-over after the tax sale.

Q2: I don’t live in the US, can I still invest in Tax Liens or Tax Deeds?

A: Yes, in most states you can invest in tax liens and tax deeds even if you are not a US citizen and do not live in the US. There are a couple of states that you have to be a resident of the state to invest, but these are not the most popular tax lien states and they don’t have online sales. All you have to do in order to purchase a tax lien is to fill out a tax form called a W-8BEN form. In order to complete this form you will also need to apply for an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) if you are bidding in your own name. If you are bidding using a business name, you must apply for a Employer Identification Number (EIN). This is only for tax liens. You do not have to do this to participate in a tax deed sale.

Q3: So how much money do you need to get started with tax lien investing?

A: The beauty of tax lien investing as opposed to tax deed investing and other types of real estate investing, you can start with a very small investment. The first very profitable tax lien that I purchased started with an initial investment of only a couple of hundred dollars, on a small sewer lien. Then I was able to pay the subsequent sewer taxes the next couple of years and instead of trying to foreclose I just kept paying the subsequent taxes. After a couple of years, the homeowner moved out of state and stopped paying the taxes on the property, so then I got to pay even bigger payments $5000 over the next couple of years. The lien finally redeemed and I collected 18% per annum on most of my investment plus penalties.

Q4: How often do you acquire the property with tax liens?

A: In the state of NJ where I invest, very, very seldom do you get to foreclose on the property. If you are interested in owning property than tax deed investing or redeemable tax deed investing is the way to go. Only about 1% of tax liens will not redeem and of those properties, once you start the foreclosure process about 80% will redeem sometime during the foreclosure process. I’ve been investing for about 6 or seven years and I haven’t foreclosed on a property yet. I do have a couple of liens that I could start foreclosure on right now, but I know that when I do, they will redeem, so I just let them go.

I know some investor who have foreclosed on a couple of properties, but either it is not recent – we’re talking a few years ago when property values were not what they are today and it was much harder to get a loan, or they have a really huge portfolio with thousands of liens.


Q6: Are there risks involved in this type of investing? What are they?

A: Yes, there are risks involved and that’s what the gurus leave out, they make it sound so easy. They like to use the term “Government Guaranteed” to make people think that they can’t go wrong with tax lien investing, that the government guarantees that they’ll get paid on a tax lien. That’s really not true, what they mean by “government Guaranteed” is that there are laws that protect the investor but you not guaranteed to get paid. The guarantee is the property. Tax Liens are guaranteed by the property that you have a lien on, so if you buy a tax lien on a worthless piece of property, then you made a poor investment and it is possible that you could loose your money. Yes, there is risk involved, but that risk is minimized by doing your due diligence on the property before you purchase the lien, just like you would do due diligence on property before giving someone a loan against it. If you do your due diligence properly than tax lien investing is a very safe investment because it’s secured by something tangible, not just a piece of paper.

One of the things that I do in my courses, John, is teach people how to do due diligence for tax sale properties so that they can totally reduce the risk involved with tax lien investing.

Q7: Can you invest in tax liens and tax deeds in your IRA?

A: We all want to keep more of those profits for ourselves and not give half of it away to Uncle Sam. The good news is that you can use money in your IRA or Roth IRA to invest in tax lien certificates or tax deeds, but only if it’s a true self-directed IRA. With a self-directed IRA, your profits can grow tax-differed, and with a Roth IRA, your profits can be totally tax-free.
In my courses I have 2 audios from different experts from 2 different self-directed IRA companies that explain how to do this.

Invest in Tax Lien Certificates and Tax Deeds Tax Free

Did you know that you could use money from a self-directed IRA account to invest in tax lien certificates or tax deeds? I’ve interviewed retirement account specialists from two different self-directed IRA companies; EntrustCAMA and Equity Trust Company, and I’ve learned that it is possible to invest tax free in tax lien certificates and tax deeds with a self-directed IRA.

If you use money from a regular self-directed IRA account to invest in tax lien certificates or tax deeds, than your money grows tax free until you withdraw from your account after retirement. But, if you use money from a Roth self-directed IRA, and you do not take any withdrawals until retirement age – you do not pay any taxes on your profits! So if you are using tax lien or tax deed investing as a way to save for your retirement, you need to look into this.

Although many brokerages will say that they have self-directed IRA accounts, they are not true self-directed accounts. You can only invest in anything that they sell. A true self-directed retirement account will allow you to invest in anything that is not prohibited by law. Allowable investments include real estate, tax lien certificates, tax deeds, and notes, along with other of the more usual investments. True self-directed IRA companies are prohibited to sell you investments. They can recommend types of investments that you can use your self-directed IRA for and show you how to do the paper work for them, but they are not allowed to make a commission on what you buy. There are only a handful of these companies in the country. I personally only know of three of them and I’m familiar with only two. I’ll tell you how to find out more about these two companies later.

You might be wondering if you can transfer or “roll-over” money from your present 401k or IRA into a self-directed IRA with one of these companies. What I’ve been told from retirement account specialists is that you can only roll over money from your 401k if you are no longer working for the company that your retirement account was set up with. I know that you can roll over money from a regular IRA account into a self-directed IRA because I’ve recently done that. I took money from my IRA account with TDAmeritrade and rolled it over into a new self-directed IRA account with EntrustCAMA. It was easy to do. I was able to transfer the money when I opened my new account. I downloaded the forms that I needed from their web site and mailed them in. They took care of the rest.

You also might be wondering if there are any fees associated with opening and maintaining a self-directed IRA. Yes there are some fees, but they are minimal compared to the taxes that you would be paying the government on your investment income or capital gains. Each of these companies handle fees differently and in order to see which company would work better for you, I suggest that you visit their web site or talk to a representative.
You can find out more about EntrustCama at http://www.entrustcama.com/ and you can listen to a free teleseminar/interview with Carl Fischer of EntrustCAMA at http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WmTmzsXs. You can find out more about Equity Trust Company at http://www.trustetc.com/ and you can listen to a free teleseminar/interview Liz Koos of Equity Trust Company at http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WvX8Qr1Q.

Tax Liens Vs. Tax Deeds: Which is the Best Investment?

Frequently I’m asked the question what is more profitable, investing in tax lien certificates or tax deeds. Whether tax lien investing or tax deed investing is better for you depends on the state that you live in and your what your goals are. If you are looking to pick up property under market value than you are better of with tax deeds than with tax liens. If you do your homework and purchase tax liens on good properties, the chances of foreclosure are slim. And in some states, even if the lien is not redeemed, you may not be able to get the property.

In the State of Florida for example, if your lien does not redeem during the redemption period, the property goes into a tax deed sale in order to satisfy your lien. If you did your due diligence and purchased a lien on a decent property, in order to get the property, you will have to bid against other investors at the deed sale. So if you want to invest in Florida, and you are interested in obtaining property, then deed investing is the way to go, not lien investing. If, however, you are not interested in owning property, but just want to get a higher return on your money than you could in the bank, then tax liens are the way to go. In Florida, as long as you do your due diligence, you won’t have to worry about the possibility of owning the property.

If you live on the west cost, you might want to consider investing in tax deeds instead of tax liens. That’s because the states on the west cost are deed states and not lien states. Yes, you could travel to the closest lien state, but that would eat into your profits. And yes, you could invest online but then you have to deal with increased competition and higher costs. Also, would you purchase a property that you did not physically look at first? Even though with tax lien investing, you are not purchasing the property, you’re only buying a lien on the property; your lien is only as good as the property that guarantees it.

If you are interested in either owning the property or getting a very good return on your investment and you live in or near a redeemable deed state, than you should consider investing in redeemable deeds. Redeemable deeds are kind of in-between tax liens and tax deeds. You purchase the tax deed at the sale, but there is a redemption period in which the previous owner can come back and redeem the deed from you. They have to pay a pretty hefty penalty in most redeemable deed states in order to do so, and the penalty is on the total amount that you bid at the sale. In Texas the penalty is 25% and in Georgia it’s 20%. Not a bad rate of return! Another great thing about redeemable deeds is that the larger counties with bigger cities can have a tax sale a few times a year or even every month. That’s better than waiting for a tax sale only once a year sale as in most states that sell regular tax deeds or tax liens.

If you live in a state that sells tax liens, and you are not interested in purchasing property, but are interested in investing your money safely at a high rate of return, than tax lien investing is the best choice for you. To find out more about tax lien and tax deed investing, go to www.TaxLienInvestingBasics.com.

Why do I Invest in Tax Lien Certificates?

Sometimes I’m asked the question, “Joanne, why do you invest in tax lien certificates?" I have a one word answer to this question.

Safety.

There is no other investment I know of, that gives me such a high rate of return with the degree of security that I have with tax liens. Tax Lien Investing offers other advantages that I like as well.

1. Consistent Return. Regardless of what of what the stock market does or what the housing market does, you get the same high return on your investment. Your interest rate does not go up and down with the market.
2. Low Initial Investment. Unlike other real estate investments, you don’t need tens of thousands of dollars to get started. You can purchase your first tax lien for under $1000.
3. No Liability. Unlike other types of real estate investing, there is no liability with a tax lien. When you purchase a tax lien, you are not purchasing the property and you don’t have any liability for it. You don’t need property insurance.
4. No Brokerage Fees. Unlike investing in the stock market or other types of securities, you don’t need a broker to purchase a tax lien. There are other costs, like recording the lien with the county clerk, but this paid back to you when the lien redeems.
5. Higher Interest Rates. Rates on tax lien certificates are higher than you can get with other safe investments, like a money market account at a bank or a CD.
6. Tax Free Investing. You can legally avoid paying taxes if you invest through a self-directed IRA. If you use a self-directed Roth IRA, your profits can be totally tax free.
7. First Position. In most states a tax lien takes first position over other liens. That means that if the lien doesn’t get redeemed and it goes to foreclosure (which doesn’t happen
   very often), you are first to get paid.

Think about it, we all a better place to put our hard earned money, to make it work harder for us. The stock market does not have a very good track record. And right now the real estate market in a lot of states is taking a licking. But if you have a tax lien on a property, it doesn’t matter if the value of the property goes down, the tax lien still makes the same interest rate that you got at the tax sale.

As long as I buy tax liens on good properties, in good areas, and get great interest rates, the return on my investment will help me live a very comfortable life and meet my financial
goals.

Why not start building your own profitable tax lien portfolio today, one tax lien at a time, and start saving for your future. Click here to find out how you can get started: http://www.taxlienlady.com/ProfitablePortfolio.html

Happy and Prosperous Investing,

Joanne

How Much Money do You Need for Tax Lien Investing?

I am frequently asked, “How much money do I need to start investing in tax liens.” Well, that all depends on what your goal for investing is. If you’re using tax lien investing as a way to invest for the future, then you can get started with a couple of thousand dollars. But if you want to create an income from tax lien investing than you need to invest much more.

One thing that you have to remember is that tax lien investing is not a get rich quick scheme. It’s not like other types of real estate investing like buying and flipping properties, or owning rental properties. With foreclosure properties, you have an idea of when your going to cash out of your deal, and with rental properties you have a steady income. With tax liens, you don’t get paid until the delinquent taxpayer decides to redeem the lien or redeemable deed. This may not be until the redemption period is over and foreclosure notices are delivered.

How much money you will need to invest in order to meet your goals also depends on what state your investing in. In redeemable deed states, like Georgia and Texas, the price of the deed is bid up, so you will need more money to purchase a redeemable deed than you would to purchase a tax lien certificate in a state where the interest rate is bid down. But it can also be more lucrative and give you a faster payout than lien states.

In Georgia for example, the penalty is 20% and the redemption period is one year. You would have to invest $100,000 over the next year to make $20,000 the following year. And if you needed to foreclose on any properties you would need to pay a lawyer, which would cut into your profits. In Texas, where the penalty is 25% and the redemption period on non-homesteaded properties in only six months, you would need to invest only $80,000 dollars in the first six months of next year to make $20,000 in the following six months, and you don’t have to foreclose on the property. In Texas when the property doesn’t redeem by the end of the redemption period, it automatically reverts to the tax deed purchaser.

You need the least amount of money to get started in tax lien investing in tax lien states where premium is not paid for tax lien certificates. In these states either the interest rate, or the percent ownership (should the property not redeem and you foreclose) is bid down, or they use a random selection or round robin procedure for awarding bids. You need the least amount of money in these states because the price of the tax lien is not bid up. In these states it is possible to buy a tax lien with very little money, but in states where the interest rate is bid down, you might not be getting as much of a return on your money as you would in one of the redeemable deed states. I advise that you attend one or two tax sales before you actually start bidding on properties. This way, you’ll know just how much money you’ll need to start investing in tax liens or redeemable tax deeds in your state.

Tax Lien and Tax Deed Investing: How do You Begin?

The most asked question that I get about investing in tax lien certificates and/or tax deeds is “How do I get started?” So many people have heard about the benefits of investing in tax liens and tax deeds and want to learn how to do it, but they don’t know where to begin. Here is some practical advice for you if you want to learn how to get started investing in tax lien certificates, tax deeds, or redeemable tax deeds.

The first thing that I suggest that you do to get started building your own profitable portfolio of tax lien certificates or tax deeds is to find out what happens in your state. Does your state sell tax liens, tax deeds, or redeemable tax deeds? Next you need to find out who is responsible for the tax sale. Is it the municipal tax collector, the county tax collector, the county treasurer, or a special department just for handling delinquent taxes? Then you need to contact the office that is responsible for the tax sale and ask the following questions:

Ø How often do you hold your tax sale?
Ø Where and when are the tax sales held?
Ø Do I need to register ahead of time to bid at the sale?
Ø Do I need to be present at the sale in order to bid?
Ø What happens to properties that are not sold in the tax sale?
Ø How can I get a list of tax sale properties?
Ø How do I register to bid at the tax sale?
Ø Do I need to have a deposit in order to register?
Ø What is the bidding procedure at the sale?
Ø What are acceptable forms of payment?

Once you get the list of properties that are in the tax sale, you can do your due diligence on these properties and determine just how much you will bid. Remember, you want to invest in PROFITABLE tax lien certificates or tax deeds, not just anything that you can get. In order to make sure that your investment will make you money, and not cost you money, you must do your due diligence before you bid at the sale.

Before you go to a tax sale and purchase a tax lien certificate or tax deed, you may want to attend a tax sale just to see what it’s like. In this way you can become familiar with the bidding process in your state and know what to expect. You’ll have a better idea of what the competition is like and how much money you will need to invest. Bidding procedures differ considerable from state to state and sometimes even from county to county within a state. By attending a tax sale before you actually bid on anything you will be more prepared and have a better chance of winning a bid on a desirable property.

If you want specific information on how to get started in your state, you can try my Jet Start personal consultation. My Jet Start program can help you Jet Start your tax lien or tax deed investing. It is a 30-minute personal consultation with me, but that's not all. You also get my e-books, "Tax Lien Investing Secrets: How to Buy Tax Lien Certificates in New Jersey and Other States," and "Tax Lien Lady's State Guide." You get to download the e-books immediately and then schedule a consult with me after you have the chance to read them. This way you know the right questions to ask. You can find out more about my Jet Start program at www.taxlienconsulting.com.