tax lien auctions

[Yiking Hernandez]

Hey everyone still new here. lots of great info on this site, Shame I didn't find it sooner. so what is the general consensus amongst the REI communities on tax lien auctions? I'm in Connecticut and I'm thinking of attending some of these to try and find my first deal. any and all feed back is welcomed.

[Samuel Eddinger]

I've been to a bunch of auctions.  I would say that there are quite a few people that go to them and I've always seen prices that I thought were higher than I was willing to pay.  With that said, if you can negotiate with the seller because of them being distressed, it is possible you can buy them before they go to auction.

Anytime you have to do a lot of work to get something purchased, you will be able to save quite a bit due to that work.  I'd say the best approach to buying good is (in order from best deal to worst deal):

1: driving for dollars, sending flyers, cold calling leads - basically what wholesalers do.

2: reaching out to tax lien lists/foreclosure lists.  You can get them from every town but some towns take more work than others.  Tax lien lists are before they go to auction.  Foreclosure lists I think can be determined at some sites like propstream (I've never used it so I could be wrong).

3: networking with lawyers that do probate situation and/or divorce situations and want a quick close

4: Owner occupant of a property on Hud Homestore - basically trying to help first time homebuyers buy - less competition

5: tax auction and tax auction sites

6: Offering on properties that have been sitting on the MLS for LONG periods of time and low balling them.

7: Calling owners that have recently had their property pulled from the MLS.

8: Wholesalers that are selling to you with an assignment fee.

9: Low balling every property you look at on the MLS and seeing what sticks.

10: FSBO with strong negotiation skills.

11: MLS when you see the property really quick once it comes on MLS and put in a full price offer but it was mispriced low (I got a gem a few years ago that has probably close to doubled in values since 2020 when I bought it).

12: MLS offers that you really want to own

I might be missing some others but these are the general classes of people that I have noticed. I have a wholesale partner that we flip houses on. I have historically bought on the MLS but not in years (the market on MLS was a buyer's market years ago).