Question to seasoned Tax Lien Investors

[George P.]

generally speaking, when you're looking to buy tax lien certificates, are you hoping to foreclose or rather to earn interest on your money?
Also, what kind of due diligence do you do before committing the funds (i.e. driving by, searching the title etc) ?

Thanks!

[Ned Carey]

Originally posted by George P.:

generally speaking, when you're looking to buy tax lien certificates, are you hoping to foreclose or rather to earn interest on your money?

That depends on the investor. While all investors have some desire to foreclose at bargain prices many look at that as a bonus and just invest for the interest.

In today's interest rate environment, even the low rates that tax sales are bid down to sound good.

I drive by every property and check the front and rear and do a general assessment of the condition. I also run comps, usually by a public record service like Realist (Similar to Hains criss cross, Dataquest, Real Quest etc) those reports will give me most of the info I need.

Because my goal is to actually acquire the property I usually bid in transitional neighborhoods and on vacant properties.

Because you are in first position there is not much need to due things like full title searches. Your biggest risk is bidding too much. I have never run into an IRS lien so I don't worry about them.