Tax liens - what do you know?

[Jacob Thorpe]

I have been doing flips the last two years, and its been rough. I have stayed profitable, for now. I am thinking about investing in tax liens. From what I understand you could be buying something that is completely dilapidated but even if that was the case if it was for 10k or less, you could sell the land. 

What are some things to be aware of doing tax liens? I know I am in a tax lien state 

[David Krulac]

I've bought hundreds of properties at Tax Sale, but only Tax Deed Sales, and have posted on the subject many times on BP. It is the Most Hazardous way to buy real estate and not quite as easy as you state.  In the Bigger Pockets free book, "Real Estate Rewind", as one of the 11 co-authors I wrote about one such Tax Sale purchase and made money but not enough money to warrant the risk involved. Some of the properties that I have seen on Tax Sale include:

1. An expired land lease

2. Army bombing range

3. Land at bottom of man made lake (literally underwater)

4. Delapidated building not worth the cost of demolition.

5. Toxic waste site on Super Fund List  

6. Former gas station with leaking under ground storgage tanks

7. woodland with all the trees clear cut

8. Landlocked property

9. former Chromium factory

10.Multiple properties with multi-million Federal Tax Liens

11. Wetlands, flood plains, endangered specices, historic sites, architectural significant property

12. Failed septic tested properties

13. Condemnation properties

14. Zoning violations properties

15. sliver of land 2 feet wide

16. unusable/unbuildable land

17. junk yard salvage property

18. Title problem properties

19. Many properties are abandoned by the current owners because of some problem

David Krulac

Bigger Pockets Podcast #82