Iowa Tax Lien Investing

[Kent Braaksma]

I have been buying Iowa tax liens for a small investment group for the past 10 years. So far, it has worked out very well for the investors. Most of what I have been buying has been at live auctions, where I will send multiple bidders to a single county. I can usually end up with 18 - 25 liens and invest all, or most of, the available cash. However, with the growth of the investment group, as well as the increase in available funds, I find myself looking to expand into other counties, and have been researching options in other state's concerning Tax Sale Certificates. 

With Iowa being an ownership bid-down state, rather than an interest bid-down, I am not  fond of delving into the on-line auctions. Most that I have researched, have had more registered bidders than available parcels with a lot of the parcels being bid down to 1% ownership (which I will never understand). I can send bidder groups to multiple live-auction counties, but run the risk of overbuying and not having the capitol to cover the liens purchased, do to the inability to communicate between the groups as to the amount being spent at each auction. 

Is there anyone buying Iowa tax liens, that would be willing to share experiences, concerns, or issues?