Getting into Tax Lien Investing in Maryland

[DL Coker]

Hello BP Community,

This is my first ever post on the forums. I am just starting out on my real estate investing journey and I am currently educating myself as much as possible and trying to identify my niche areas of interest and strategies.

I am quite interested in tax lien investing, particularly as a means of obtaining better interest rates than elsewhere. However, in doing my research I have so many questions and I would be grateful for any thoughts and guidance.

1. 1. I’m currently based in Montgomery County, Maryland. In my limited research done so far, it seems that this is quite a developed market for tax lien investing and it might be difficult to be successful at one’s first auction. Can anyone offer insight on this? If I had, say, $5k to work with, would I even have a chance of being able to place a successful bid? I’m just trying to gauge how significant the barriers to entry might be for someone who doesn’t have hundreds of thousands to invest right now.
2. 
   2. Secondly, although tax lien investing may be more “hands-off” than other strategies, it’s my understanding that one should still get to know the market and areas they’re planning to invest in – so I figure I would start out (physically) close to home before considering out-of-state (or far away) tax sales in markets I know nothing about. While Montgomery County might be highly priced in MD, I wonder if Prince George’s and Howard Country might offer better chances for one starting out – any thoughts?
3. 3. My last question relates to where I can learn more. I’ve read some material on the subject, particularly “The 16% Solution” by Joel Moskowitz and “Zero risk real estate” by Chip Cummings. In the fast moving world of the Internet, I realize some of the content might be a bit dated but I assume the basic principles still apply. Can anyone recommend any other decent sources or reading and research material in this area?

Thanks for reading through this far and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Best,

DL

[Russell Brazil]

Tax lien investing is a volume business.  You might want to read @Ned Carey's post on the forums. He is the resident tax lien expert in Maryland.  But like I said, volume...hes bidding on thousands of leans a year.