All Forum Posts by: Alex T.

That is a tough bullet to take for plaintiff, as the attorney fees will cost more than that lien interest, and would have been covered by defendant.

The Owner is a entity that is forfeited in the state of Maryland so would not the onus of providing his new contact information still rest on the defendant? Otherwise I could imagine everyone buying property and then just forfeiting their company without updating contact info with county and getting away with not having to pay interest on taxes in arrears for years. Furthermore, in this case, owner is responding to the case just prior to a court decree, so apparently he was notified somehow but waited until last moment to speak up. 

Have you ever had an issue where the property owner/entity claims he did not get notices by your attorney after the sale? How did you/your attorney defend yourself? What affect does it have on the lien interest, and the foreclosure timeline?

 I been monitoring one case online, and it seems like the defendant/owner (who also happens to be an attorney!) is just trying to buy time, or attempting to not have to pay some of the interest or attorney fees. I presume the tax original tax bill would still need to be paid by him regardless, else he would need to bring a case against the county as well.

The lien isn't a large amount in proportion to the assessed value, but I am pondering a lot on it as I didnt think it would be a likely possibility as notices are sent certified mail.

These days there always seems to be a free route to learning anything, but you really cant see that path yourself without already knowing everything. I would suggest skipping the program route now and read a good book or two specifically covering liens first (lets say no more that $20 total used or $40 if new). @Brandon Turner recommended a book on Tax liens by Loftis which I liked. One of the many lessons I learned from that book was that some places the tax collector has a lot more liberty and may operate on a different system than is laid out in the law. So even if your prepared for an auction understanding all the theory, the practice could be completely different.

Also keep in mind that specifics on liens are subject to change, so mind the publication dates. TaxlienLady keeps up to date guides across the USA regarding tax lien and deeds, and emails free monthly reports. I have read some of her  book guide material and find it useful . I have not seen her paid seminars, webinars or programs, but I would presume they are good. (Most good free material online often will come with a strong sell for other material. Biggerpockets is for the most part the only exception to that rule, for what I know). 

Once you know what states and counties to focus on for your investing, then finding a lawyer who works in that location sounds like a great move. But lawyers in the state of George are not necessarily capable of providing lien or deed information in any other state; tax liens/ deeds are for the most part administered by State or local law, not Federal.

Thanks Lonnie. According to a 2016 tax sale for Anne Arundel county, MD process document the rate is now 12% from there website. Although the main county redemption website states 18%. More likely that the document is correct, and the change to 12% was made recently. 12% seems to be middle of the road but still pretty decent, yet generally Baltimore city RE is a bit more risky than rest of MD .

Lonnie Pickard

@Maynhia Stott Also I have not had experience with these 2 but i have heard Iowa is 2 percent per month (24 per annum), and Texas is 25% penalty (that is the highest I know of in  the country). and I dont know if they do anything OTC.

@Maynhia Stott If your focus on high interest rate is solely for getting a higher rate of return on redemption, then I think you would want to emphasize penalty states because many of the states you mentioned, like Maryland, would only yield that high interest after the 12th month. Georgia, a state not mentioned, offers a 20% penalty so if the encumbered deed is redeemed after 1st month your effective rate of return is 240%!

@Ned Carey if baltimore drops to 12% would be really depressing and wouldnt be competitive. I figured the minimum increase to list in auction from the year before would have been enough.

@Giantonio DeFelice make sure mine is signed lol! 

But in all seriousness, the Biggerpockets beginner guide will present many ways to invest in RE. Once you pick the areas your most interested in, you can watch the podcasts that relate to that specific area for inspiration. But as I said in previous post, as a noob you will want to know what RE investors are doing in the region you are in to know what is most fruitful. Try not to lose your shirt, it can get cold. 

Giantonio DeFelice

@Monica Marusic DMV pricing is insane. DC area counties has the highest median incomes, 3 of which Loudon, Fairfax, and Arlington—all in Northern Virginia—are the only counties in the USA where median incomes exceed $100,000 per year (as of 2014)! Must be the concentration of Federal employee/contractor population and extremely high median income that pushes rent prices so high. Perhaps the new change in politics will lead to a cut in federal spending (and area federal jobs) which could lead to shrinkage in supply of renters in the area. Not that I want people to miss out on jobs but... realistic pricing wouldn't hurt.

great response @Russell Brazil

Hey Angela! Those seem to be the better sites for current data and maps. Spotcrime can give you email updates at weekly or daily frequency I believe.

Id also add, but I have not verified accuracy of the following:

http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/police/homicides...

Although I haven't analyzed the accuracy of Baltimoresun.com Baltimroe city homicide map with Livebaltimore.com map, which I believe is done in junction with the city of Baltimore, it loads well and has the info in straightforward manner.

http://data.baltimoresun.com/crime/baltimore-count...  

Apparently the Sun's Baltimore county map is under maintenance, but hopefully will be back soon.

https://data.princegeorgescountymd.gov/Public-Safe... I like this one for the area, and works well on my pc.

https://data.baltimorecity.gov/Crime/crime-map/u2b... (Sometimes buggy for my browser, but you may have better luck.)

http://www.city-data.com/ (Honorable mention for all kinds of maps and not just crime specific.)

I find that some of the official county and city sources are not as user friendly or current, but still good for historical data. But if you look hard enough you get a surprise like PG county police have maps with lots of filters and tools (maps at bottom of page @ pgc.gov/crimemaps )

I think quite a few area police departments have twitter and facebook feeds. Sometimes reading those can give an idea of where the current trend of incidences resides intra-year, which maps cannot do as well.

Welcome to BP @Giantonio DeFelice . I think you need to first wait until your ears dry before making the "next move up" with your money. Don't get me wrong, it is never too early to start learning, but investing requires initial capital, and the young typically don't have much of it. Take an honest inventory of what you know and what your skills are. You are 19 years old: have you really done enough in "stocks and wholesale merchandise" to claim it as "some experience" in those areas? If you are telling us that you have done serious analytical investing, crunching numbers, digging into financial statements and valuing companies with sound principles and then (the hard part) trading with discipline; then you are one of the most competent and disciplined 19 year old I ever did see and you should probably write a book about yourself. If not, then you traded stocks like 99% of retail traders and that is quite another thing, and hardly worth mentioning.

I would suggest you try to earn as much income you can by working a wage, even if not it in the real estate industry. If you happen to be a trust fund baby, earning more than a years worth of fulltime paychecks will help you really understand the time and value of the dollar. And I am not talking about interning at your rich dads office.

Actively investing your own money offers many different paths, and fortunes have been made in every way possible. None of them are a step (or a "move up") above the others. This is not a playstation video game with 36 levels to beat. I don't wanna make you feel bad, but there are several red flags in your post that made me think you needed a reality check. 

As for inspiration, that isn't something you can ask for. Inspiration can only be found, and that journey is yours alone. If you ask me, I would say inspiration is overrated. For the investor, inspiration is a start, but discipline is what gets you to the finish line.

While you wait, get some BP alerts set up with the region and area you intend to do real estate in, so you can get an idea of what is going on.

But that is just me and my thoughts. There are better investors on BP, who might have better, and more specific advice on real estate for the young.