Hi,
Once I learned of investing in tax liens about 7 years ago, I decided that this would be the only method I use to invest in real estate. It almost seemed to good to be true. I waited to see what the catch is because surely there had a be a catch. But there is none. You have to do due diligence of course before you invest. Which is the same when you directly invest in real estate. The one bad thing that I can say is that it is very, very time consuming going through the list of properties and doing due diligence on each one and then driving to go take a look at it. That took a massive amount of time. So I decided to create a resource that consolidates all that info in a single convenient place. Its makes it so much easier.
As far as resources, I would say check the county websites in the state you're looking to invest in as one of the other posters said. I have found tons of information this way. I once went to a free seminar in Lee County Florida and they explained the whole process of how it works in their county, which is mostly the same for the whole state of Florida. Also, Trulia has tons of info on demographics for free.
Good luck!
