All Forum Posts by: Dennis Weber

@john underwood will know. Does SC have an interest rate for the overbid?

@Russell Doherty

  @Yia Her I'm newer to the tax lien space. I've only participated in about a dozen sales in the last two years. But I've done well and think I have a winning strategy in my area. Time will tell. Depending on age and money, I think tax lien strategies are drastically different. I'll answer your questions. 

1) Mostly Indiana deeds. Everyone says 95-97% of liens redeem but that number is much lower in Indiana. Don't know what the overall number is but mine is 23.5%. You make the money from the property not the redemption. Although 10-15% is good for a lot of people. 

Although people say Florida liens are great I think they suck. After the long redemption period is over you have to bid for the deed. You either get the house for retail or your bid down %. Buying the deed is speculation and not investing. 

Iowa tax lien sales are fun. 

2). Don't bid too high. I think you need to buy liens in volume so I've looked at all the properties on the list. So there'll be another one. 

3). All of them. While I'm looking at all the properties online exit strategies is the most important item on the list. Wholesale, rehab, rent, burn down and collect insurance (kidding but can't say I haven't thought of it). My favorite is owner financing. Collect a nice down payment to cover your investment then collect a nice interest on your profits every month. 

4) Don't look at them as problems but issues to take care of. I wish the plumbing wasn't stolen. I wish there were no code enforcement liens. I wish roofs weren't leaking. I wish there was a clean title. I wish the government employees were nicer. I wish that dead body wasn't there.  You deal with them  

5)  "Profit by investing in tax liens" by  Larry Loftis

       "Zero Risk Real Estate" by Chip Cummings

The books give you a basic understanding  but after you understand the basics the most important thing to read is the specific county laws and rules concerning their tax sale. 

Happy Investing!

Online OTC liens?  Take notes along the way cuz you will be the BP expert on this. 

Another vote for checkbook control!  Here's 3 examples where it saved me. It seems every county has different ways to collect the money but every county wants to be paid quickly. In my first year I participated in 6 different counties. I went to the bank and got different denominations of cashiers checks (@ $8 apiece). First auction, they wanted the bid and overbid paid separately. No change. After combining different checks, I'd still be paying a couple hundred dollars too much. Then I noticed the guy next to me paying by personal checks. You won't find many counties allowing that. Whipped out my checkbook and wrote two checks. Went to another county, again, no change!  Went to the bank and cashed a few cashier checks and paid exact down to the $.32. At the last sale, they found my cashiers checks too old (4 weeks). Got on my iPad and wired the funds in. 

Thanks @Brian Eastman!

I like to donate a portion of my profits from a deal to a neighborhood charity in the property's area. I recently bought several properties in my self directed IRA. Is there a way I can still make these donations? It kinda makes me feel good. I'm over 591/2. It's not a Roth IRA.

@Kevin Wilson @Tim Schluge

Could one of you PM me John Schott's contact info?

Another vote for Scott Carson!  Also, Tracy Z has really good videos on using financial calculator for different strategies that is invaluable. NoteMBA.com has a weekly podcast. 

@Heather Mills  welcome to BP. FYI, Ohio is a lien and deed state. Unfortunately, the tax lien sales are only open to institutional investors there. I know many people do well in Ohio deed sales. They're open to the public. 

In my experience, buying tax liens online seems not very profitable because properties get bid up too high. Live auctions seem better. I've done very well with Indiana liens. I'll give you a Hoosier invite. They have a low redemption rate in Marion County and they do all noticing for you. Getting the property is a lot more profitable than getting only 10-15%. But getting 10-15% is better than having an IRA wasting away in the stock market.

Happy Investing!

@Ashley Mullin  Margaret did great. She deserves a raise.