All Forum Posts by: Greg W.

Gentlemen, thanks for your responses. Both have you have been most, most helpful in helping me better understand tax lien investing.

Hey All,

I've become interested in the idea of a self directed IRA as I'm growing increasingly put off by my Edward Jones dude trying to convince me that a 6% rate of return is awesome. I'm also looking into the prospects of a self directed IRA because I'm intrigued by the idea of having tax liens within such an IRA.

That said, what self-directed IRA would you all recommend? Has anyone tried Guidant Financial? What are the pros and cons you all have experienced with a self directed IRA?

So I've obtained my first listing of OTC tax liens for sale (came in a giant excel spreadsheet, which I paid for.) Some columns within the spreadsheet I'm seeking clarity on:

Current Secondary FCV - What exactly is SECONDARY Full Cash Value on a parcel?
CP Purchase/Strike Date - Is this the date the parcel became available for sale?
Tax Amount - Assuming this is simply the base amount of taxes owed?
Interest Amount - ???
Fee Amount - ???
CP Total - I'm just assuming, if I want the lien, this is the amount I'll pay (plus a processing fee)

To give all of this better context, here were some of the values listed for the fields I have questions on (using one parcel as an example)

Current Secondary FCV - $44,500
CP Purchase/Strike Date - 2/28/2013
Tax Amount - $872.44
Interest Amount - $151.22
Fee Amount - $53.62
CP Total - $1,077.28

I was ASSUMING there would just be a Tax Amount value associated with each parcel....I'm unsure as to what the Interest and Fee values associated with each parcel are.....is that money the original owner was meant to pay to the county for being late with their taxes? If I was to purchase the above lien (as an example), would I gain interest JUST on the TAX AMOUNT ($872.44) or the CP TOTAL ($1,077.28)

Any clarity here would be greatly appreciated....

@Ned Carey and @Jerry K.

When you guys invest in Tax Liens, do you do so within an IRA you have or do you just invest in them outside of any tax protected shelter and just incur any capital gains taxes? Any recommendations there?

Hey gang, novice investor here looking to gain some wisdom.

As I understand it, Tax Liens pretty much take priority over ALL other liens a property may have against it EXCEPT for IRS liens. My question is, how do you KNOW if a property HAS an IRS lien against it? Where do obtain that information? Also, how do find out stuff like:

1. What the zoning of a given property is? (Residential, Commercial, etc.)
2. If there are any hazards on the property that need to be dealt with (toxic waste in the back yard, as an extreme example.)

I just want to know what kind of checklist you savvy tax lien buyers out there use to ensure your purchases have minimized risk as much as possible.

Thank you in advance.

@Jerry K.

I have a few more questions if you don't mind:

1. Arizona is a state of interest to me as far as Tax Liens are concerned because A) I live in a Tax Deed state (California) and Arizona is only one state over from where I reside. And B) My folks reside in Mesa during the winter months and own several townhomes in that area. That said, do you invest in tax liens in the greater Phoenix area? If so, what do you like or dislike?

2. If you bid on tax liens in AZ, what's your typical rate of return on the liens you buy?

3. Do you ever buy OTC liens in AZ? How would one even go about obtaining a listing of OTC liens in any AZ county?

Thanks in advance! Great stuff.

You're 35 years old. You have 2 young kids (ages 1 and 3.) You are the sole breadwinner in the family. You leave the house at 6:00am and return at 7:00pm because you fight LA traffic every day. You don't yet own a home, but you have $20,000 you can invest and a burning desire to start clawing ones way out of the rat race so you can actually experience living again. What do you do? What DO you do? Any and all investing tips are appreciated. I gotta make this happen...

Jerry K., you seem to be a wealth of knowledge on the subject of tax lien investing. I enjoy reading your posts. A question I have for an experienced tax lien investor such as yourself: Why don't more investors but OTC tax liens after the auctions are finished? Aren't investors who purchase OTC liens guaranteed the higher interest rates? I realize the underlying properties may not be as good as those that go in the auction, but if I'm just looking for a 16% return (in Arizona), wouldn't OTC's be the way to go?

Hey Gang,

So I've just become interested in Tax Lien investing as of about 2 months ago and have been reading up online as much as possible to better understand them. However, I do realize that "formal" education isn't "real world" education. I have none of the latter as I've not yet taken the plunge to actually purchase any tax liens yet. That said, I'd like to hear some of the best tax lien investing tips from some of you veterans out there so you can help a rookie such as myself from making any grave mistakes. Much appreciation in advance!