All Forum Posts by: Juan Santos

@Jerry K. Thank you again for your reply. Do you mind further giving me your input on the following?

Came across a tax lien certificate with a face value of $45 with 1% interest but the description says it is meant for property obtaining purposes with 3 years for the property owner to redeem it. It doesn’t seem realistic that property owners wont pay only $45 in back taxes especially with 3 years time to do that. However, I read an article about where properties in that area have been foreclosed for not paying only $50 or less in taxes. How is this possible especially when some owners own properties free and clear? Why is it some can’t pay only $50 to stop their homes from being foreclosed? I don’t understand this and neither do I see explanations or examples of why this might be, yet they are not isolated incidences. Hopefully you or someone can shed light on this. Thanks.

@Jerry K. Thank you for taking the time to reply. I know you said it varies by location. Is this also the case with the following question:

Let’s say property owners are behind only $50 in taxes. The bid for the certificate goes as high as $2000 and I end up being the winner. Once the property owner pays back the taxes, do I only get $50 back with some interest or do I also get the original $2,000 from the bid? Because if I don’t get the original $2,000 back, I don’t understand who in their right mind would risk losing that much for only $50 with some interest if property owner pays it back. I hope my question makes sense.

Much easier said than done (obviously). How exactly to find a mentor who is willing to sit down with me once a month and not charge me $900 for their time? Let alone find someone willing to talk on the phone with me throughout the week? And yes I have looked. I shall keep looking I suppose.

I have some basic questions on Tax Lien investing that I have not found answers for. Here they are:

1.) When you win the bid at an auction, do you then have to purchase the Tax Lien Certificate separately or is the amount for the Certificate already included in the bid? I ask this because I sometimes see some starting bids at $50. Does that mean that the property owners are only behind on their taxes by $50 or does that mean that once I win the bid, I’ll have to pay for the certificate SEPARATELY than what I won the bid at?

2.) Once you own the Tax Lien Certificate, can you then sell that Certificate to whomever and whenever or must you hold it to the end?

3.) I have read that sometimes you won’t see your money back in 3 years. Is that only if the property owner takes 3 years to pay their taxes? What if they pay it in one month after you got the certificate? Will you then get your money back that month with whatever little interest it might’ve accumulated?

@Frank Patalano I have no connections and it’s nearly impossible to attend real estate clubs with my current work schedule. I would like to at least have that one person I can call up whenever I have a question about something. Also, I live in the Los Angeles area and prices are very high so I have no idea how to even get my feet wet. I’m able to save aside a lot of money though due to the fact that I’m a truck driver and therefore live in my truck and don’t have to pay rent or any other usual expense associated with cost of living. I’m just continually researching ways to invest that money though instead of just letting it sit there as it has for sometime now.

@Chris Eidson One subject I’m interested in that they offer is Subject To. I’ve searched Bigger Pockets topics about it and the newest thread is years old and very minimal. Do you happen to know why it’s not a popular subject on this website? Also, my local library has no books at all on Subject To. I resort to YouTube videos and they speak about it in a broad sense but if I want to get my feet wet in it or know the knitty gritty behind structuring contracts and the legal stuff, I have to pay. Substantial amounts too.

But from what I learned about it so far makes me wonder why this is not a more popular choice to acquire real estate since your credit is not at risk and also not much money down is needed except enough to catch up on what’s behind and whatever is agreed upon. Why tie yourself up with traditional loans when options like these are available? Anyway, I kind of went off topic here but some stuff really does seem unaccessible unless one pays. And I’m not complaining about that either.

Undoubtedly everything can be found for free on the internet, books, and what have you. However, I really want to know all I can about real estate and let my questions and doubts dissipate.

For example, I remember when I knew absolutely nothing about the stock market, not even what a share was, I decided to buy a course that covered almost everything from what a candle stick was, to advanced options strategies, Forex, etc. Though it was costly, it was worth it to me because it put to rest all the questions I had about the stock market and I am also no longer swayed to buy a gurus course on trading. Not saying I know everything, but definitely enough to know that I don’t really want to do that for a living.

Right now with Real Estate, I don’t really know all there is to know. Therefore, I feel like just going all in and paying someone to teach me and if in the end I don’t make any money or decide it’s not my thing, then I can put it behind me and no longer have to wonder “what if” or be curious about another guru’s course.

I’ve been lurking for a long time now in the real estate field, just learning by reading books, attending seminars, and browsing bigger pockets, even purchasing some courses and paying for classes but nothing major. I feel like I’m learning very slow and also not really sure what’s best for my situation. I bounce around from wanting to rent out, fix & flip, wholesale, etc. and thus never get anything done. There are some properties that I am already preapproved to buy and I am tempted to purchase them just to get started but I know if I did, I would only be counting on appreciation to make money which I’ve learned to not lean too heavily on.

I know do it yourself works for some and for a long time I thought I can go this route too but months have turned into year and I still have not gotten started. I really want to just get started and pay for mentors rather than trying to figure out everything myself. As I said before, if I end up paying a lot and in the end I don’t make any money, at least I can put my mind to rest about this whole real estate thing. I would sincerely like to succeed in it though. Any thoughts are welcomed as my mind is not fully made up yet about what I’m actually going to do.

Something I've always wondered and don't see much talk about is in regards to taking into account the expenses for Attorneys, CPAs, and others that would be in your "power" team. Shouldn't this be included in the PITI expenses?

I don’t know how they work really. For example, in car insurance if you don’t have car insurance at the time of an accident, you can’t just call one up and pay the premium and expect them to cover your losses. You must have insurance PRIOR to an accident taking place for them to cover you right? Is this also how it works when it comes to getting sued? You must already have a subscription in place in order for the lawyer to want to protect you or is it you only pay them when you need them? Or how about when they say “consult your lawyer first.” Is this typically free? What I’m getting at is do you only pay them as you go or is it a recurring payment? And why aren’t these things factored into budgets much when most people talk numbers in investing?

@Neil Schoepp Where exactly can I create posts about where I’ll be on a certain date and if anyone’s up for coffee or lunch? Here on the forums or is there a different specific place for that? Thanks.

@Justin Kane Okay I hear you. But what about looking at it from a “making money on interest” point of view? Because the alternative is to just have my money sitting there collecting dust. I suppose I can just save it with no interest til I can keep adding and having enough for bigger deals kind of stuff but it will take time. Thanks for your input tho and if you’d like to add some more that would be great.