All Forum Posts by: Will Sifert

What is your best success story from investing in tax liens. I know the process varies from state to state and some people just focus on making money off of the interest. But for those of you who purchase the liens at a tax sale and have later taken ownership of the property after the redemptive period is over, what was your most profitable score ?

In Louisiana (3 year redemtive period) the owner must make payment to the sheriff's office to redeem the property. After 3 days the sheriff will direct them to the lien holder. However we are required to send notice to the owners during the 3 years that their property has been purchased at a tax sale. The sheriff's office also sends them notices every year till year 3.

Actually in Louisiana you are required to give notice to the owners and may contact them more, if your objective is to get them to redeem the property.

Can someone refesh my memory the way tax sales work in florida ?

The tax certificate sale is the initial sale you would attend to pay off the taxes owed on the property. People bid down the % of interest. 2 year redemption period. After the 2 year redemptive period ends you can apply for a tax deed which would bring the property to a public auction and sold to the highest bidder. If no one bids on it at auction then you get it (depending on if there was homestead exemption or not).

If this is correct, is it true to say that purchasing tax certificates in florida is a good investment for making a high interest rate on your money but very very unlikely for you to ever obtain ownership in the property. If you want to own property then you need to go to the tax deed auction and hope to pay 50-75% of value ?

1. Have a clear goal. If you are striving to achieve something it will help you to stay motivated by focusing on trying to accomplish your goals.

2. Understand that EVERYONE will have their up's and down's. If I get a little discourage or have a bad day I take a couple hours off and go do something relaxing, enjoyable, or just veg out on the sofa and watch a movie. Everyone needs a little break from time to time. But just understand when you are lacking motivation and may be feeling a little depressed that it is just a temporary feeling; push away and take a break. Then start back up fresh again.

request accepted, hit me up anytime.

I love going to property tax sales, like opening up gifts christmas morning. I just wish I had more money so I could buy more! Picked up some great commercial properties today at the sale.

Hi everyone. Im from the New Orleans area and have been investing in property tax sales for 3 years now (going to a tax sale in the morning!) I was building houses until the market crashed and then learned about tax sales. I only wish I would have learned about them sooner. I found this site trying to find other places where I can help and learn from others who also invest in property tax sales.

Hi Jay, im new as well and also from Louisiana, the other corner :)

Correct on all accounts. My real-estate attorney explained to me that the only liens I would have to worry about would be IRS liens.

Simply put Jenny, someone bids 1% because they really want that property and 1% is the lowest amount you can bid, so the first to bid 1% get's it. If you feel 100% confident that the property will be redeemed what does 1% or 100% matter you still going to make your 1% a month in interest :)

Hi Jenny, I am also from Louisiana and have been going to the tax sales the last 3 years. It is hard to find any helpful information online about Louisiana Tax Sales.

The % bid process I believe was just added 4-5 years ago so it's still relatively new. I've been to several tax sale auctions in person in SELA and have NEVER seen anyone bid down below 100%, which is great. HOWEVER more parishes are starting to hold their auctions online which almost every decent property over $1200 goes for 1%.

How does having 1% affect you if it goes over 3 years. Well, first off anyone who bids 1% is gambling on the fact that the owner will redeem the property and NOT go over 3 years. Having 1% ownership after 3 years allows you to do the following:

- Cloud title: You can contact the owner and inform them that you will be suing to quiet title and confirm your tax sale, but if they wanted to buy you out you could quit claim your interest to them for $xxxxx .

- Sue to Quiet Title and then force a sale. Even though you only have 1% interest in the property you are still an owner and can force the property to be sold at a sheriff's auction. The only problem is, once this happens you will get 1% of the sale and the original owner will get 99%. In this case you will lose almost every time. For example if you purchase a property at the tax sale that has a real value of $200,000 with a tax bill of $1,000. You pay the taxes for 4 years (before you can take ownership you will have paid for 4 times) plus you have attorney fees and court costs, you could have easily spent over $6,000 to confirm your ownership in the land, which is only 1%. If you and the other (99%) owner can not work out a deal for him to buy you out, then a sale would be force. Let's say the property sells for $200,000 you get 2K the other owner gets 198K. You lost a lot of money. Bidding 1% is a dangerous game unless you are certain the owner will redeem the property, in which case that is done by people who are solely looking to invest just to make a high % return on their money. But they take the risk that if the property is not redeemed and if the original owner does not want to buy them out then to put it blunt you are basically screwed.

Hope that helps.