Wednesday, January 21, 2009

New York Times article on tax liens



Here's an interesting tax lien article on the New York Times. It was published in 1999. The title of the article is YOUR HOME; Tax Liens Can Enrich Investors.

A quick excerpt...


By JAY ROMANO
Published: August 15, 1999

ANYONE who has seriously contemplated making money in real estate has probably encountered the arcane but potentially profitable practice of investing in tax liens at public sales -- the legal process through which municipalities obtain payment of delinquent property taxes.

Real estate experts say it is possible to make a secure investment with a high rate of return in property tax liens, even for unsophisticated investors. And savvier, more careful and more knowledgeable investors can even obtain title to real estate for a small fraction of its market value by buying property at a tax foreclosure sale, the experts say.

Read more...

Monday, January 05, 2009

OTC Tax Deeds - Miami Dade County, FL




Florida and Miami real estate investors, currently there is no upcoming tax deed auctions listed; however, there is an over the counter list available at the site. You can download it here.

You can purchase the deeds by going to 140 W. Flagler Street, Room 908, Miami, FL 33130. You can call (305) 375-5943 for more details.

Upcoming Tax Lien Auction - Navajo County, AZ


February 10, 2009

Navajo County is having their tax lien sale on February 10, 2009.

The parcels and taxes available are from the Holbrook Tribune News.

Bids will be taken by bidder number which is provided at sign-in. If you have read my tax lien book which guides you through this process, you will find that there are a few things that they need:

1. Name(s) as it will appear on the Certificate.
2. Address & phone number.
3. Completed W9 form. (This is for the IRS. SSN, Business Tax ID/EID, or Tax ID for foreigners that do not have tax ids.)
4. You must have a bidder number for each entity for which you are purchasing. (Lots of realtors bid as proxies.)

For more information, you can contact:

Navajo County
Treasurer Office
100 East Carter Drive
South Highway 77
Holbrook, AZ 86025
Holbrook: (928) 524-4172
Fax: (928) 524-4211

Web site is available here.

Richard Davet fought Bank of America's foreclosure action for 11 years


Just read up on this story about Richard Davet, an Ohio resident who fought off Nations Bank (Bank of America bought it out awhile back).

You see in 1996, he was served with a foreclosure lawsuit because he refused to pay late fees. He argued the bank calculated it incorrectly. The bank finally asked for the entire loan amount - which of course, he was not able to pay.

Most law firms that handle foreclosures go through hundreds if not thousands of them every year, and for the most part -- the homeowner does not fight off. Within eight months or less, the entire process is completed and the homeowner has to leave the home.

But Richard Davet, fought off -- for 11 years, filing motions, objections, and studying law at his local library. He did not make a single house payment until finally the courts sided with the bank. An interesting story of a man that stretched the law on his side, until it finally caught up with him.

I hope he saved enough to rent or buy another house. In my opinion, BoA should just have let him re-do the loan and agreed the late fees will be waived. Their fees and costs off this were off the roof!

Saturday, January 03, 2009

How to Buy Houses At Auctions and Other Real Estate Videos on YouTube

eHow and other YouTube contributors have created some good videos about how to buy houses at auctions, and how to do correct home inspections. Don't miss out on this by ignoring YouTube. All too often we hear YouTube only when new viral videos are out or there's a funny baby doing an awkward dance. In reality, many real estate gurus are going on YouTube to provide some valuable insights and of course, sell products.

For instance, on a video playing below (one of), it talks about investing in bank owned property, which you either buy with pre-approved loans or cash. The one presenting was a broker and while she leaned towards having real estate agents help you along the way (go figure), she did have common sense tips that you definitely need to take note of.

In short -- YouTube can be your friend too in your road to real estate investing!

U.S. commercial real estate taking a hit in 2009 -- tax liens potentially increasing



With this economic recession, we all know that residential properties across the nation were struggling; however, there was one piece of good news -- commercial real estate continued to slowly grow or at the least, remain stagnant. But it is looking like commercial real estate is no longer going to be the protected from the storm.

According to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services and National Real Estate Investor magazine, roughly 1,000 large commercial properties were already in default last year and the worst is yet to come! There's another 3,700 large commercial properties going belly up, potentially in 2009. That is roughly an $80 billion hit.

This is a direct consequence of restaurant chains closing, retail businesses cutting costs, and stopping expansions, and in some cases like Office Depot, Circuit City, Movie Gallery, and others -- closing stores.

But what does this mean to you the Investing Without Losing tax lien investor? You may start seeing...which a few years ago was unusual...tax liens on viable commercial property! Those that are backed by the bank are usually paid out in time, but some do slip through the cracks and get converted into tax deeds, which investors can buy cheaply.

While the prospect of having additional foreclosures is bad news for the current state that we are in, we should continue to look on the bright side. It provides others, those that saved and are properly leveraged, the ability to buy at discount and help communities recoup their much needed tax dollars for roads and other public services by investing in tax liens.

Thanks, -Don