Author Login | Popular Articles | RSS Feeds | Sitemap

Home | Finance


When to Buy a Tax Sale List

By: Joanne Musa

One of the first things that you have to do to invest in tax lien certificates or tax deeds is to get the list of properties that are in the tax sale. Sometimes you can find this list online, on the tax collector's website. In most counties the list has to be published in the local paper 2-4 weeks before the sale. In states where tax sales are held on the municipal level, most of these lists will be small (less than 100 properties) and easy to manage. But in large cities and in states where tax sales are held by the county, these lists can be quite large. Although you can get these lists for free, there are times when you will want to pay for a detailed tax sale list from a tax sale list provider.

The tax sale lists that you get from the municipality or county do not always have the information that you need. Often, they will not include the address or physical location of the property. Usually these lists will only list the tax ID or parcel number, block and lot, owner of record, and amount due on the properties in the tax sale. It will not tell you things that you need to know before bidding on the property like: the acreage, type of property, assessed value, last sale price, and whether or not there is a mortgage on the property. To find out this information you can either go to the tax collector's or tax assessor's office and look it up yourself, or you can buy a detailed tax sale list that provides all of the tax assessment information, including the physical address of the property.

For smaller tax sales you may want to buy a detailed list. You might think that since the list is small, you could save the money and look it up yourself. I have found that this process is time consuming and that for small lists I am better off buying the detailed list. It saves me a lot of time in my due diligence; I get all the information that I need; and I only have to go out and look at the properties. For larger lists, I would rather do my own research. Detailed tax sale lists that are over 500 properties can cost over $50 and lists that are over 1000 properties can cost over $100. Large counties and counties with big cities can have lists of a few thousand properties and that can cost a few hundred dollars. So how do you decide whether you should buy the detailed list or do the research yourself for these tax sale lists?

First remember that if the original tax sale list has 1000 properties, there will probably be only 500 or so properties left on the day of the sale. Since most tax sale list providers do not update the lists that they have for sale, you will have to purchase the detailed information on all 1000 properties even though you will probably only use half of the information. If you choose not to buy a detailed list, then you may be doing research on a lot of properties for nothing, since half of them will not be in the tax sale.

So here's what I do. If there is an easy way to get the assessment information that I need, that is if it is available online, I wait until about 4 or 5 days before the sale, get an updated list from the tax collector, and then I get the assessment information on the properties. To make it even easier, I limit the properties that I research to only certain areas that I'm interested in investing in. I may limit it to only 3 or 4 townships in the county and to only certain types of properties. If the assessment information is not that readily available, I'll buy the detailed list. Some list providers will allow you to filter the list by property type, thus you only buy information on the type of properties that you are interested in.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Joanne Musa works with people who want to build an extremely profitable portfolio of tax lien certificates or tax deeds FAST. She is the creator of "Build Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio," an 8-week teleclass on how to invest in tax lien certificates and tax deeds for maximum profit. To find out more about the steps involved in building your profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio, go to http://www.taxlienlady.com/ProfitablePortfolio.html .

Tags: , , , , , , ,
| Print | Ezine Ready | |

Recent Finance Articles

  • How to get your credit report for free online from internet By: Allan Hausnork - Credit reports are used by companies to decide how much to loan you and what interest rates to charge you. They provide information on your credit history such as loans, payments, late payments, and due payments to those who you seek to borrow money from. Using the credit report specialized firms create a credit score, or rating, based specifically on you. When money lenders are making decisions about what to loan you, the credit reports is what they refer to.
  • Bad credit loan application - for home improvements or other purposes By: Gordon Parkes - When you need to make vital home improvements, it can be difficult to find funding if you have bad credit. Loan applications may seem pointless, especially if you have: - Defaulted on previous loans. - Mortgage arrears. - County Court Judgements. However, there are lots of lenders who will pay out home improvement loans in these circumstances. The easiest way to find a lender, and fill in a successful bad credit loan application, is to work with a broker.
  • The Way A For-Profit Daycare Can Benefit From Government Grants By: Zac Parker - Lots of for-profit business can benefit from government grants. One of which is your typical day care center. One recently got a grant to build an outdoor playground. They were awarded twenty five thousand dollars from two government grants. The way they went about this was to hire a professional grant writer. One of the teachers attempted to do it herself, however she soon got overwhelmed with all of the paperwork. When they hire a professional grant writer things came into place.
  • How Government Grants Can Help a Minority Business, Especially Beauty Salons By: Zac Parker - Recently my wife had been looking into government grants. Specifically we were interested in grants that were given to minority groups. These types of grants can offer some incredible opportunities to those that would otherwise never be able to realize their dreams. Every year there are billions of dollars in grant money that is given to minorities that want to start a business. Everyday minority owned business are given these type of grants.
  • Business Tax Deductions: How to Deduct Expenses Without Keeping Receipts By: Wayne M Davies - No receipt, no deduction, right? Generally speaking, yes. The mantra of small business bookkeeping has been relentlessly burdensome for decades: "No Receipt, No Deduction." My own tax clients are quick to remind me of this basic recordkeeping rule. Over the years I've heard this countless times: "But I don't have any receipts. I guess I can't take the deduction, right?" What's my response to the "No Receipt, No Deduction" lament? "Not so fast!
  • Cheyne Capital announces new hires By: Tug Search - LONDON, July 7th, 2008. Cheyne Capital, the leading alternative asset management company, announces the appointment of Ravi Stickney as Portfolio Manager for the Cheyne Asset-Backed Fund and the Cheyne Structured Solutions Fund. Prior to joining Cheyne, Ravi worked for ING Bank's proprietary investments desk and was solely responsible for managing a €400 million long/short portfolio of predominantly subordinate interests in European asset backed securities.
  • Bad credit computer financing: Without any discomfort By: Peter Thomsan - In the technological advanced world, digital gadgets are playing an important role by making the life of humans easy, comfortable and simple. With an aim to buy high-end gadgets such as computers, laptops, etc one has to spend hefty money from his or her pocket. But, limited salary and unlimited expenses has made most residents of the UK backed with bad or poor credit score.
  • Investment Banking and the Future of Wall Street By: Jose Roncal - The current economic meltdown has changed the face of Wall Street, possibly forever. For decades the energy in the market had been fueled by high-rolling investment bankers, but look what's happened in the last eight months. Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. Bear Stearns was snapped up by JPMorgan Chase, Merrill Lynch got bought out by Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley had to convert to bank holding companies just to stay in business. Five major investment banks . . .
  • Bad credit loans - refinancing loans for you By: Gordon Parkes - When you have bad credit, it can be difficult to find a loan. This can be frustrating if you need extra cash for essentials such as home repairs or improvements. However, there are bad credit loans available. In fact, there are numerous lenders who will pay out even if you have CCJs, mortgage arrears or have defaulted on previous loans.
  • Why credit report is so important - now undertand about it By: Allan Hausnork - Many people wonder why we want to check credit reports so in what's to follow. I'll try to tell you a little bit more about why this is done. Whilst having a good credit score has many advantages in general, it can even affect your chances of employment so it's worth checking it in advance if you're looking for certain kinds of job. Although some businesses will give you a background check most smaller businesses will not.

Comments

Search Ebay

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!


Add to Google
ArticleSnatch Authors:
Member Login Sign Up Submit Articles FAQ Submission Guidelines Top Authors
For Publishers:
Most Popular Articles Ezine Notifications Article RSS Feeds Terms of Service
For Everyone:
Blog About Us Link to Us Contact Us New Stuff Link Directory Privacy Policy Sitemap Resources
Our Sites:
Free Magazines Book Your Hotel Stay Free MySpace Tools Massive Video Collection Broadband Speed Test
Click here to submit your free, permanent ads to TheFreeAdForum.com!

Submit Your link to the Open Link Directory Project

Copyright 2005-2008 MJE Sales, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Proud member of the ArticleCkr Search Network Search Network!
ArticleSnatch.com is free for both publishers and authors to use and is supported entirely from advertising revenue.
Use of our service is protected by our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.