Help! What is “tax lien certificate" and how can you buy a home like that?

Question

recently, my husband has been checking for homes that have been foreclose, but I think that everything is bs. That there are not homes that actually cost $30,000 for a four bedroom house that was build in 2002. Is it true?
In advance thanks for the answers.

Answer 1

If you don't research the county your are looking in, you may be in for a shock. Many counties "Sell" tax lien certificates; and all you get is the right to collect the taxes, not necessarily the right to forclose and take a property.

Talk to a real estate atty in the county you are looking before you "buy" anything.

Answer 2

the 'standard' introductory book to tax lien investing is "The 16% Solution" by Harry Moscowitz, Jr. {I think}.

Your husband needs to read it from cover to cover and then find out what the laws and procedures are in your area.


Btw, I know of nowhere in America where a tax lien can be used to foreclose on a house in less than 3 years. And their may not be any in less than 5 years.


This is a very specialized area of investing dominated by people with lots of experience in their local area. It is no use buying the tax lien on an industrial property that has significant pollution on it -- or on a house that has had termites for 5 years.

{a tax lien is when someone fails to pay their property taxes by the final due date and the government sells the right to collect those taxes to an investor. The taxes become a priority lien on the property -- ahead of any mortgage or other debt. in theory, the investor can, one day, compel the sale of the property to pay his advances, interest, and specific charges. Of course, if no one bids on the property, the lien holder can then enter a bid for the amount he is owed and receive the Deed -- free and clear of MOST prior encumbrances, BUT in whatever condition the property is actually in. ok?}

clear?