New to Tax Lien and Deed Investing

[Julia Samaniego]

Hello ya’ll, new here, just joined, am wanting to get into Tax Lien and Deed Investing (auction and OTC). Does anyone happen to know if there is anyone that can help or at least guide me to a person, place or thing lol that would have reputable training. I’ve seen a few websites about seminars/training, while google searching but then see reviews that aren’t so great. Any and all advice, suggestions welcome!

Thank you in Advance 😊

[Bruce Lynn]

Letting us know where you are or where you plan to invest is probably the first step.

Why tax liens/deeds?

Why OTC?

My advice is don't take any national road tour class.  They are excellent at making you run to the back of the room and pay $5000-$10000-$25,000 for training that won't be applicable to your area.  They'll also want to sell you a software subscription you will never use.

Learn from someone that actually invests in your area of interest. This type of investing is often very local. So go find that local person who teaches cheap classes, or provides a 1hr overview at a local REIA.

Read the book the 16% solution for a general overview of concepts and ideas.

[Julia Samaniego]

Quote from @Bruce Lynn:

Letting us know where you are or where you plan to invest is probably the first step.

Why tax liens/deeds?

Why OTC?

My advice is don't take any national road tour class.  They are excellent at making you run to the back of the room and pay $5000-$10000-$25,000 for training that won't be applicable to your area.  They'll also want to sell you a software subscription you will never use.

Learn from someone that actually invests in your area of interest. This type of investing is often very local. So go find that local person who teaches cheap classes, or provides a 1hr overview at a local REIA.

Read the book the 16% solution for a general overview of concepts and ideas.

I appreciate your response. I am in Texas, in between Austin and San Antonio. I plan to start investing in Texas. As for why the way it was explained to me it seemed feasible to do, even this late in the game.  I am ordering this book and any other suggestions on books as well. I appreciate the heads up about the seminars. I figured it might be something like that. Will look locally for resources. I am just trying to get as much knowledge as possible. 
Thank you again

[Bruce Lynn]

Ok...Texas....just a few thoughts.

OTC is mostly trash.  Now and then you can find a gem, but we don't really have a lot of OTC for the most part and what there is mostly is stuff no one wanted at the sale.  That's the flood zone stuff, or stuff where value is less than what is owed, or maybe partials, land locked, drainage ditches, stuff like that.  I'll bet you would dig thru 1000 properties if there are that many to find a decent OTC deal in Texas.  Sales are well attended by good buyers for the most part and the good stuff typically will sell at auction.

In Texas you pretty much need to be available to attend the sales in person on Tuesdays.  You pay same day, same hour, or even in some places like Dallas county the same minute you buy in CASH or cashier's checks.  So no loans possible typically.  Every location a little different as to how they want payment, who it goes to, and when, but general rule is same day. Most sales in person.  Texas allows online sales now, but not many places doing it. Burnet county near you seems to have put some lots online for auction, kind of as a test it seems.

No one redeems in my experience so the 25-50% rule is a bit of a myth.  Can happen, but pretty rare.  When you win, chances are you will get the property.  Typically you will need to hold for 2 years before reselling. Forget the 6month idea, nearly impossible to sell before holding for 2 years.

That's some of the basics.

You've probably got some good counties around you to try.   I've never been to Travis or Bexar county sales, but imagine there is a lot of competition and money there.  I have seen some properties that looked good in Kerr county the past couple of years, but chose to go to other sales instead.

[Ned Carey]

@Bruce Lynn Is one of the key guys here for his knowledge on TX tax sales. 

Although I do not deal in TX what he say is pretty typical of tax sales today. Remember these are auctions, so there will be experienced people who know how to play the game very well bidding against you. It is much more competitive and therefore not as profitable and more risky than those selling books imply. 

That is not to say you shouldn't try, just be prepared with realistic expenctaions. Often a good place to learn is the county websites that often have information about the sale and the rules. 'Ther are three things to be aware of

1) The rules and laws and how they might affect your profitabiity (including hidden costs)

2) Exactly what are you bidding on.. SOmetimes the descriptions can be hard to understand or even be misleading

3) The true as is value of what you are bidding on. The assesed value or a Zillow etc estimate of value is not good enough

[Don McAlpine]

Hi Julia - I'm a tax lien and deed investor in the Austin area and frequently attend the Bexar, Williamson, and Travis County auctions.  PM me if you'd like to chat.

[Bruce Lynn]

Quote from @Don McAlpine:

Hi Julia - I'm a tax lien and deed investor in the Austin area and frequently attend the Bexar, Williamson, and Travis County auctions.  PM me if you'd like to chat.

I've never been to Travis County or Bexar County.  How do you feel like the auctions go?  Is there a lot of people that show up?  Is bidding crazy?  Any deals, or are they mostly close to retail pricing?

[Don McAlpine]

Quote from @Bruce Lynn:

Quote from @Don McAlpine:

Hi Julia - I'm a tax lien and deed investor in the Austin area and frequently attend the Bexar, Williamson, and Travis County auctions.  PM me if you'd like to chat.

I've never been to Travis County or Bexar County.  How do you feel like the auctions go?  Is there a lot of people that show up?  Is bidding crazy?  Any deals, or are they mostly close to retail pricing?

Williamson & Travis are kind of similar. You see the same people every month, many of whom are proxy bidders. There are bank foreclosures and tax auctions going on so when there are a lot of properties being auctioned it can get a little chaotic with a lot of attendees. Prices get bid up. Hays County auctions are less frequent but I have found them to have smaller attendance and more reasonable selling prices. Most of the best tax deed properties in Bexar are struck off prior to the sale, and there are frequently properties at the auction that haven't sold at previous auctions with very high opening bids.