All Forum Posts by: Jerry K.

@Richard Murillo A specific book on tax lien laws does not exist. Each state that sells tax liens/certificates has their own laws, and sometimes they can vary by county too. Do an internet search using the keywords like "Arizona tax certificate statutes" then look for the actual state website. Some tax lien gurus have done a good job of search engine optimization and get their website listed above the state websites. You'll have a lot of reading to learn how the process works in each state. 

You also asked for the "states and counties are best to buy". Ask 10 different tax lien or deed investors and you'll get 10 different answers. There is so much to learn that investors tend to specialize in specific areas and learn the best way to navigate for those states/counties/cities.

Determine what your end goal is going to be; 

1) earn a decent rate of interest 

2) end up with the underlying property 

From that decision you look at tax liens/certificate investing for interest or looking at tax deed investing where you end up with the property sooner. In popular areas, the interest rates get bid low or if the rate is fixed and the county allows a premium over the amount owed to be bid, then premiums get high which reduces your return. But there are so many variations on how interest is earned (does the state allow interest earned on premiums or not, is there a penalty rate). If these terms I used are confusing, then prepare to read a lot - and no one book covers it all.

It's a pretty big learning curve and there are many ways it can go wrong if you don't fully understand the statutes - you can't walk through the property, and a host of other pitfalls. Concentrate on one specific area first and you can grow from there.

@Account Closed Thanks for the update. One down, one to go. Interesting to read how this is progressing for you.

@JR Haseloff Did you follow through on the tax foreclosure? How did it go?

Good to hear it's moving forward. I had to look up that 'out of business' LLC rule for Arizona after your last pist. I'm always learning new facets even after years of AZ tax lien investing. Keep us updated.

@Jeremy Thompson To echo Ned's advice; Read through the AZ tax lien statutes. They define the rules. Things like how a tax certificate can be voided after you bought it, how long the owner has to redeem (pay back the taxes). The details on how to foreclose on a certificate. How long a certificate is valid before it expires worthless if you haven't foreclosed and the owner has not redeemed.

Like Ned, I too have set up some keyword alerts for tax liens/certificates etc. Not everybody posts about liens in just one forum. Ned's 3 keys are golden - follow them.

While Ned had nice words to say about me, I'll clarify to say that I know about tax certificate sales in northern Arizona counties and Pinal county. I have never invested in Maricopa county and that county has some slightly different rules than the other counties in AZ. So add reading the county tax certificate rules in addition to the state rules.

Drop me a message if you have some specific questions. And follow Ned's posts for overall lien strategies. There are many others here on BP that invest in liens/certificates/deeds from all over and can talk about the differences for their areas of expertise.

@Jeremy Thompson I live in Illinois but I invest in tax liens in Northern Arizona. I have a blog here on Biggerpockets where I talk about some of the process of AZ tax lien investing.

A few posts you can read to start you off are:

First Time Tax Lien Investor - your First Step

Basics for Online Tax Lien Auction process

Worried about EPA issues? They have a website...

The highest rate liens are properties that are...

Some typical Tax Lien results of mine...

Tax Certificate – To Foreclose or not to Foreclose? A Case Study

There are several other posts but these should get you started.

@Michael Lazzizzera great tax deed find! Not sure how I missed this post until today.  You may have already closed a deal for the billboard, but another factor to the board being permitted is who actually owns the billboard. Most times, the land owner does not own the structure. Abandoned billboards are great to bring back to life and earn a steady income stream, but many structures are owned by the company that leased the land - and not the landowner.

Billboard permits vary by state and sometimes local statutes. Most of the time only the owner of the actual board can get/renew the permit. I know of cases where a company let a board go dormant for years. Someone new strikes a land lease deal with the landowner, gets a permit, restores the board and leases it to advertisers  - only to have the original owner of the structure show up with receipts for building the original structure. The court asks to see any bill of sale from the original structure owner to either the new land lease holder or the landowner. When there is no bill of sale, the original billboard owner gets the billboard back.

@David Faulkner I haven't waded into Maricopa tax sales. Lots of people with way more experience than me for the area. When I get my butt out of Illinois and into AZ full-time, then I might give Maricopa a chance. When I travel to AZ, I tend to spend more of my time in northern AZ so I know it better than Phoenix.

I post the auction results each year on BP for Yavapai and Coconino counties in the north and Pinal to the south. Example : Yavapai 2017 results post. Average rates are trending a little higher since 2013 as the number of bidders has dropped. I think institutions are falling away as interest rates of other investments are starting to move higher. The big boys can get higher returns for less work elsewhere.

I don't invest to get the property so I'm not a good person to talk about profits from tax foreclosures. Reading about the lack of deals in Maricopa for flippers and buy & hold investors seems to indicate using tax certificates for eventual foreclosures is not easy in the current market. 

Any Maricopa certificate holder that is near the conclusion of the 3 year redemption period is probably seeing the owners of their underlying properties are getting prospected pretty hard by investors with cash offers "before the property is foreclosed and lost for taxes".

Thanks @Josh Carr. I've looked at OTC liens in IL and found my time is spent better elsewhere. There are opportunities in OTC Illinois liens, but I can find returns easier in other places with better underlying properties. Tax liens are not my main investment strategy, so I try to allocate my time accordingly.

@Account Closed Just curious how the remaining foreclosures went on the vacant parcels you mentioned in this thread?