subject: Buying Real Estate Past-due Taxes - For Monster Rei Profits [print this page] No matter who you are, armed with the right info, you can be successful investing in real estate by buying real estate past due taxes. If you can determine the best homes to buy, the best time to buy them, and how to get them, you'll be on a fast track to success. The big secret to buying real estate past due taxes - is to buy after it's been "sold" at tax sale.
You're probably wondering why it's bad to bid at the tax auction. There are a few concerns. There's essentially no way to get property for low enough to profit, due to the competition. This method also ties up a lot of cash - you'll have to have a check for the entire amount of your bid with you. It's futile, even if you do get a deed: the owners have a year to pay off, and usually do.
Don't worry - there's a much easier and less risky way to get tax property. The best time to buy property is after the tax sale, at the end of the redemption period - directly from the owners themselves. Believe it or not, most of the remaining owners are those that don't want the hassle of the property anymore, and are just letting it go for taxes.
They'll be willing to sell for next to nothing. You'll find you're dealing with a lot of heirs, that got a property in a will that they don't want to keep up. Tell them you'd like to get the deed out of their hair sooner. Throw in $200 for their efforts. Then pay the back taxes and it's yours! Or sell quickly, and take your profits before the end of the redemption period.
Use these techniques, and you'll be well on your way to buying real estate past due taxes like the top dogs. Strike while the iron is hot - the foreclosure rate has produced a huge number of foreclosures for you to go after.
One more BIG tip before you go... in about half the states in the U.S., when someone bids more for a property than is owed for taxes, that overage amount is held for the owner to come in and collect. Often, owners don't know this. They've often moved, and thus don't get any notice that's sent to the tax sale address. And if the owner doesn't find out about it and collect it in time, the government seizes it.
Since this money isn't held at the state level, you're not subject to the state "unclaimed funds" money finder laws, in most places. So that means that you can charge whatever you want as a finder fee for your information and help recovering the money. Since real estate overages are often $10,000 plus, that can mean some really nice checks for you.
