All About Tax Lien Certificates and Auctions :All About Tax Lien Certificates and Auctions All you need to know about the real deal involved with Tax Liens Certificates from someone who is actually actively investing in them all the time – Steve Gara, MS. This Powerpoint seminar is all you need to begin a nice lucrative investment alternative without any “hype” – only the facts gained from pure experience.


All About Tax Lien Auctions and Certificates :All About Tax Lien Auctions and Certificates Who is Steve Gara and why this online Powerpoint Seminar? Steve Gara has been an investor in the niche area of Real Estate for Tax Lien Certificates for the better part of almost 10 years now and has a successful and growingTax Lien resales practice. He is also a graduate of Cornell University – Yes the Ivy League School, where he holds a Master of Science Degree in Business (MSILR) in Management Science and Labor. This seminar is given to spread the word of the benefits of Tax Lien Investing and that any “average joe” can be successful in it without investing thousands of dollars as with a mortgage.


All About Tax Liens and Sales :All About Tax Liens and Sales Now, onto the stuff this seminar was meant for…What is a Tax Lien Certificate? A Tax Lien Certificate is a first lien on delinquent property that yields the holder of the certificate high interest rates. The property owner must pay back the original sum of taxes and other charges, plus interest accrued from the time the Tax Lien Certificate was issued. If the property owner fails to pay within the redemption period, the owner of the Tax Lien Certificate may be awarded an "absolute deed" for that property. The Tax Lien Certificate is also transferrable to someone else and can be legally sold that way through a variety of means such as ads, auctions, etc. What is a Tax Sale? A Tax Deed Sale is the sale or auction of a property where the owner has failed to pay owed property taxes. The sale or auction is for the deed (ownership) to that property.


Example of Liquidated Property by way of Tax Lien Certificate :Example of Liquidated Property by way of Tax Lien Certificate Here’s a real life example of what can happen when a Tax Lien Certificate doesn’t redeem and the buyer Chooses to apply to the County to foreclose on the property – HUGE Profits at the Tax Deed Sale auction!!! This is an example that was sold for a large profit margin…


All about Tax Liens and Sales :All about Tax Liens and Sales Fact: There are approx. 3000 separate Counties (or Parishes) depending on the State you live in the United States – And each County and State have differing rules related to Tax Lien purchasing. There are 3 basic types of liens: Lien – Bid Down and Premium - Unlike personal debts, tax liens on real estate "run with the land"; that is, a property owner becomes responsible for payment even if the tax obligation was incurred by a prior owner. Bid Down means to bid down the interest in an auction in order to own the lien and premium is another method by which it is the amount over what one would pay over a lien in order to own it. So if a State has an initial 18% interest rate, to be competitive, it must be bid downward from 18% (the highest rate). Premium is infinite…it can be any amount over a lien price. If a lien costs $25 and the premium paid is $50 then the total that needs to be paid to own the lien is $25+$50 = $75. Deed – Literally a Tax or similar Deed - A deed executed by the tax collector to the state, county or city when no redemption is made from a tax sale. A tax deed sale is the forced sale, conducted by a governmental agency, of real estate for nonpayment of taxes. Hybrid – Can be either Lien or Tax Deed ** Beware that the IRS also has it’s own brand of tax lien and if a property comes with an IRS lien, if acquired, it needs to be paid first or avoid the property altogether.


All about Tax Liens and Sales :All about Tax Liens and Sales There are many bally-hooed seminars, books and lists and other sources of information out there but they quickly become outdated. With 3000 + Counties, there are so many differing rules and no standardization that information becomes quickly outdated. So what is one to do? It all comes down to the simple fact that you must do your own research and contact the County you are interested in investing with and find out all you can on Liens and Deeds. Google and Metacrawler are the only web search tools you’ll ever need to find the websites on the Counties and start doing the research via the web. You can also use Google Earth to plug in a parcel or physical address or coordinates from a GPS locator to actually “see” the property in question and research it. We can help you with this guidance through our online and in person seminars. Our mission is to help empower and inform the new investor and this in turn will help generate new leads for us…it’s really that simple.


All about Tax Liens and Sales :All about Tax Liens and Sales Some Counties now conduct Tax Lien and Deed Sales exclusively online, some require you to be present in person to register and bid and yet some others require in person attendance for one or the other – Liens or Deed Sales. In either case, you should contact the Tax Collector or similar in the County and State that you are researching to get the most up to date information. There are simply too many counties for any one entity to keep up on all the changes, country-wide. Each State that is a “Lien” State, also has differing ways to bid for the certificates and also have differing interest rates and maturity years on the liens they sell


All about Tax Liens and Sales :All about Tax Liens and Sales This all sounds great…is this all really true? YES – BUT! There indeed are quite a few risks to watch out for: DO NOT Buy These kind of Liens!!!! “Junk” parcels – odd shaped or useless (I.e. “Parking Lot”) Redemptions – Not favorable if seeking to eventually foreclose on a parcel Withdrawn Parcels – County claims them and doesn’t mention it Parcels that have plain wrong information on them Churches, Schools, Government Buildings and other related types of structures – Bad investments – You will never own them Encumbrances - A claim or lien on a property which complicates the title process Right of Redemption: In some Tax Deed states, the Deed purchased at auction may be encumbered by a Right of Redemption. This encumbrance is basically a period of time where the former owner can buy back the property from the successful auction bidder. The amount of time the former owner has to buy back to property is know as the Redemption Period. Always use the “Caveat Emptor” – Buyer Beware philosophy because if you aren’t satisfied with your purchase….guess what? The County will NOT take it back – No guarantees on purchases and you are “stuck” with it.


All about Tax Liens and Sales :All about Tax Liens and Sales So What’s so great about all of this? Ability to get a great and secure investment that either redeems and provides you a check with interest or to foreclose on a property you can get much more $$$ for when put up for Sale. Ability to transfer a Lien and literally “resell” it for more than what it was bought for on places online such as Ebay, Bid4Assets, etc. – Buyer takes on “risk of redemption” and getting a check of only the amount the seller paid for when they purchased the Lien. Cheapest and easiest way for anyone to get into Real Estate investing – No huge investments such as a Bank Loan, no Credit needed, no Real Estate license needed…Tax Lien Certificates can be bought for as little as $20.00 to upwards of more than $20,000! All with a very high interest rate!! "Rule of 72": This is a basic investment rule that estimates the amount of time it will take to double your money. Take the percentage of interest on your money and divide it into 72. So, if your savings account is earning 5% interest, it will take over 14 years to double your money (72/5 = 14.4 years). But if you invest your money in Tax Lien Certificates at 18% interest, it will take only 4 years (72/18 = 4 years).


Online Tax Lien Sales example :Online Tax Lien Sales example Example screen shot of an online County auction (in this Case, Maricopa County – Phoenix, AZ):


County Online Auction :County Online Auction Here’s an example of an online auction where actual parcels can be bid on. This example is for AZ – a “bid down interest” State and you simply put the lowest interest rate in and submit (after registering and establishing a budget first of course). You can then bid on as many parcels as you want up to the budget/deposit you specify but each County has different requirements so best to check with the Counties first.


County Auction – In Person :County Auction – In Person If you want to attend a County that only does in person auctions, please contact the County of interest first and find out the requirements and Liens or Deeds on sale beforehand as some may deny you admission to the auction without advance registration of some kind and of course, each County has different rules. Good luck to all and happy bidding and investing! 


Help to fund all this valuable and FREE Info: :Help to fund all this valuable and FREE Info: Only purchase that is needed (to fund this free factual information I have provided) is $10 via paypal (stevengara@hotmail.com) and upon receipt I will provide you with a website on which you search for the contact information on ANY County in the USA that you have an interest in investing in!! I will also update these slides with more information in the coming weeks so they are kept with the most relevant information possible. Send any email inquiries also to: Stevengara@hotmail.com Mr. Gara is also available as a speaker and has spoken at numerous Tax Lien and Real Estate events. He is currently based in Florida.