Tax Lien Certificates

With The Average Tax Sale List Being Sold for $15 to $50 You Could Save An Armful of Cash Learning How to Practically Never Pay For A Tax Sale List Again

I see it all the time, beginning investors paying an enormous amount of money to buy a tax sale list that, with the right knowledge, they could have for free. Sure the amount you would shell out on tax sale lists is a fraction when compared to the profits you stand to make buying tax lien certificates and tax deeds. But come on lets not be wasteful, the point is to try and keep as much of the profits as possible.

Let's think about it. With over 3200 plus counties across the United States and the average cost of a tax sale list ranging from $15 to $50 bucks each, an investor could spend $48,000 to $160,000 a year on tax sale lists. Wow, that's a lot of money to hand-over for some information that you could be getting for free.

Let's be realistic, chances are you'll never spend that much, it's more likely that you'll need 25 to 65 tax sale lists a year. Even at that volume you could save yourself $375 to $3250 a year. With a little insight you could purchase another tax lien or tax deed and begin earning interest at 16% to 50% per year. Better yet, if you did your research right, it doesn't get redeemed and you become the owner of a valuable piece of property for a fraction of it's true market value.

Here's the kicker, the tax sale list companies don't want you to know that they scan, swipe and download all of the information from the county websites for free. Then they turn around and sell this free information to investors for $15 to $50 bucks a list. Sure it saves the investor from having to find that information on his own but it's really not that hard to find to begin with. You just have to know where to look.

For example, I just visited the website for one of the main providers of tax sale lists. They want $65 for the Navajo, County tax sale list. So I surfed to the Navajo County Website and downloaded the same information for free saving me $65 bucks. Not bad for one minutes worth of work. Better in my pocket than theirs.

So here's how I did it and you can too;

• First, you have to locate the web address for the desired county. As a tax sale investor you'll eventually need to learn how to find public information fast. I've discovered a few time and money saving resources. When it comes to finding county websites I usually will visit NACO.org (National Association of Counties Online).
  
  When you get to NACO.org click on "About Counties" then on "Find a County". At that point you'll be brought to a page displaying a map of the United States. Simply click on the desired state, then the desired county. When the county page loads, look to see if the county name is a hyperlink. If so it will take you to the county website. If not you may have to try google or call the county.



• Second, navigate to the tax collector or treasurers page. When you arrive on the county website you'll have to find and navigate to the page dedicated to the collection of delinquent real estate property taxes. More often than not this is the county treasurer or tax collector. Sometimes you'll see a departments link on the menu which will load a page listing the links for the various county department pages. If not, try to find the county site map page as this will display all pages on the county website.



• Third, find the link to download the tax sale list. Once you've found the right department and page simply snoop around for information on "delinquent property taxes", "tax sale information" or "tax sale list". If you still have trouble finding it, pick up the phone and call the county. Sometimes they'll offer to mail it on a disk saved as an excel spreadsheet (my preferred format). In some cases, they may charge a small shipping and handling fee. But always try to get the tax sale list for free from the website or via email.

In conclusion, you could save yourself a dump truck full of cash over your career as a tax sale investor by knowing how to get tax sale lists for free. In addition, you could use those savings to generate 16% to 50% or more by investing in tax liens and tax deeds. And if you've done your homework correctly, you could become the proud new owner of a valuable piece of real estate for a fraction of its true market value.

Steven E. Waters is an experienced and active investor of tax liens and tax deeds, author of "Creating Wealth Without Risk™" and acting president of Tax Lien University, Inc.