Best of Both Worlds - High-Return, Low-Risk Investment

There are risks involved in every type of investment. Some investments involve huge risks but give the investor the opportunity at reaping huge returns. Other investments are safer, but the return on the investment does not excite the imagination. It would be nice to have both, wouldn't it? A secure, safe investment with a very high likelihood of a strong return on investment, and a good possibility of an astronomical return on investment. Tax liens and tax deeds ARE that type of investment!

A HUGE Marketplace

Property tax MUST be paid by individuals, businesses, and other entities on virtually every parcel of land in America! Every county (or other municipality) needs and MUST collect property tax to fund municipal budgets/programs such as fire stations, police stations, public libraries, schools, parks, and roads.

Many property owners, especially in the economy of the last several years, are often delinquent in paying their property taxes. The counties understand this and try to work with the property owners as much as possible, but it doesn't change the fact that they need to collect the property taxes whether it is from the property owner or from an outside investor. To obtain that money, the counties place tax liens on delinquent properties, and allow outside investors to essentially pay the delinquent property taxes for the property owner. In return, the investor gets a nice (and sometimes phenomenal) return on their investment once the property owner redeems (pays the lien amount) their property. For more information on the lifecycle of a tax lien and the factors determining the fixed interest rate you'll earn on your tax lien certificate, see the Tax Collection Methods article.

Finding the Best Tax Lien and Tax Deed Investing Strategy

When it comes to tax lien and tax deed investing, there are many strategies to use. You may want to supplement your income or just find a better place to park your money and earn a return. You may already be a real estate investor and you want to add some tax lien certificates or tax deed properties to your portfolio. You may want to dedicate a whole lot of time to this or maybe just a few hours a week. You may have a little money to invest or a lot. It doesn't matter. Tax lien and tax deed investing can be a sound investment strategy for anyone.

The bottom line is that...

You are either going to make a nice return on your investment, or you are going to get a property for a fraction of its fair market value!

How Will This USPropertyTaxSales.com Help Me?

It depends on whether or not you are new to the whole concept of tax lien and tax deed investing.

A Nice Introduction to Tax Liens and Tax Deeds

If you are new to the world of tax lien/tax deed investing, or if you just want a refresher course, I'd recommend that you peruse the content accessed from the links on the left navigation bar.

First, you will want to know about the different tax collection methods used by counties/parishes/cities/towns to settle a delinquent property tax bill. For this information, view the Tax Collection Methods article. Once you have a better understanding of tax liens, tax deeds, and redeemable tax deeds, I'd recommend viewing the Tax Lien States. Tax Deed States, and Redeemable Tax Deed States articles. On these pages, you'll get a summary of how each states handles property tax liens, including auction/sale types used, the redemption period and earned interest rate for tax lien certificats and redeemable tax deeds, and any flat penalties that are added on to the delinquent tax bill.

If you have a specific state, or states, that interest you, you can skip to the State Summaries section. The State Summary page gives more in-depth information for each state, including the tax collection entity (such as Treasurer or Tax Commissioner), the due dates for property taxes, information on the tax sales, including the tax sale date or period, the administrator of the tax sale, and registation requirements. This page also includes "over-the-counter" opportunities for the state, as well as other helpful hints and strategies. If you buy a tax lien certificate or tax deed "over-the-counter", it essentially means you are purchasing a municipality/county/state-owned tax lien or tax deed. "Over-the-counter" tax liens and tax deeds can usually be purchased from the comfort of your own home, either through an online purchasing system, or by mail. You fill out an online or hard-copy application, submit the application along with the required amount, and you will receive a tax lien certificate or tax deed!

The 5-Day Tax Sale Newsletter Trial

Once you are up-to-speed on the essentials of tax lien and tax deed investing, I recommend that you sign up for the 5-Day Newsletter Trial subscription. This will give you a sneek peak at our premium Monthly Tax Sale Newsletter. The monthly newsletter has direct links to sale lists for ALL tax sales occurring that month across ALL states, along with the number of parcels available for each sale, sale registration information, and direct links to over-the-counter tax liens and tax deeds available for immediate purchase. To receive immediate access to the Monthly Tax Sale Newsletter, click the Join Now link, and then select the 5-Day Newsletter Trial subscription plan. You will need to fill out a form, but you will not have to supply any payment information. Once you have submitted the form, an email will be sent to your email address with instructions for accessing the Monthly Tax Sale Newsletter. You will have five days to preview the newsletter before your trial subscription expires. At any time during your trial subscription, you can switch to a premium monthly ($24.99), quarterly ($59.99), or annual ( $149.99) subscription.

USPropertyTaxSales.com Premium Content

Here's a summary of valuable services/features you get as a paying member of USPropertyTaxSales.com:

• Access to monthly tax sale newsletter:  the monthly newsletter has direct links to sale lists for all tax sales occurring that month across the U.S., along with the number of parcels available for each sale, sale registration information, and direct links to over-the-counter tax liens and tax deeds available for immediate purchase.
• Access to all State Reference pages: each State Reference page contains links to the tax sale page (along with the sale date) and the tax collector/treasurer home page for every county, parish, or municipality. Every State Reference page also contains population, home value, and household income data. Each State Reference page has sortable columns, so readers can find their county alphabetically, or based on total population, population growth, median home value, median household income, and other data.  
• A response to Web site or tax lien/deed investing questions within 48 hours: All questions/inquiries will be addressed within 48 hours, guaranteed. Questions/inquiries might include: Where can I find out more about "Quiet Title Action"?; or, How does a Bid Down Percentage of Ownership auction work?; or, Can you fix the tax sale link for Andrews County, Texas? We'll answer any question related to our site or tax lien/tax deed investing.

Each State Reference page has a table similar to the one found below, and each column can be sorted in ascending or descending order. By default, each State Reference page is sorted alphabetically by county/municipality. Possible use cases to sort by each column are described below:

• Total Population: You may want to research parcels in the most populous counties. Large counties tend to have more tax liens or tax deeds available, hence more opportunities. Or, maybe you want to research parcels in the less populous counties, as small counties may have less competition, hence you may get a tax lien or tax deed at a lower premium, or a tax lien certificate at a higher interest rate.
• Population Growth: Based on what you are looking for and your strategies, you may want to know the population growth rate for a county. Counties with stagnant or declining population growth rates may have a higher percentage of delinquent parcels. If your focus is on obtaining a property through a tax deed sale, and you plan on living in this property or renting out, you may want to look at a county with a growing population. Not always, but a growing population can indicate a healthy economy in that county, which can lead to increasing property values.
• Housing Units: A higher number of housing units in a county can indicate more opportunities for tax lien/tax deed investors.
• Median Home Value: This column can be used in different ways. Generally, higher home values will mean you spend more money upfront to obtain the tax lien certificate or tax deed, but it also means you have a better opportunity to get a nice return on your investment.
• Median Household Income: This column can be used in different ways. This value can be compared to the Median Home Value. These are only averages, but a large gap between Median Home Value and Medium Household Income can indicate a trend of distressed property owners.
  
• Rural Land %: This column indicates if the county encompasses a metropolitan or a rural area, or a combination of the two. Rural areas will tend to have more land-only parcels, as opposed to parcels with improvements.
• Metro Area: If you are looking for counties near a greater metropolitan area, this column will help you find those counties. 
• Tax Sale Date: This is the only column that is not sortable

Below is an actual excerpt of the Texas County Reference table:

Texas County Reference

County	2009 Pop. (Est.)	Pop. Growth Since 2000 (%)	Housing Units	Median Home Value ($)	Median Household Income ($)	Rural Land %	Metro Area	Tax Sale Date
Anderson	57,001	3.4	19,594	101,585	45,551	41	Palestine	TBD
Andrews	14,057	8.1	5,810	63,457	49,043	19	Andrews	TBD
Angelina	83,675	4.4	34,568	80,600	37,782	45	Lufkin	08/02/2011 Struck-Off
Aransas	24,826	10.3	14,969	111,008	40,789	34	Corpus Christi	08/02/2011 Struck-Off
Archer	8,912	0.7	4,048	120,744	51,616	89	Wichita Falls	TBD
Armstrong	2,065	-3.9	946	130,441	47,097	100	Amarillo	TBD
Atascosa	44,633	15.6	16,083	88,774	41,883	61	San Antonio	TBD Struck-Off
Austin	27,248	15.5	10,987	155,033	49,721	63	Houston	TBD Struck-Off

Our Mission

Our mission at USPropertyTaxSales.com is two-fold: 1) educate our readers on the benefits of tax lien and tax deed investing; 2) Provide a valuable service to our paying members by doing all of the research on tax sales being held throughout the U.S., and providing direct access to all of these lists.

Hopefully, you have found the information on this page helpful. And for those that decide to give USPropertyTaxSales.com a try, I promise that you will not be disappointed with our premium content.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to use the Contact Us page to send us an email. Thanks for visiting USPropertyTaxSales.com, and we wish you all the best in your investing endeavors!