Left over tax liens in Florida

Eric,
I'm real interested in buying liens after listening to someone speak about it at a DG seminar. My question is...what constitutes a "good property"? Are there specific counties in Florida that we should look at? Or just any county? I just started the SA and am looking forward to getting to the tax lien portion!

Thanks for your post!
-Teresa

usually are more interested in the interest rate than the property. Any county in Fl. starts the bidding off at 18%, & then is bidded down to who ever wins. That winning interest rate is what the investor will make on the investment of paying off the back taxes on the property. The investor will receive that amount until the owner redeems it, by paying off the back taxes plus the interest or until the 2 yr. redemption period passes. After that period the property will go to a tax deed foreclosure auction. Then the public gets to bid on the property with an opening bid of the back taxes plus the interest that has accrued for that period.
Now if you are high bidder, you get the property; but you DO NOT have marketable title; with a tax deed you can not finance nor resell the property because you can't get a title insurance policy and no bank nor buyer would take the risk. ... As per Florida law you must either wait 4 years or get a "quite title". It can 3 months to 18 months to quite a title, depending upon the lawyer & the court docket.
If you're planning on buying the property after the tax lien redemtion period then you should be researching which county & which property you want.

Both Eric and Gary for the info and the details of owning a tax deed. Great info!

Sorry I have not posted lately. We have a lot of things going on here at the office.

It will not matter a whole lot on which counties your are in because there are good and bad properties everywhere.
You just have to find something that has value compared to what we have to pay.
Usually I try to get liens at 5% of the value of the property or less. (usually around 1% of the value)
Example: if the property is valued at 100,000 dollars then I would want to pay 5,ooo or less for it.

Anything that has a structure on it will usually be a good lien that most likely get redeemed. Properties that are land can be great as well. just make sure they have value to them and are in an area where someone could do something with it.

Hope that helps.

I like this - great Info... Thanks!

Florida Tax Certificate Process

Please note: While the following information is totally accurate, it is not meant to be a comprehensive explanation of Chapter 197 of the Florida Statutes which is the law governing tax certificates and their auction or sale.

What are tax certificates?

In Florida, taxes become due November 1, and become delinquent if not paid by April 1 of the following year. The Tax Collector in every Florida county then prepares a list of the properties with delinquent taxes and sends out notices to all property owners with unpaid property taxes stating that a tax certificate will be auctioned on or before June1 if the taxes are not paid.

The tax certificate’s face amount consists of the sum of the following: delinquent real estate tax (unpaid amount), interest on the delinquent amount (1.5% for each of the months of April and May - and June if the auction is held in June), Tax Collector’s commission (5% on the delinquent amount), and the newspaper’s advertising charge (& sale costs or other costs).

Tax certificates are a first lien against property which means there are very few other claims against a property which would be paid before the tax certificate lien. It even supersedes some IRS liens.

The Auction

The property taxes become delinquent on April 1. On or before June 1 the Tax Collector must start the tax certificate auction (Note: tax certificates and the auction of them is governed by Chapter 197 of the Florida Statutes. All requirements mentioned in this document come from Chapter 197 without the legalese).

To make a simplified analogy, think of the purchase of a tax certificate as a loan to the property owner. In return, the investor receives interest on the money loaned.

In Florida, the tax certificate conveys no property rights. It is simply a “loan” carrying an interest rate.

The certificates are advertised once a week for three consecutive weeks before the auction.

The interest on a certificate ranges from 0 to 18%. Bids are entered with the certificate going to the bidder willing to take the lowest interest rate. Simple interest accrues on a monthly basis. If the certificate carries an interest rate of 12%, then interest will accrue at 1% every month until the certificate is redeemed. Once a certificate is issued, providing the redemption of the certificate is after May 31, the least an investor will receive in interest is 5% (Florida Statutes) except for a bid of 0%. A certificate won with a 0% bid earns no interest. The investor is guaranteed 5% over the life of the certificate IF THE CERTIFICATE IS REDEEMED. Certificates are good for 7 years from the date of issuance. At the end of 7 years, the certificate is retired (no longer exists). If the certificate is not sold to an individual, a certificate will be issued to the county bearing an interest rate of 18%, and may be purchased by contacting the Tax Collector’s office. Most counties today do not issue actual certificates anymore. The certificate is kept as an electronic file at the Tax Collector’s office.

Now you own a tax certificate, so what can happen next?

A certificate holder is not allowed to contact the owner of the property carrying the delinquent taxes for two years. Such contact can result in costly legal action.

When the owner pays the delinquent taxes, the interest is calculated and a check is sent out with a notice to the certificate holder.

The certificate can be sold and transferred (for about $2.25) to another name.

Let’s say the owner doesn’t pay the delinquent taxes. Two years from the date of the delinquency (April 1) but no longer than 7 years, the tax certificate holder can request a tax deed application. This process starts the foreclosure of the property. To foreclose the property, the certificate holder making application for a tax deed has to pay the Tax Collector an application fee, a title search fee and all amounts required for redemption or purchase of all other outstanding tax certificates, interest, omitted taxes, and delinquent taxes as well as applicable Clerk of Circuit Court fees, relating to the real estate. In most cases the property is scheduled to go to sale at public auction by the Clerk of Circuit Court within 3 to 4 months from the date of the tax deed application. Holding the certificate creates no advantage towards owning the property. The highest bidder becomes the owner of the property. If the property is a non homesteaded parcel, the opening bid is the amount of the taxes, accrued interest, plus costs and fees involved in a tax deed application. If it is a homesteaded property, the opening bid is half the assessed value plus the tax certificate face value and costs. IF THE PROPERTY DOES NOT SELL, THE TAX CERTIFICATE HOLDER IS REQUIRED TO TAKE DEED TO THE PROPERTY. IF THE PROPERTY IS NOT SALEABLE, THE CERTIFICATE HOLDER LOSES THE ENTIRE TAX CERTIFICATE INVESTMENT. BUYER BEWARE. Know what you are purchasing.

County Held Certificates

Certificates that don’t sell at auction become the property of the County and are offered for public purchase at a time and place announced after the auction ends. The unsold certificates carry an 18% interest rate per Florida Statute beginning on the date the certificate was struck off to the County. In Sarasota County, the five-percent minimum mandatory interest does not apply when a certificate is purchased from the County. And County Held Certificates redeemed within the same month they are purchased earn no interest for the certificate holder.

If any one is interested in buying some great liens with minimal effort then reply back to me with your email and I will send you some info.
we actually have liens ready to go that we can sell to you. Most of which are already close or past the redemption period. So you will be able to foreclose quick or right away.

talk to you all soon

This feed of posts are invaluable. I'm going to follow up and get into the arena of tax liens. I would like to buy at least one to get my foot in the door. I will move up from there.

Making 18% interest is awesome. I don't know of an easier way to make that kind of money, it sure beats keeping money in the bank.

Thanks, I look forward to more posts here

Mikessler
Work smarter not harder

Eric,
I am very interested in getting more information about buying some great liens with minimal effort and would very much like to talk with you about tax liens. I have sent you a PM and hope to hear back from you soon, I know your very busy and I hope to talk with you very soon.

Steve

If any of you are intersted in those liens we have available just send me a message with your full name, email, and phone number. I will then have the division of our company call you that has all the liens we have available to buy right now.

talk to you soon

Hi,

Where are the properties located?

Those liens are going to be all over the country. (well at least in states that sell liens) Most of the states that we offer will be in FL, OH, AL, CO, and AZ.
You should be able to take a look as well before you decide to buy liens.

Yes that touch me been through so much diabtes but like realstate I keep fiten till I win so thanx

Been tryin to do that exact thing in indiana, and everyone tells me that they have no 2nd sale, and they wont just sell them to me across the counter, whats up with that?

I dont know why they wont sell them over the counter but I think it has to do with the fact that Indiana only has a 1 year redemption period.
They do have the second sale in IN called the commissioner sale. so you probably have to specifically say that.
They will do them in march usually and they will be on this site.
www.sri-taxsale.com and then you click on commissioner sales.

Hope that helps for IN

In Minnesota Each county tax lean sale is a diffrent time of year. I think this goes for any state. There are diffrent tax leans throuht the year.

No that is not how every state is. It really just depends on the state. Some of them will be only one time a year and some states will let the county decide when they want to do it. That is why they will be throughout the year.