Tax lien and deed sales are typically auctions that begin bidding at the amount of taxes owed. This can also include any associated fees, such as advertising fees, documentation fees, notary fees, summons service costs, service costs, administrative fees, etc. Typically, penalties and interest are not included in the bidding price, as the penalties and interest assessed is what the tax lien certificate or deed holder will earn on the investment, so those penalties and interest are not included until the responsible party pays them, at which time that money is paid to the lien/deed holder.
Some properties may be acquired without auction in a sheriff sale, tax sale, or other surplus sale in which the properties have been “struck” to the county and are available “over the counter.”
Some smaller tax lien certificates can be acquired for as little as $50.00 and can hold a property value of thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Additionally, some of the tax lien certificates available have a face value of tens of thousands of dollars on properties with multi-million-dollar values. With tax liens & deeds, you can roll your earned interest from liens, and profits from seized properties, into those with higher values.
Turnaround times on tax liens and deeds vary from state to state. These turnaround times are called “redemption periods” and are mandated by state law. While some states apply a four-month redemption period, other have applied four-year redemption periods. Furthermore, redemption periods are not specific to tax liens, but also to some state’s tax deed. Georgia, for instance, has a one-year redemption period on their tax deeds.
