A note about the current status of Tax Lien and Tax Deed investing

Through the years I have been able to profit and benefit by investing in Certificates of Purchase or Tax Lien Certs at county desks around Arizona.  In many cases I purchased liens which were already delinquent 3 years and therefore ready to start the foreclosure process.   Starting at the 2004 tax sale the scene started getting very competitive and somewhat frustrating.  Interest rates were bid low (from the statutory limit of 16%) and decent pieces of land were getting harder to come by. The February 2005 auction was very discouraging.  Mohave County began a new online auction process which greatly opened the door to additional bidders.  Tax Liens on worthless strips of un-buildable land were being bid down to 0% interest.  Other auctions were equally bad. 

  In our very hot real estate market and very low interest rate environment (not to mention the internet as an effective marketing and research medium) these sort of things are to be expected.  However tax lien opportunity is not dead.  There are still many counties with  1000's of old (+3year) liens on their books that are begging to be grabbed up and foreclosed on.  In Coconino County the Grand Canyon Estates Subdivision is still ripe for the picking.  I believe the Sunsites situation in Cochise is similar. 

   We pulled our Tax Lien Investor Handbook and other information from our web pages this year as we assumed we were only helping things get worse.

   But if you are interested in Tax lien investing, my best advice currently is to visit some of the County sites and read all about the Treasurer's Information.  There is a ton of material out there.

*Note on 10/17/2007 - It will be interesting to see how the slow down in real estate and related hype will effect this year's tax sales.  Hopefully we will start to see some interest rates climb and more opportunities available.  Sales are published in January for February auctions.