Monday, January 18, 2010

The Key To Your Investing Success Is Tax Lien Certificates

By Freidrich Haynes

Every now and then, something happens and someone fails to pay their taxes. In many cases this is a simple oversight and they make arrangements with the government to pay their taxes and everything goes on as normal. However, in those situations where the individuals do not make good on the taxes that they owe, the government can (and usually will) place a lien on property owned by the person who previously owned the property.

Typically what happens is a lien is placed on their home; however, any property owned by the person can have a lien on it. The government can hold onto the lien for as long as they want, or they can sell the tax lien certificate to an investor and allow them to do what they want with it.

Tax lien certificates allow the holder to make a decision about the property the lien covers. In most cases, an investor will charge the person who owns the property with the lien on it a monthly fee until the price of the lien, plus interest is paid off. However, if they believe that the person is not going to pay what they owe, they are able to sell the property in question so that they can get the money that is owed to them.

If they are not careful, the person owing the taxes could be in deep water. That is because no matter how little they owe, their house can have a lien on it and if the government so chooses they can sell the lien to an investor. For example, if you owe the government five thousand dollars and they put a lien on your million-dollar property, you could lose your home and a good deal to go a long with it all in the name of that five thousand dollars.

One man's bad fortune is another man's to gain. While most investors will hold on to tax lien certificates and use them for long term investments, some do choose to demand payment if full and end up getting a home for the price of the taxes owed. Typically, however, this doesn't happen. Most homeowners are more than happy to do what is needed to and it becomes a great investment as well.

The next time you are searching for investment opportunities, then perhaps tax lien certificates are for you. Sometimes you can purchase a tax lien of a thousand dollars and end up with a growing dollar amount that was unheard of before. - 23309

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