Transcript:
Hey guys, it’s Casey Denman here from Tax Sale Academy.com
Thanks so much for joining me on today’s livestream here on Facebook. As always, at the conclusion of this livestream, if you’re looking to learn more about investing in tax defaulted real estate head to taxsaleacademy.com, that’s taxsaleacademy.com.
Alright, today we’re going to talk about something that frustrates me. Today we’ll be talking about buying tax sale lists from third parties. And when I say buying tax sale lists, that list might be just an excel spreadsheet of the legal description, parcel number and opening bid amount. Or it could be a very detailed list with pictures, descriptions and perhaps even estimated values.
If you spend anytime browsing message boards, Facebook groups or actively showing interest in tax sale investing you’ll eventually get solicited to purchase one of these tax sale lists. That list that is being advertised comes from a third party who specializes in selling these lists. The specific list we’re talking about is not the list that comes from the county which we’ll discuss later. It could be sold as a business opportunity or it could even be provided at a nominal amount in a genuine good faith effort of someone trying to be helpful. Whatever the situation is, the end start result is the buyer of these lists is accepting the information as factual and is basing their investment off of it.
Now, I know I might very well get knocked for this video, especially from those who are wasting their money and risking so much by buying these lists, so here’s my disclaimer. Some of these companies actually do provide helpful information. Auction calendars and that kind of thing can be helpful, but the lists themselves…. don’t ever buy one.
I have two primary reasons you should never, ever buy a tax sale list and I’m going to tell you what you need to do instead later in this livestream.
The first reason is simple and that is that you don’t need to. Every single state has the requirements, pursuant to state laws, just like it says in my state laws guides behind me here, to advertise the tax sale properties for sale. This might mean on a website, in a newspaper or maybe somewhere else. But this means that the lists are free in some manner in every single state.
Secondly, you need to sit back and think about what exactly you’re doing. Tax sale investing is buying and selling tax defaulted real estate. You’re investing hundreds, if not thousands or tens of thousands of dollars into real estate. This investment should be able to return that initial capital back and then lots more as profit. The level of risk you face is dependent solely upon that parcel of real estate. That’s it. You win or lose because of that property.
So why in the world, would you invest YOUR hard earned money into the information that someone else put together? A third party who’s assumingly is not interested in your investment, but is there to just sell a list? Why would you put all of your money into that person who you probably don’t even know?
That bought third party list might say a house is on the parcel, when in fact they made a mistake and the property being sold is the alley behind the house. They might have a nice one acre parcel on their list when in fact it’s a landlocked parcel. I could go on and on and on, but what you’re ultimately doing is gambling that the person who researched that list is correct. And, don’t get me wrong, I don’t know of anyone who is maliciously including incorrect information on any lists that they are selling. But I’ve been to thousands of auctions and I can tell you that EVEN the county office personnel make mistakes from time to time.
For you to accept someone else’s information as fact and to invest your money based on someone else’s research is absolutely foolish and I caution you not to do it! At the end of the day, if you wasted $20,000 buying a house that doesn’t exist, the ONLY person it affects is you. Not the county, not the person who sold you that list. You! That’s it.
Ok, so instead of buying that list, what should you do?
First off, let’s talk about getting the tax sale list for free from the county. And I’ve done videos in the past on accessing tax sale lists. But basically, all you need to do is browse to the website of county office that handles the tax sales wherever you’re interested in investing in and the list will likely be posted on their site. It could be the clerk of the county, the tax commissioner, tax collector, treasurer, or another county department with a similar name. If it’s not on their site, just call them and ask where you can access the list. Again, it’s free. The only time they’ll charge is in some very small rural, low budget counties they might ask that you cover the mailing expense or some counties have even asked me to cover the long distance fax charge before, but the list itself, accessing the list is free. So don’t ever feel like you have to pay for it.
Now, most lists are bare bones and will only include basic information. In some specific areas, they might provide a little more information and in rare situations they’ll provide photos and descriptions. Regardless of what they provide, however, you’re responsibility is to research the legally described parcel of real estate that’s being sold. You can just completely ignore any of the extras they provide. The photos of a house they provide might’ve been from a year ago and it has since been demolished, for example.
So, start from the basics. Start from scratch. Then go through that property from every different angle possible and learn absolutely everything you can about it FOR YOURSELF and then decide whether you should invest or not.
And the truth is that this is the most difficult part. Research equals results. There is so much to it guys. But your entire investment hinges on accurate and thorough research, on knowing what you’re doing.
And I’m sorry to break the news guys, but buying someone else’s tax sale list is not the closest thing to an easy button. It’s the closest thing to a risky investment is what it is.
So, go out and find that list yourself for free and get it directly from the county. Then research it yourself and make your investments off of your own research, not some strangers.
And please, don’t ever buy one of these lists.
Guys, that’s it for today’s livestream. If you want to learn more about locating these lists or researching them, browse through our youtube channel and for the most advanced training consider investing very small amount in yourself and joining the tax sale academy.
Also, guys, don’t forget to grab you copy of Tax Sale Playbook, which you can get for free at TaxSaleAcademy.com, again that’s TaxSaleAcademy.com. Just cover shipping and we’ll get it in the mail to you.
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That’s it for today guys. Make it a successful day.
Take care. Bye bye!