Transcript:
Hey there, it’s Casey Denman from TaxSaleAcademy.com and thanks for joining my for this week’s tax sale question segment. Patricia wants to know if there is a master list for all tax sale properties being offered.
Hi Patricia, thanks so much for your question. In short the answer is, NO. But let me explain why.
The local property taxes are handled by the local level. These are the taxes that trigger the delinquent tax sale process. In the large majority of the states, this tax sale process will also be held at the local level. So, the list that you are seeing at the local level is distributed by the local level.
So when you’re looking for a list, you should always go to the local level to get the most accurate and up to date list.
Now, there are some companies that try to market foreclosure or tax sale lists, but there are a number of issues with this approach or any approach where there is a master list of sorts.
The first one is that they can’t possibly include every single property in every single county. There are over 3,000 counties in the US. Some of these counties actually don’t post their lists online. I was recently told to get a copy of the local newspaper in one rural county if I wanted a tax sale lsit. I can guarantee that these list selling companies are scouring the classifieds section of every county.
Secondly, these list change often. In some areas, they’ll change on a daily basis. So a master list would need to not only be able to source thousands of lists, but they would have to review them every single day for changes.
And then lastly, since everything is handled at the county level, the accuracy will be much better at that county level. It’s like that game in kindergarten where one kid whispers the next kid something and it goes around in a circle until the last kid says it out loud and it’s completely wrong. With a master list, you’ll be entrusting the creator of that list with it’s accuracy and ultimately your money. That is something I’d never do for a matter of convenience.
So as you can see a master list doesn’t exist for a variety of reasons. With that said, sourcing a list on the local level is not nearly as hard as you think. Simply determine the areas you want to invest in, navigate to their site or give them a call and then ask for the list. It’s simple, easy and accurate.
So Patricia thanks again for your question and I truly hope this helps. If you have another question or anyone watching has a question, please feel free to leave it below in the comments and I’ll certainly answer it and might just shoot a video like this one.
If you’d like more information on the training programs we offer, in both a free and premium setting, just take a look at the description down below for lots of incredibly helpful links or head to TaxSaleAcademy.com.
Take care and make it a successful day!