Tax Lien Certificates - An Investment Opportunity

If you have been looking for a way to earn some extra income through wise investments, you may be dismayed at the state of the American economy. Everywhere you turn, people are jumping out of the stock market and shoving there money somewhere safer, like gold or the mattress. It is a frustrating time for anyone who is looking to make money beyond their work income and actually get ahead in life. Thankfully, there are still some ways to do just that, and it happens to be a great time to do it. Tax lien certificates provide people just like you with a way to get involved with reasonable investments and make money that might not have been possible (or at least not nearly as profitable) just a few years ago.

Across the country, people find themselves unable to afford their property taxes on a daily basis. When this happens, the IRS will place a lien against the property, making it impossible for the owner to sell until it is taken away. If the homeowner continues to be unable to pay their taxes, the lien is enforced and the government is within their rights to move forward. This could mean selling the tax lien certificate to a third party. This third party could be you, and the chance to make money is two fold. You could either make your money by having the property owner pay the back taxes directly to you at a generous interest rate, or you could be rewarded the deed to the property if the owner fails to pay up. Either way, it is an investment that could wind up paying dividends.

Though getting into the purchase of tax lien certificates can be a good way to accumulate wealth or at least earn extra income, it should be noted that it is not without its risks. If you do not do some basic research before making a purchase, you could wind up with a piece of paper that is next to worthless. If the original owner of the property decided to declare bankruptcy, for instance, the IRS may take priority over your holdings. It’s also not a good idea to purchase a property or a tax lien certificate without seeing what you are getting into. Just having a description is not good enough to base your decision on. 

If you are looking to get involved in these investments, you will have to have some up front money. One of the reasons these sales go down is because they are looking for investors who have the immediate cash to settle up and take over the responsibility of the loan. You may have as much as 48 hours after the sale to come up with the money, but even that may be pushing it in many cases.