Indiana Tax Sale Bonanza Begins This Year - Commissioners Sales.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gary, Indiana, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) December 30, 2011 -- Most Indiana property tax collectors are about to finally "catch up".

After years of holding sporadic tax lien sales (or cancelling them completely), nearly all Indiana counties had an on-time primary tax sale this fall. Tax lien sales, which are essential to help the counties recoup unpaid property taxes, were often
delayed for years because of confusion arising from a reassessment of all Indiana properties over 10 years ago.

Thousands of tax lien investors attend Indiana tax lien sales each year because of the double-digit interest that can be earned on each and every tax lien they buy - if the property owner is able to pay it off. If not, the tax lien buyer assumes ownership of the property as the only source of repayment.

Luckily, over 95% of all homeowners who go through the tax lien sale are able to pay off the tax lien investor, making investor acquisitions of property quite rare.

Nevertheless, it's crucial that the tax lien investor only buy liens against properties with a value greater than the tax lien investment, in case the investor ends up with the property. And bidding is fierce because many large companies attend the sale too and need to place millions of dollars of investments at each sale.

The effect of the cancelled and delayed tax lien sales? With the sales not being held, past due taxes were allowed to pile up against many properties for years on end. By the time otherwise "borderline" properties made it to an eventual sale, the minimum bid for the property was too high for any investor to make a profit.

Indiana counties deal with unsold tax liens by holding another tax lien sale where the liens are offered with special rules (called a "Commissioner's Sale" ). To get the liens to sell, the commissioners cut the waiting time to only 120 days to acquire the property, and slash the price of the liens to rock-bottom levels so the properties can be purchased and put back on the tax rolls.

Unfortunately for the owner of the property, the county still requires FULL repayment of the original taxes and penalties, regardless of what price the lien sold for at the Commissioners Sale. This means that a much lower percentage of Commissioners sale properties pay off - and investors get title to the property on as many as half of their liens.

The end result is that tax lien buyers often obtain nearly-rentable properties, (or even occupied properties with tenants already in place), for as little as $4000. They rarely redeem - the owners walk away because they face a tax bill of up to $20,000 after so many years of delinquencies and penalties. Vacant properties needing repair are routinely acquired for under $500.

Prices for the liens stay low at Commissioner's sales, because the big institutional buyers who normally attend the sales stay away. These large investors are interested only in parking their funds at an above-market interest rates, not obtaining property.

Lake County, Indiana tax sale investor Rick Dawson commented, "The yearly 'primary' tax lien sales aren't usually a good opportunity to get cheap properties - competitive bidding drives the price up to nearly MLS prices, and a one-year-plus wait to obtain a property doesn't make it any better.

"We don't even go to the treasurer's sales anymore because of the competition and waiting. Plus we never get any properties from them.

"Commissioners sales are a different story. Most of the usual competition isn't there and there's not a lot of waiting time. Plus we have a really good chance of getting a property every time we buy a lien. We don't tie a lot of money up either - we don't pay more than $3000-$5000 for any single lien, and we buy a lot of them for $400-$500. Even if we get paid off we earn 10% on our investment in less than 4 months."

Without a doubt, it will be a bonanza for this year's tax lien sale investors. With up to nine years of accumulated taxes on some properties as of last year, a record number of properties that are great for building a free and clear rental portfolio - or just reselling - will be available. All at slashed prices and little competition.

For savvy real estate entrepreneurs, it's an opportunity not likely to be seen again. Beginning next fall, minimum bids at the primary sale will return to their formerly low levels, and nearly all serviceable properties will sell initially.

For more information on Indiana Commissioners sales, you can get a 5-Part Free Mini-Course at Taxsale.net.

More information can be found online at http://deedgrabber.com

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