Posted by Kurt Schultz on April 22, 2004 at 23:02:09:
In Reply to: tax lien auctions posted by willigo on January 26, 2004 at 18:22:39:
Hello, Willigo -
I had access to the Ted Thomas video and books for a while, but I didn't act on them for a long time.
Finally, I attended the TLA for Maricopa County in Phoenix, Arizona on February 9th-13th, 2004.
Rumor had it that Ted Thomas himself was teaching a class at the auction, but if so, I didn't recognize him.
I did have a hugely educational time of it.
I met a young man from Las Vegas that was bidding on behalf of the company he worked for. His job is to attend auctions around the country and bid for Tax Liens, and to buy them over the counter where he can. One of the things that he told me Ted Thomas doesn't point out is that there are about 3,300 counties in the USA... and about 3,300 different ways of dealing with back taxes.
The point of me telling you this is so that you do NOT learn a generic approach that might not apply to your situation. What I think you should do is find out if your local county auctions tax liens. If they do, talk to them about investing that way; if they don't, then find the county closest to you that does. Check their web site to see if they have a FAQ. See if you can wash parcel numbers through an online database to get appropriate info from the county without having to actually drive around. Actually attend an auction with the intent of not bidding, but merely observing, so that you can concentrate on learning without having the pressures associated with "Auction Fever". I attended the auction alone, and that was a minor mistake - I'd have been able to concentrate better on the Auctioneer if I didn't have to synchronze with the published list of liens that were being auctioned - so take a partner.
When you do attend an auction, strike up conversations with other investors. Asking them to explain their strategy or game plan to you will probably get them talking. You'll learn a LOT this way.
If you want, I might be able to e-mail a link to the write-up I posted for our investment club.
Kurt Schultz
- Re: tax lien auctions David Atkins 08:45:12 11/22/2004 (0)