Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens: Earn Safe, Secured, and Fixed Returns Every Time [Paperback]

Larry B. Loftis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0793195179 | ISBN-13: 978-0793195176 | Publication Date: November 1, 2004

An investment alternative that gives fixed returns of 10 to 25 percent.
Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens introduces an investment alternative that is safe, secured by real estate, administered by the government, involves no brokers, is enforced by state law, and gives fixed returns. Selling tax liens or tax deeds (depending on the state) are the two ways that counties across the country bring delinquent property taxes up-to-date. This investment is one of the least publicized and safest ways of investing in real estate, designed to give the investor either a fixed return, as in the case of investing in tax liens, or a property for 10 to 50 cents on the dollar, as in the case of a tax deed sale. In most situations, the property is ultimately transferred free of any liens, such as mortgages. Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens also debunks the common myth that tax delinquent properties are run-down and shows that liens exist on every type of property. Author Larry Loftis, an attorney and active investor, has purchased liens on properties owned by Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Hector "Macho" Camacho (world champion boxer), Chase Manhattan Bank, LaSalle National Bank, and even a building whose major tenant was the local sheriff's department! In this authoritative guide, Loftis helps investors avoid the pitfalls while answering all the key questions they need to consider:
* What's the difference between investing in tax liens and tax deeds?
* How does an investor go about bidding at tax sales? And what is the process?
* What are the different requirements in each state?
* Where are the greatest risks in this kind of real estate investing? For investors eager to get started, Loftis's action plan provides details on the next steps to take, while real-life examples in every chapter bring the concepts down to earth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"On my scale of one to 10, this well-written, well-researched book rates an off-the-chart 12" -- Robert J. Bruss, nationally syndicated columnist.

Chosen as one of Robert J. Bruss' 10 best real estate books of 2005! -- Robert J. Bruss, nationally syndicated columnist

About the Author

Larry B. Loftis is an attorney and member of the Florida bar, with many years of experience investing in tax delinquent properties. A popular speaker and seminar presenter, Loftis has personally bought tax liens and deeds in Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, California, Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, Mississippi, Kansas, and the District of Columbia. In addition, he has attended sales and bid at auctions or "over the counter" in Oklahoma, Texas, New York, and Pennsylvania. He has interviewed county officials conducting tax lien sales, and his staff has spoken with county tax offices in all 50 states.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0793195179
• ISBN-13: 978-0793195176
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > Business & Investing > Real Estate > Investments

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

470 of 479 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring descriptions,but don't get your hopes up, June 1, 2005

By 

D. Michael Elkins "D. Michael Elkins" (Valrico, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens: Earn Safe, Secured, and Fixed Returns Every Time (Paperback)

This book gives a great description of the procedural nuts and bolts of purchasing tax certificates, with a lot of emphasis on my own home state of Florida. Unfortunately I learned this week from attending a local auction that it is extremely difficult for the average investor to compete with the institutions in actually purchasing certificates, much less in obtaining anything greater than the absolute minimum available rate of return.

After reading this book, I attended the first day of my own county's auction with high hopes. Unfortunately I found that there were approximately 125 or so other persons attending it. In our State the maximum rate of interest is 18% and bids can go all the way down to 0.25%, with the statute providing that when redeemed, the purchaser is still paid at the rate of 5%. At our auction whenever a certificate was offered, at least half of the people present would immediately raise their buyer cards and shout out their willingness to accept the absolute minimum rate of 0.25%. Frankly I did not know how the auctioneer could legitimately determine which of the 50 or so people had actually bid first, but I did see that many of the certificates seemed to have been awarded to those sitting in the seats closest to the auctioneer.

After returning home in total disgust, I decided to review the day's results online. I discovered that in only the first hour, approximately 100 different buyers had been awarded certificates. One might assume that there had been a fair distribution of the available certificates among everyone who had been present. However, when reviewing the mailing addresses of these 100 different buyers, I discovered that about 70 of them shared only six or seven different mailing addresses. Each of the entities sharing those six or seven addresses had sent up to 15 individuals to bid on their behalf. You do the math and you can see that one lone individual has very little chance of even getting a certificate under such a scenario, not to mention ever getting a higher rate of return than the bare minimum. The proceeding that I attended hardly justified being called an "auction" and it certainly didn't seem fair.

165 of 167 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful, but too much self-promotional fluff, August 3, 2005

By 

Helder Gil (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens: Earn Safe, Secured, and Fixed Returns Every Time (Paperback)

Overall, the book is a good resource on the mechanics of tax liens/tax deeds, how they are auctioned off, and strategies for investing through liens/deeds. Loftis' descriptions of how to successfully bid on lien/deed auctions is a very useful resource, as is his descriptions of how to calculate rates of return.

However, the book has an overabundance of photos of Loftis at various auctions, photos of liens and deeds Loftis successfully bid on, and photos of houses with liens and deeds that Loftis successfully bid on. The section on how tax liens and deeds are better investments than stocks and bonds is way too "rah rah."

Although Loftis gives many good pointers about how to successfully bid on tax liens/deeds, the biggest problem is that banks and deep-pocketed investors already know the "secret" of tax lien/deed investing. If you go to an auction, you are likely to see a sizeable number of people all working for the same bank/investors' group. That makes it pretty tough for a small investor to effectively compete in those auctions.

This book is one of the best ones in explaining in everyday terms the concepts and principles behind tax liens and tax deeds. It's shortfall, however, is two-fold: 1) the large number of cheesy pictures; and 2) the fact that at most auctions, one investor is very likely to be outmatched and outbid by banks and professional investors groups.

75 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best tax lien/ tax deed book on market, September 19, 2005

By 

Realty Investor - See all my reviews

This review is from: Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens: Earn Safe, Secured, and Fixed Returns Every Time (Paperback)

Without question, this is the best book on both tax liens and tax deeds on the market. Two things are clear from this book. First, this stuff does work in most states of the country. I've been able to buy both liens (last year at rates of 15-17% in Florida) and deeds. By utilizing the techniques illustrated in the book, I was able to compete effectively against the so-called "institutional" investors. Mr. Loftis teaches how to invest in their "gaps", and how to go where they don't go. (On that note, I recently saw an article in the Wall Street Journal online Real Estate Journal that mentioned getting 24% in Iowa, 18% in D.C., and 16% in Arizona. They also mentioned a guy who was making a killing in tax deed foreclosures). Second, it's clear from this book that Loftis really knows his stuff and has tons of personal examples in his book (he's not just doing academic research or trying to coax you into going to an expensive seminar or "boot camp"). I've read a lot of real estate books and about half of them are really just ads for attending their seminars. Refreshingly, this book isn't an ad - it just teaches you how to do it. How nice.