Reviewer: Lenie Ford (USA)
I've read more books than anyone I know, & this is by far the best book I've ever read in my entire life! If I could rate it a hundred stars, I would.
Lillian Villanova's book is very readable, & by that I mean absolutely anyone can buy the book, read through it, & completely understand what is being presented. Her fantastic explanations of how to buy tax lien certificates & tax deeds has fundamentally & profoundly changed my life.
From the title to the end, I found it impossible to put down, & for that I am grateful because Ms. Villanova's inspiring, 'you-can-do-it' tone moved me to start my own limited liability company immediately after reading it the first time.
Each page is simple to understand, yet packed with information anyone can use to totally achieve their dreams. Quite frankly, I was at the end of the book so soon I wanted there to be more (then luckily found out she'd written even more books that include more specialized info).
I've read all the big titles, own all the No Money Down courses, most of which are very good,& I swear to you that 'What Your Bank Doesn't Want You To Know...' is far superior in terms of its immediate ability to help you if you apply the knowledge in its pages.
Truly the cost of the book has been nothing compared to all it has helped me with, & will continue to help me with regarding my own success. I have recommended this book to literally everyone who asks how I know so much about purchasing tax lien certificates, & even had one mortgage company president tell me, "I'm glad my customers don't know about this."
It is in your own best interest that you buy 'What Your Bank Doesn't Want You To Know...' You will be amazed by what you learn, & your friends will want to borrow your copy, so go ahead & buy several! I sure did!
--This text refers to the
Kindle Edition
edition.
Invest Safely and Still "Beat the Street"
Recently I was reading the weekend edition of USA today and came across a financial advice article written by one of their contributing editors.
In it, the author gives advice on where to put your savings in order to earn a higher return than the meager 1% to 2% you’d get from a savings account. Admittedly, that’s more difficult to do at a time when the Federal Reserve is slashing short-term interest rates. I was amused however to discover that the other safe investment choices would not help the consumer fare much better. The list of "choices" consisted of:
· Money Market Mutual Funds, current average yield: 2.7%
· Certificates of Deposit, current average yield: 2.95%
· The Series I Savings Bonds, current average yield: 4.4%
· Short-term bond funds, current average yield: 7.95%
When looking into investment returns, the average consumer does not realize that there safe options other than CDs and Mutual funds. Admittedly, they are not options that would immediately come to mind. They are however options that have come to the minds of your bank, your insurance company and maybe even your investment company.
As a member of the general investing public, you may not think twice about where banks and other financial institutions actually invest their own money. But if you do think about it, you will realize that they need to make investments that yield a much higher rate of return than they pay out in order for them to pay you interest or dividends on your investments. You may be really surprised to learn just how much more they do earn.
Banks and other financial institutions have been investing for decades in what are called Tax Lien Certificates or TLCs for short. What are TLCs? Basically, they are first priority liens on real estate. County Governments across the country sell these TLCs at public auction on a regular basis. To understand more fully what that means, we need to step back for a minute and talk about real property tax collection. Virtually all of the states across the United States have given County and Municipal governments the power to assess and collect a tax on real property as a method of collecting money to run the business of government and to enable them to provide needed services. Counties create tax Liens across the United States as the result of non-payment of real estate taxes. Local government needs its real property tax revenue to run the business of government so they sell either a lien on the real estate (at much higher than market interest rates) or the real estate itself to collect the back taxes.
Banks and other institutional investors know about these TLCs and have enjoyed high yield returns on their money for decades. They are able to do so by using the capital provided by the small investor, such as you and I. In exchange for the use of that capital, they pay the small investor interest rates that are a fraction of their own return. Their returns on TLCs can be 12%, 16%, 18% or more. And it is an investment that is secured by a first priority lien on the real estate upon which the taxes are currently in default.
Unless the property owner wants to risk losing the property altogether, they must pay the back taxes along with statutory interest and penalties in order to have the lien removed. This money is remitted to the County, which in turn remits your money to you the investor. The County thus levies the lien and collects the money from the property owner before releasing it. As an investor, you can’t get much more simplicity and safety than that.
So, why haven’t you heard about TLCs? How can you "cut out the middleman" so to speak and obtain those high rates for yourself? There is no real secret to safely obtaining these types of yields, if you know where to look. While each state has its own statutes relating to delinquent tax collection, some general information holds true across the country. Some states, in order to enable the counties to collect delinquent taxes allow for the sale of TLC’s bearing a high rate of return. Others allow the counties to sell the property outright. This would be called a Tax Deed Sale, Tax Foreclosure sale or some other similar name. While Deed sales can be even more lucrative, they are the subject of another article.
Focusing on TLCs and the high rate of return they offer, it is relatively easy to obtain information about sales. They are all public auctions and are advertised in the legal notices in you local newspaper. Yes, those very notices that most of us ignore can be a goldmine for the average investor. The notices of sale are normally published a number of weeks before the sale. You can also call your tax collector and ask if they conduct Tax Lien sales and when they are scheduled in your county. They can also provide you with a copy of the rules of the sale. Some even have prepared brochures outlining the statute, how it works and listing FAQs.
In short, just by asking, you can obtain the information that you need to successfully buy TLCs. In short, you can cut out the middleman and invest the way your bank does. Then sit back and laugh at "choices" that include 2 and 3% interest rates.
