Tax Lien Certificates Online

Lately I?ve been receiving messages from subscribers in other countries ? from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and even from parts of Africa, asking if it is possible for them to invest in tax liens and tax deeds in the U.S. market. They want to know if they can actually do this from another country or in some cases from another continent. And the answer is yes you can, but there are some stipulations.First of all not every state has online auctions, only a few do. So you first have to find out which states have online auctions and determine where you will invest. Next you need to get the tax sale information, which is pretty easy to do and can be done from your computer. You will then need to register for the tax sale and make a deposit with the online auction company ? all this can be done online. If you are investing in tax liens you will need to fill out a W-8BEN form, which you can find online at www.IRS.gov. OK, now here comes the hard part ? you have to do your due diligence on the tax sale properties before you bid on them. Contrary to what you may have heard, there are risks involved in investing in tax lien certificates and tax deeds, and the way to avoid the risks is to do your due diligence on the properties. Some counties make this easy by providing a lot of information online. In some cases you can get assessment data, maps, and even pictures of the property. And there are other online tools that you can use to help you find out what the property is worth, like realtor.com and zillow.com. And you can check the state?s environmental web sites to find out about any environmental problems that may exist, and check with the municipality for any zoning requirements. All this can be done online and by phone. For tax liens it?s a pretty simple process, but for tax deeds it?s a little more involved. If you?re purchasing a tax deed, then you are actually buying the property and you?ll need to do a little more due diligence than you would for just purchasing a lien. You?ll need to do some type of title search to find out about liens or encumbrances that may exist on any properties that you want to bid on. And you?ll need to make sure that any lien-holders have been notified of the tax sale, otherwise they may have a legal right to purchase the property back from you if they claim that they were not properly notified of the sale.This may not be so easy to do from another country. This is where it would be real helpful to work with someone who could look at the property for you and do some of the research. It would be ideal if you had a relationship with a realtor or a title company in the area who could do some of the legwork for you in return for your business when you actually purchase some of these properties. After all you will need a title company to clear the title to each property and a realtor to sell or rent the properties for you once you own them.