STRATEGY
TAX LIENS
Tax Liens: The Secret Billion-Dollar Industry
HOW TO OWN PROPERTIES FREE AND CLEAR
by Chantelle Owens
far, tax liens are the lowest point of entry into real es-
to discover and master the tax lien process. After all, my original plan had been to buy properties with mortgages, rent them out, use the rents to pay off the mortgage, even- tually owning the properties free and clear, and live off the rents. Tax lien investing was a surefire way to do that without the lengthy process of paying off a mortgage. Tax liens were my dream come true. My silver lining in the market crash of 2007-2009. In 2009, I fulfilled my dream and purchased my first tax lien property. It was a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home on a full basement. I paid $2,400 for that property which was worth $60,000 at the time. It is now worth $180,000 and earns $30,000 per year as a short-term rental. I can wholeheartedly say that tax
liens were not only a game changer in my real estate investment career, it was the vehicle I used to go from several millions in bankruptcy to a multimillion-dollar net worth. Tax liens helped me create financial freedom and generational wealth in one of the worst financial markets in history. Now, my team and I help others do the same. Big banks are the #1 purchaser of tax liens. Why? Tax liens are an investing anomaly—low risk with high yield. Mainly because the interest rate attached to tax liens is state-mandated. There is no guess- ing what your minimum yield will be. Either you will receive the high yield interest, or you will get the property. In some states the yield can be 20 percent or more.
By
tate. My team, my students, and I have seen well over 100 properties purchased below $10,000—all worth at least $40,000 to $120,000 as-is. Tax liens make real estate affordable and real estate investing possible for everyday people. My first tax lien investment was prompted by adversity. Going through my second market crash in 2007 (the first being in 2001) I had just lost everything, but there was one property out of 17 that instead of being foreclosed on as the bank had promised, actually went in the tax sale instead. A house I had paid $139,000 via mortgage was sold at auction for just $2,100. I was so amazed. I vowed
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