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Most people don’t surround their self with people who challenge them; they surround their self with those who give them permission to stay the same, and then wonder why their life never improves.
Richard Flint
So who do you hang out with? It has been said that your income will be the average of the 5 people you hang out with most. If you are reading this blog it is probably because you want to earn more money and live a better lifestyle. Don’t let those around you hold you back.
Yes it is tax sale season in Maryland. Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Frederick County, Howard County, Prince Georges County, along with other Maryland counties are all having their tax sales in May and June.
Anthony has previously held a multi-day classes on tax sale investing however he has received feedback asking for a one evening class. He will be offering a class Friday May 6, 2011, from 5:00-8:00 PM. The price is $295. Based on what I have made in tax sale I can tell you that that is a bargain. Just as importantly if you are going to invest in tax sales you need to know the pitfalls to avoid. That $295 can sale you a lot of hard earned lessons.
Readers of this blog Save $15.00
To sign up call Anthony’s office at 410-779-7040. Just tell them that Ned sent you and you will get $15 off the price.
Prince Georges county has announced their tax sale for 2011. Once again it will be held online. The date is May 9, 2011. Important dates for the sale are at PG Tax Sale Dates. The most important date is coming up this Friday the registration deadline.
To register go to the PG county tax sale website. Full instructions are on the site. It is a non refundable deposit of $150 to register. Good luck bidding and remember:
Howard County has made a change for the 2011 tax sale. Traditionally their sale has been a live auction. This year it will be held online at the Howard County Tax Sale Website.
The date is May 4, 2011. Registration is open now and must be done before 4:30 EDT April 25, 2011. To register prospective bidders must provide the county a $1,000 deposit via ACH debit of their bank account.
The interest rate for 2011 is nominally 18%. Howard County uses the high bid premium method of bidding which can dramatically change your effective return.
There are no failures – only successes and lessons
Victor Cheng, Escaping the Employment Trap
The quote above is a great way to keep a positive attitude when things are not going as planned. Do you take the time to learn the lesson when things don’t go as well as expected? Whether you have a success or a disappointment you should do an “After Action Report” to reinforce what you did right and learn what you could do better in the future.
One of the great things about running a blog is the people you meet via comments. One of my readers Brian Porter, a top agent in Portland Oregon, posted a comment and I went to check out his site. He had a wonderful post on making lowball offers and has graciously allowed me to post it here.
Real estate Gurus often say to send out a lot of lowball offers. This is a good strategy however sending out a ton of spam offers will only get you a bad reputation. Although Brian’s article is written for home buyers he has great insight on how investors can do it right.
Here is Brian’s article:
In today’s insane real estate market, you see and write a lot of lowball offers. I have been selling Real Estate in Portland Oregon since 2003, and I have written my fair share of low offers. Most low offers get rejected because the seller is looking to get a certain price, but once in a while you get one accepted. Here are some things that you can do to make your lowball more appealing to the seller:
Put down a large amount of earnest money
Make your earnest money non-refundable and immediately available to the seller
Schedule the closing ASAP
Eliminate contingencies, for example, eliminate the inspection contingency
Don’t ask for any special favors, for example don’t ask for a home warranty
Show the seller that you will be able to financially close the transaction
Take on the seller’s problem, ie., accept the house with all of its defects
Be very careful writing a letter that “explains” your lowball offer. You might insult the seller
Respect the seller’s needs, for example, allow him to rent back for a while if needed
Write lowball offers on properties that have motivated sellers, for example, vacant properties, properties that cannot be financed and properties that have been on the market for a long time
With regard to the letter that “explains” your lowball offer, the only time that I was successful, I wrote an offer for my client that explained that the buyer really loved the home, but it was beyond their reach financially. I explained that they could afford a certain price and nothing more, and it worked!
My friend Millard Christner from John L. Scott told me that if you are humble, respectful and empathetic when you write the offer, you will get a better result, and he also said that if you write a letter of explanation, make it brief. Furthermore he said that your offer should convey the fact that you are willing to take on all of the seller’s problems when you write the lowball offer, and all the seller has to do is sign the papers.
You may have to write more than one low offer before you get one accepted, but this is a legitimate way to negotiate a lower price on a property. You just have to have the stomach for it. You may also find yourself playing ping-pong. That is: offer, counter offer, counter to counter etc. This can be a huge waste of time, but as long as there is movement on the part of the buyer and seller, it is probably worthwhile to continue.
A few don’ts would include:
Don’t write more than one offer at a time, unless you plan on purchasing more than one property.
Don’t try justify a low offer by sending the listing agent “comparable properties”. I tried this on one occasion, and it did not go over well at all.
Don’t insult the seller or disrespect the property; you will just burn bridges.
Don’t write a low offer on a new listing; you will be wasting your time .
Don’t write a low offer on an underpriced listing. You might loose the opportunity to pick up a steal.
What do you think of Brian’s post? Have you put in a lowball offer that worked? Leave a comment and tell us about it.
Anthony Onwuanibe was in the line at the tax sale office.
As he patiently answered questions from others in the line, I listened in. This guy really knows his stuff. I took the opportunity to pick his brain with every question I could think of about tax sale investing.
He told me he was an attorney that handled tax sale foreclosures and offered to meet and answer even more questions. This started our long relationship. A very profitable relationship.
Anthony handled my first first successful tax sale foreclosure transaction. I made $30,000 on that one.
While that is not typical, it isn’t the only tax sale property that I have made 5 figures on.
But Maryland tax sale investing can be tricky, especially in Baltimore City. Now you can learn from the attorney that taught me. Anthony is offering a class to learn all the ins and outs of tax sale investing. Three sessions totaling 6 hours on March 29th, April 5th and April 12th. Click here for the tax sale course outline. Quality education is never cheap but this class is a bargain for serious investors. Only $975.00! To Register Click Here
Readers of this blog save $50!
Because of my close relationship with Anthony he said I could offer my readers $50 off. Your price will be $925. Just mention my name, Ned Carey when registering and save $50! Or click here for a special registration form.
Happy Investing,
Ned
PS: If you sign up, let me know what you think of the class.
Starting on or about March 16, 2011: The 2011 Tax Sale Properties Listing will be posted on www.BidBaltimore.com. The list will be updated regularly to reflect liens that are paid before the sale.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011: Bidder registration begins on www.BidBaltimore.com. You must use an ACH debit from your bank account to register.
On or about Wednesday, March 30, 2011: Printing of Tax Sale 2011 Properties Listing will be published in the Daily Record.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011: April letter will be mailed informing homeowners of Tax Sale 2011.
Friday, April 29, 2011: Deadline for walk-in payments, on-line payments, and mailed payments to reach the City of Baltimore. Final day to have liens on properties to be offered at Tax Sale 2011 removed from Tax Sale 2011.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011, 5:00 PM EDT: Last day to register as a bidder for the 2011Baltimore City Tax Sale
Monday, May 16, 2011: Final update to the Tax Sale 2011 Properties Listing posted on the City’s web site at www.BidBaltimore.com.
Monday, May 16, 2011: Bid submission begins on www.BidBaltimore.com
Thursday, May 19, 2011: Tax Sale 2011 Books will be available. Tax Sale 2011 Books may be purchased at the Cashiers Section of the Municipal Office Building, 200 Holliday Street, Baltimore, MD 21202 at a fee of $10.00 per book.
Thursday, May 19, 2011: Acceptance of bids for Tax Sale 2011 begins. Bids will be accepted in 8 batches, 1 hour apart beginning at 9:00 am
Tuesday, May 24, 2011: Assignment Sale – liens for properties not purchased at Tax Sale 2011 on May 19, 2011 may be purchased at lien value as of this date at www.BidBaltimore.com.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011: First day to redeem tax lien certificates for properties included in Tax Sale 2011.
PERSONAL AND BUSINESS CHECKS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED FOR TAX SALE PAYMENTS AFTER THE MAILING OF THE FINAL BILL AND LEGAL NOTICE ON OR ABOUT FEBRUARY 1, 2011. PERSONAL AND BUSINESS CHECKS FOR TAX SALE PAYMENTS WILL BE RETURNED BY MAIL TO THE PROPERTY OWNER AND THE LIENS ON THE PROPERTY WILL REMAIN SUBJECT TO THE TAX SALE.
Are you behind on your Baltimore property tax? To avoid the additional costs and hassles related to tax sale, Baltimore City Taxes are due Monday Feb. 28. This must be paid by certified check or money order.
If you don’t know how much your taxes are or if they have been paid go to the Baltimore City Tax Search page. Sometimes the search function does not work well. It is best if you search by Block Lot number. If you don’t know your block lot number you can find it on SDAT and click on real property data search.
If you don’t pay your taxes on time, I may be bidding on it in May.
You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction
I am not sure who to attribute this one too. One of my mastermind group members and friend, Chuck Bauman, posted this quote on Facebook. I don’t know if it is his quote or form someone else, but it’s worth repeating here.
Baltimore Real Estate investors You Just Dodged a Bullet.
That’s right, the whistling sound you just hear rushing by was the bullet you just dodged. This bullet was in the form of a new regulation for fire sprinklers. In it’s original proposal the city council wanted any house needing renovation affecting more than 30% of the floor space to have fire sprinklers installed. This could have added as much as $10,000 to the cost of a full renovation. This is because to support the fire sprinklers older houses may have needed the main from the city to be upgraded.
That could have been a real nightmare for investors who didn’t know about the law or hadn’t planned for the extra expense. Fortunately lobbying by investor groups got that provision removed and only new construction needs to comply. Careful who you vote for becuase your legislators have a significant impact on your cost of doing business.
Join the Property Owners Association
Baltimore is a liberal city in a very liberal state. You need someone on your side to help fight against laws and regulations that are anti- landlord, anti- investor, and anti- business. The Baltimore Property Owners Association lobbies both the city and state to help stop bad laws. I suggest you join. Without them your next rehab might have cost you $10,000 more. Here is the Baltimore Property Owners Association website.
It you are a tax sale bidder in Baltimore City this is the time of year that tax sale redemptions start coming in. I recently started receiving my interest payments from the 2010 tax sale. Four properties have redeemed so far. I am disappointed because two of them were vacant 3 unit buildings. I would love to acquire some small multi-unit buildings via the tax sale.
Baltimore City is Slow
The city is slow getting out the checks. The first check I received worked out to 10 days worth of interest. However it took them 40 days after they received payment to write me my check. Eighteen percent my ass! Because of the delay in getting my check my effective interest rate was only 3.5%
How Much Interest did I Get?
The first check was dated July 6, 50 days after the auction. Two properties redeemed. I received $4.51 in interest on one of the and $17.84 on the other. Tax sale sounds great – 18% interest! But 18% interest for only 10 days doesn’t add up to much. So far to date I have received $47.12 interest. I won’t get rich on that but it’s enough to buy Sushi. Hmm, that reminds me I owe my buddy Craig Fuhr a sushi dinner.
Tax Sale is a Numbers Game
Like so many things in business and life, tax sale is a numbers game. You are not going to get rich by earning $15 interest on 1 lien. However if you have a portfolio of liens many of them will not redeem for some time and the interest can really add up.
I am honored that this blog has had the good fortune to be nominated as a candidate for best Baltimore blog by Zillow.com, one of the top real estate sites in the nation. The voting to choose the best goes through 3:00 Eastern Daylight time August 11, 2010. You can vote once a day.
It will only take a moment to vote. Click the image below to vote for me as the best real estate blog from Baltimore. Once you are on the Zillow site a window will open to vote. It might take 20 seconds for the window to open so please be patient.
In today’s insane real estate market, you see and write a lot of lowball offers. I have been selling Real Estate in Portland Oregon since 2003, and I have written my fair share of low offers. Most low offers get rejected because the seller is looking to get a certain price, but once in a while you get one accepted. Here are some things that you can do to make your lowball more appealing to the seller:
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