Government Tax Lien Sales Get You $20 Boats
How often have you seen an ad in the paper: cars for a hundred bucks, a new boat for seventy-five, a house for five grand? Are these for real? Absolutely. Because, in the world of tax liens, the government can get its hands on just about any big-ticket item you can imagine, and sell them at a small portion of what they would cost new.
You might ask: why does the government sell things at such low-low prices? No, it is not that they do not know what they are doing - we hear that one all the time. No, it is simply that the government is not interested in profit, it is only after one thing: tax revenue.
As we all know, taxes are the life's blood of government. It is how community services: roads, schools, police and fire protection, consumer protection, etc. are paid for. If a property owner fails to pay any kind of taxes: income, property, sales, estate etc. the government is deprived of the funds needed for those vital services. So, to get that money back, the government can place a lien on the property - either personal and/or real estate, take the item, and then sell it.
In the case of local municipalities and the states, they can only seize the actual property for which the tax is due. However, the federal government can take anything and everything a person owns: boats, homes, jewelry, cars etc. and sell them at auction to recoup the lost revenue. With personal items like cars, jewelry, RV's and such, the auction is held in the traditional manner of people bidding. In the case of real estate, it's done a bit differently. More often than not, a tax lien certificate or deed is sold. The government gets its money, and the owner still has a chance at keeping their property. So long as they pay the third party the tax money, plus interest, within a set time period, they keep the parcel. Now, if the owner is unable to pay the debt within the appointed time, the lien holder forecloses and title passes to them, and all this for no more than the amount of the taxes. As a result, this kind of sale holds the potential for an enormous return, if the investor is able to sell the property for close to its full value. One word of warning: Sales are final, and generally there is no inspection of the item(s) permitted beforehand. Yet, if you want to get a car, an engagement ring for your sweetie, a boat, then a government tax lien sale is an excellent way for you to be able to buy something you might not be able to afford any other way. Check on www.irs.com for a listing of sales.
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