Zero Risk Real Estate: Creating Wealth Through Tax Liens and Tax Deeds

Conducting Internet Property Research

Now that you’ve narrowed down your list, it’s time to start researching everything about the property. At a bare minimum, here are the steps to take for a tax lien property:

• Tax Records—Go to the county treasurer (or commissioner) site, and enter the parcel identification number (PID). Most sites will provide information on current taxes, past tax bills, and when they were paid. Look for names and patterns to give you a clue as to what happened with the property. A name change over to an estate, for example, could indicate a pending probate case or family dispute.
• Assessor Records—Different from the tax records, these will indicate ownership history, land value, and any improvements on the property. Look for trends that are increasing or decreasing over the past few years. If it is a vacant lot, look for a change in the value of improvements; there could have been a fire that wiped out a previously beautiful home.
  Property lien records that show mortgages are often available online as well, many at no charge. Try to find out if there are any existing mortgage liens (or other encumbrances of record). Some states such as Georgia allow you to access all county recorded documents in one place for a low monthly fee (check out www.GSCCCA.org).
• GIS Search—GIS is short for Geographic Information System, and it is an online mapping system that shows the actual property lines as recorded relative to other parcels and improvements such as roads and ...