In this interview, Julia M. Spencer discusses her long‑term experience with tax lien and tax deed investing, emphasizing that success hinges on a well‑designed strategy rather than reckless bidding. She and the co‑host explain the fundamental differences between tax liens, tax deeds, and hybrid certificate systems, and outline the key variables investors must assess—geography, timelines, required capital, competition, and patience. A highlighted case study describes how the co‑host acquired a Savannah property for roughly $1,500 through a tax deed auction, renovated it, and generated $1,500‑$2,000 per month as an Airbnb, illustrating the high‑return potential when due diligence is applied. The conversation also warns against the hype of infomercials, stresses the importance of thorough market and property research, and notes that institutional investors are increasingly entering the market, making some auctions more competitive. Overall, the dialogue provides practical guidance for individual investors seeking to navigate tax‑sale markets responsibly.
Chapters
I learned about tax lien and tax deed investing way back in about 1997. And as many of you know, I started investing in tax liens and tax deeds back in around 2005. I got ripped off. I got ripped off pretty badly by a company, and I don't want that to happen to you. And, you know, one of the things I think that's important for people to understand is it's not just about going out there and recklessly bidding and, you know, trying to make money. Of course, everybody wants to make money, but it's designing a strategy that's right for the investor. Right. You know, there are different. Different locations, different geographies offer different kinds of deals. Tax liens and tax deeds are two different things. Right. Tell us a little bit about this.
Well, tax liens and tax deeds, obviously, you're buying different things. And there's hybrid states, there's states that sell liens, there's states that sell deeds, and then there's states that sell tax lien certificates. And everything has a different strategy. When you invest, you kind of have to know beforehand what the timelines are, how much money you're going to have to bring to the table, what your competition is going to be. And once you know all these things and know what your resources are in terms of time, money, and how long, you're basically have the patience to wait. That's how you then scope out which locations you're going to go into different pieces going together into the picture.
Now, tell us about. You had a big success story. I mean, you've had several, but one of them is really remarkable. Tell us about that story where you. I know you've got a video on that, where you bought a house for what, about $1,000?
Oh, yeah, yeah. It's actually right here in Savannah. And that's not the only one. There's several. I bought a whole bunch here, and I show up at these sales sometimes. Nobody bids against me.
Wow.
I get the property for the back taxes, which in My case was $800. One time was $1500. And I did fix the house up a little bit. Made it into an Airbnb rental, and it rents for 1500-2000amonth.
And you bought it. And you bought it for about a thousand dollars.
About fifteen hundred dollars.
Wow. Oh, my gosh.
And nobody bid against me. Nobody even. Nobody bid against me. I was the only bidder.
Okay, so you bought a house. You now own it. Well, maybe you've refinanced it. I don't know. But initially you owned it free and clear and you paid for the house in one month.
Yeah.
From rental income. That is, that is extraordinary. That is just extraordinary.
My favorite people have to be thinking.
Though, and you know, there, there are infomercials on tax sale investing and you know, we've all seen them. Probably people have to be thinking, you know, what's the catch? Yeah, what's the catch? What, what's the hard part of this?
Well, the hard part is that people think that there's a catch and they don't put in the effort to actually think about and study the market, study the properties, learn how to do your due diligence, and sometimes they fall on their face. First off, most people don't even believe that it's possible. And then when they do get into it, they just blindly buy whatever and then they fall on their face and, you know, they lose their money because they might just buy a property that's really not worth anything and then they get out of the market and leave. And that's when I come in and get all the good deals because everybody else has left.
Yeah, yeah. That's fantastic.
So it's persistent learning in learning what you're buying, not buying any decrepit properties that you can't use for anything.
Okay, now you mentioned earlier, and I don't know if we mentioned this on the recording or when we were talking for a moment off air about institutional investors being in this game and some of the auctions being much more competitive than others. Tell us about that.
Well, there's a lot of markets that are just, there's a lot of desire for real estate. They're just high end markets, like big metropolitan cities, sometimes smaller areas as well. You get banks that come in and just kind of have these really deep pockets and sweep everything off the table. But in some states, governments actually coordinate with institutional investors and sell properties in batches only. So you as an individual, you couldn't even just go buy one property. You'd have to buy the whole batch of 300 or something and that's not affordable. So what I can cover is some of the states where it's a little bit more beneficial to go into for individual investors and also some states that probably should stay away from if you want to utilize this strategy.
