A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To $50 Million

Adventures in Delinquent Tax Lien Sales

Step 1: Obtain absolutely useless degree (psychology)

Step 2: Work in a field opposite of degree (real estate)

Step 3: When real estate sales are low, get temporary job working in labs (metallurgy, chemistry, microbiology - despite having no clue how anything works, just learn how to push buttons on machines)

Step 4: Learn about how the County sells overdue taxes on properties that don’t pay them.

Step 5: Find a GORGEOUS $20 Million single family home in the northwest part of Washington DC. Submit offer to buy taxes. Lawyer friend of mine tells me Embassies don’t have to pay property taxes - and even if I did buy the property’s taxes for 15 years (DC’s ridiculous requirement for adverse possession) there is no way the US or Bahrain Embassy would let me own the property.

Step 6: Friend invites me to his lake house literally in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania - absolutely beautiful lake, forest, farms and community.

Step 7: Look at Middle of Nowhere county tax lien sales

Step 8: Find a property 5 miles from friend’s lake house. BINGO!

Step 9: Call County and ask about property. They say: The owner is in and out of jail. It has no public utilities, a trailer on it, and that’s it. The trailer needs to be torn down and removed.

Step 10: Sold! Sounds like a winner! I’ll take it.

Step 11: Owners pay overdue taxes before the sale.

Step 12: Facepalm

Step 13: Look at Aspen, Colorado delinquent sales. Call County and a nice lady tells me that in 10 years that she’s worked there, a small amount of tax sales result in ownership. “Like 10% or less?” I ask. “No. Less than 1%.”

Step 14: Nice lady tells me: Colorado state recently passed a law where all properties with 3 years of delinquent liens are then auctioned (a fourth time) for people with a lot of money who can buy them at that time, instead of smaller investors. Fun stuff.

Step 15: Find 244 acre property with estimated value of $56 Million. It has overdue taxes of about $1,700.

Step 16: Call listing agent since the property is for sale. “It looks great. Why are the owners selling it?” I ask. “They decided to go a totally different way.”

Step 17: Research property, title, history, etc. and find $1.7 Million mechanic’s lien on the property, from the architect. Hmm…I guess that’s “a totally different way,” such as bankruptcy or foreclosure.

Step 18: Sell some Palantir PLTR via Morgan Stanley so I can place a winning bid. Morgan Stanley has excellent customer service and were given management of my pre-IPO PLTR shares, some years ago. After 4 years of an unclear future for PLTR< things paid off.

Step 19: In County auction, place bid and win bid. (It takes at least 3 years of paying overdue taxes to eventually get title and ownership of a property). Only 2 more years to go. Do the Happy Dance.

Step 20: Owners pay off delinquent taxes plus 15% per month interest.

Step 21: Cry myself to sleep.

Step 22: Earn 15% plus $1,700.

Step 23: “Try again.” - Aaliyah