Tax Sale Facts for Iowa:
All Iowa tax sales auctions are lien auctions and are held on the third Monday in June. So the first issues is you will have to pick only one county and stick with it. All Iowa county tax lien certificate auctions are held on location, that is,“in-person” auctions. Interestingly, the state of Iowa DOES accept mail-in bids. Iowa counties may use one of three different bidding methods:
- bidding down ownership,
- random selection, or
- rotational bidding.
By state law, counties can allow bidders to bid on the percentage of the property they will own. This is called Bidding Down the Ownership. Most counties do not use this system as it is fraught with issues when it comes time to foreclose on the property.
The redemption period for Iowa tax liens is 2 years from the date of the auction.
A Bit more on Iowa Tax Sales
It is important to remember that Iowa has specific rules about unredeemed liens. If the property owner has not redeemed the property by the one year and nine-month mark, the tax lien certificate holder can begin the process of terminating the right to redeem; via foreclosure. If the tax lien buyer fails to file a notice to terminate the right to redeem prior to the 3-year anniversary from the date of the sale, the county treasurer may cancel the lien. Unsold tax lien certificates may be re-offered at a “Public Bidder” sale as many times as necessary after the June auction.
Were it not for the fact that the entire state holds their County auctions on the same dates, I would give Iowa a five out of five. For that reason alone I have to give them a 4 out of 5. Let me add one more caveat about Iowa. If you run into a county it’s doing bidding down the ownership, don’t do business with them. You will get yourself a seminar in the school of hard knocks if you choose to buy a lien where you don’t get full ownership.
Free Iowa Tax Sale Worksheet
Now what I’d like to do is give you guys a worksheet for the state of Iowa. Each one of the worksheets is several pages. Each one has all the information I just mentioned. Plus, I have included my personal notes for each state and then links to the state’s laws. Also there are links to other applicable websites, and even links to every single County and in some cases municipality as in some of the northeastern states who run their auctions by city instead of by County. Finally, each worksheet has got a map of the state showing the counties for your convenience.
Interested in Tax Sales in Another State?
Tax Sales investing is a niche that has the potential to be insanely profitable.
However, most investors do not have a deep understanding of this investing strategy.
Every state has a unique set of rules and regulations. There are some basic rules you need to understand as to how the process works. Generally, states will fall into one of three categories:
- Tax Lien States
- Tax Deed States
- Hybrid States
Hybrids are states who conduct their tax sales by selling tax deeds with a caveat. The deeds have a redemption period much like a tax lien certificate.
This map provides links to information for every state as well as Washington DC.
