Tax Liens & Tax Deeds Explained: How Investors Get Paid First in Real Estate

Sherry Easterling (00:00)

But your management company can make you or break you.

So it’s very important that you maintain a good relationship with them.

The holidays come, don’t forget them. Always send them a good gift card, a good bonus, do something. Don’t be greedy. That’s the big thing, don’t be greedy. You can’t like…

cut corners and nickel and dime people because then you don’t have any friends.

So it turns out well, if you’re good to people, they’re good to you. But the real estate is easy. The people are hard. That’s the main thing. If anything, if I take away anything from this business, that would be it. Real estate is easy. People are hard.

Michelle Kesil (02:11)

Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil, and today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Sherry Easterling, who is a real estate investor and focusing on tax leads and deeds. So, excited to have you here today, Sherry.

Sherry Easterling (02:30)

It’s good to be here, nice to meet you.

Michelle Kesil (02:32)

Nice to meet you. Thank you so much for being here. So yeah, let’s dive in first off for those who are not yet familiar with you and your work. Can you share what your main focus is?

Sherry Easterling (02:46)

Okay, so right now my main focus is coming up with seed money for multifamily investments. I had to start my whole life over after a really nasty divorce and my daughter was in a bad wreck. And so it really kind of raked me over the coals financially. The court made me sell everything I had prior. So from there, I thought, okay, I need to learn something new. I need to be around people that know more than me. And I got into private lending a little bit.

And I got into tax liens and deeds a little bit. And so that is well, that’s where I’m going to start, because that can be a very lucrative way to come up with any other funding that you need for other investments.

Michelle Kesil (03:33)

Yeah, definitely. And what markets are you operating in?

Sherry Easterling (03:37)

Okay, so right now I’m in Houston, Texas. I’m looking into Austin. I’m going to look into Austin more because the prices of real estate is declining. The single family houses are going down in price and it’s an interesting market right now. And I think if any place in the country was going to recover quicker, it would probably be Austin. So I’m going to start there and then I will branch out into Florida, New Mexico.

maybe New Jersey tax liens and deeds you can do in your pajamas at home and go anywhere in the country you want. You just need to know the rules of that state and that county and find out how they operate and what they require and you can do it from here you can do it if you are overseas.

Michelle Kesil (04:27)

Awesome. Yeah, can you explain a little bit more about like tax leads and deeds and what that looks like, what that supports people through?

Sherry Easterling (04:35)

Okay, so ⁓ if you are looking to build up your money a little bit because you’re a little low on funds and you maybe want to do some real estate and some single family and even multifamily taxolines and deeds is a good place to go because you can you can operate in your pajamas you can buy it in all 50 states from home pretty much any state you want to be in but the

The deal is you have to make sure you do your due diligence. You have to make sure that you are looking to find out the rules of the county in which you’re purchasing and the state in which you’re purchasing. And you have to be careful that you follow their rules. And you have to have your funding. You have to be registered like upfront. But you can make up to, some states you can make up to 50 % of what you put in and you’re paying the taxes.

for that homeowner. So if the property is owner occupied and you pay their taxes, there’s real incentive there for them to pay you back quickly. Because if they don’t pay you back, then you can register and you can potentially take the property from them. And that would be just for the taxes that they owed. So whenever you…

work with tax liens or deeds you need to find out if it’s a tax lien state or a tax deed state or if it’s both and what their rules are and how how to register and I use Google Earth if I want to look at a property or if I know somebody in that state I’ll call them up and say hey can you run by this address and just kind of give me the lowdown on what’s going on with it. So you definitely need to do your homework so you don’t buy like a sidewalk or something but you can make up to 50 percent.

Now it may take you a couple of years to make that kind of money, but you could potentially if they have like two or three years in the rears of taxes.

Michelle Kesil (07:25)

Awesome. How did you get started with that?

Sherry Easterling (07:29)

I would reach out ⁓ to anyone around you that’s in real estate and find out if they’re into that kind of thing and if they are would they mentor you would they help you figure out where to get started and how to do it and if you don’t know anybody out there doing that sort of thing they could always reach out to me I’ll tell them what I know

or they could potentially get on the internet and just look for groups that teach how to do that kind of thing. The problem with that is it can be very, very expensive to take a course on it. But I think in the long run, it would be worth it because so many of the tax lanes and deeds, they’ll pay up to 36 % in a year. And sometimes they’re premium bids and they bid down the interest rate that you get.

But it just depends on what area you focus on. And I would start in my backyard, for sure. Start looking around in your backyard and find out if that’s a good match for you. And if it’s not, maybe go to another state that you’re familiar with or a state where you know people, an area that you know people. Anyone that’s willing to go take a couple of pictures for you so that you can say, OK, that’s the deal with this property.

In some states, you’re not even liable for the mortgage. Like if they foreclose because of taxes and there’s a mortgage on the property, the bank is SOL because you get the property but you’re not liable for that mortgage.

Michelle Kesil (09:04)

Yeah, amazing.

Sherry Easterling (09:06)

It’s an amazing

little niche in real estate and a lot of people don’t focus on that. Like a lot of people are unaware. I think that, you know, it works that way. And of course you have to be like, you have to be careful of the rules and the county and the state and all that. But it’s definitely worth the work to check out the property if you win the option.

Michelle Kesil (09:28)

Right. And what are some like lessons that you’ve learned doing this work?

Sherry Easterling (09:33)

Definitely, you know, the due diligence is everything. It’s like not reading the fine print on your credit card bill. The little things that you don’t know will get you. So being very careful. Like if you were to buy a single family property, would walk the property, you’d look for repairs. You would do your math as far as

the after repair value of the property. You would do your math as far as the contracting work that had to be done. You would do your, you know, you would look at the neighborhood. would ⁓ look at the leases and how much they are in the neighborhood. ⁓ All of that taken into account. So you would take all of that into account with tax liens and deeds also. Because you don’t want to potentially end up with a property that you can’t do anything with.

Michelle Kesil (10:25)

Yeah, absolutely. That makes sense. What are some of… Yeah, go ahead.

Sherry Easterling (10:28)

So.

So it is all of that. And tax liens and deeds, it’s not only single family property, it’s commercial property. It’s multi-family property. So if somebody forgets that has like a high-end condo on a ski resort somewhere and they forget to pay the taxes on it, and you pay their taxes, then you pretty much have a guarantee you’re going to get your money back. Because whoever that family is that has that high-end ski resort, they’re going to pay their taxes.

But usually it’s an LLC and they have somebody like running the property for them and then whoever’s running the property forgets to pay the taxes or whatever. But they’re going to come back and give you your money. And since it’s, you know, you’re paying the taxes themselves, your first priority. Any other liens, anything behind that, that comes next, like way down the road, but you are definitely priority.

Michelle Kesil (12:02)

Right. And what are some of the main keys that you feel have like made the biggest difference for you in this business?

Sherry Easterling (12:11)

I think that it’s very exciting to be a part of doing something like this. I think the real estate market in itself is a fascinating place to be. I feel like if you want to build wealth, then real estate is definitely a vehicle to use to build that and generational wealth too. Having an exit strategy is always very important.

Like if you are gonna purchase a tax lane or deed and then it’s like, okay, what am I gonna do with this property? Am I going to rehab it and rent it out? Am I going to rehab it and sell it? Am I going to stay in that area? Can I make it out to that area to actually visit the property physically if I end up with it? Things like that. Your time, where you want to be, who you know, that sort of thing. ⁓

very important and then building relationships with other people that have the same interest. It’s just phenomenal because you learn so much from them and it just enriches your life so much and then there’s group meetings and you know everybody somebody always has a good idea somewhere right so you get in on that sometimes and you know just making making new connections and building your life and thinking about

generational wealth and what am I going to leave to my children and all that thing. It’s just a very enriched life.

Michelle Kesil (13:45)

Amazing. And so what are you most focusing on solving or scaling to next for your business?

Sherry Easterling (13:54)

Okay,

so for me personally, I am going to start with the tax liens and these. I want to go to commercial property. But in my daydreams of daydreams, I would like to pick up like a 10 story building and have the first two floors retail and have floor three on up residential. So people could just go downstairs and get their coffee in the morning or they could go downstairs and get a haircut.

Or they could go downstairs and get their teeth fixed. I think that would be the ultimate thing is like to have an apartment building with a bunch of retail stores underneath it. And that might sound like a crazy kind of daydreaming, but it’s mine. And I love like, if we really want to go off the deep end, know, I love like ⁓ companies like Joby. Have you heard of Joby?

Michelle Kesil (14:42)

Yeah.

Sherry Easterling (14:52)

Okay, Joby is like an air taxi kind of company. And I think Toyota owns some of it and Apple owns some of it, but they’re like electrical helicopters that hold like four people and they transfer people. So it’s like an air taxi kind of thing. And I think they’re actually operating in Dubai right now. But if you had a 10 story building with a flat roof,

You could just paint a landing pad on top of it and say, hey, come pick up my people. There’s an air taxi on your roof.

Isn’t that kind of crazy? That’s kind of crazy. But maybe it’ll make somebody in your audience laugh. But ⁓ yeah, that would be like my ultimate kind of real estate deal is to like get something in and just take the first two floors and it’s all commercial. And then from there on, make it residential and just take the new companies and the new ideas and incorporate that.

Michelle Kesil (16:08)

Yeah, pretty wild.

Sherry Easterling (16:32)

on top and to me that would be the ultimate lifestyle. If I could go downstairs and just get whatever I needed and then go up to the top of the roof and fly wherever I needed to go.

Michelle Kesil (16:45)

Yeah, definitely that would be convenient.

Sherry Easterling (16:51)

⁓ it’s even convenient. But yeah, that’s all a daydream. and I mean, honestly, I did start thinking about that pretty hardcore. There was a couple of 10 story buildings out in New Mexico that were for sale. And they were pretty much empty. But when I did the numbers, it would have taken me like thirty three million dollars to do that cash at the time. But I mean, it would have worked if.

If, of course, you know, the US clears Joby and other companies like that to be air taxis or to do the FAA, whatever, whoever they are, they have to be approved. ⁓ And that would be like probably 15, 20 years off into the future anyway. But if they do it in Dubai, you never know. They might do it here. Maybe.

Michelle Kesil (17:45)

Yeah, who knows what will happen next?

Sherry Easterling (17:48)

Yeah,

but the commercial on the bottom and the other on the top that would work. That would work now. I think other people would like that too. If they could just go downstairs to get their teeth fixed or their coffee or their breakfast or do their laundry, whatever.

Michelle Kesil (18:06)

Right? And is that something that you have experience with, like those multifamily type buildings?

Sherry Easterling (18:13)

Yeah, I mean, I think it’s doable. I mean, I don’t think I would have to have a lot of experience to do it. I think that people know their business and they know how to set it up. Commercial leases are different in that the lease, they’re paying you, but they have to set up their space with what they need. So they pay to do that. Or, you know, maybe you could work something half and half with them, but.

I think for the most part commercial leases are, no, here’s a space. You fix it up at your expense how you need it to go. ⁓ And so that part is doable. And what I don’t know, I’m sure I can find somebody that knows more than I do. But as far as the multifamily stuff, the leases are just, they’re not too different from like a single family that you would rent out.

So you you keep up the building and all that kind of thing. The insurance and stuff like that and they would have runners and insurance on the inside. ⁓ But it wouldn’t it wouldn’t be that different from single family. And a lot of times you have a you have a management company that does that for you anyway. ⁓

But your management company can make you or break you.

So it’s very important that you maintain a good relationship with them. I had 14 units in New Mexico. So out there I had a team that worked with me and they would call me and they would say, Sherry, we need to fix XYZ. And I would say, OK, go get me three estimates. And then they would send me all the information and I’d weigh it out and tell them what to do. I paid them 10%.

of rents every month. So whatever they pulled in, they got 10 % of. You have to be careful that you don’t have a management company that gets 50 % off the top of every new renter that you put in. Because if that’s the deal, they have no incentives to give you a good renter that will stay there. They have an incentive to turn over rent people all the time. And that can be a nightmare. So you have to be careful about what their terms are, what their reputation in the community is.

Do people like them? Do people want to go to them and ask them, hey, I need a good place to live? That kind of thing. You want to maintain a really good relationship with whoever your management company is. The holidays come, don’t forget them. Always send them a good gift card, a good bonus, do something. Don’t be greedy. That’s the big thing, don’t be greedy. You can’t like…

cut corners and nickel and dime people because then you don’t have any friends.

So it turns out well, if you’re good to people, they’re good to you. But the real estate is easy. The people are hard. That’s the main thing. If anything, if I take away anything from this business, that would be it. Real estate is easy. People are hard.

Michelle Kesil (21:30)

Sure, yeah, that can make sense. Thank you for sharing your perspective.

Sherry Easterling (21:31)

Thank

Michelle Kesil (21:36)

So before we wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more about what you’re up to, where can people find you and connect with you?

Sherry Easterling (21:46)

They can find me at sherryesterling372@gmail.com

And that’s S-H-E-R-R-Y, Easterling. And it’s Easter with Ling behind it, 372 at gmail.com. And they can reach out and ask me questions or if they’re looking for a partner. I am open to partnerships under the right circumstances. If they want to know more about tax liens and deeds, they can reach out to me. I’ll share some of my knowledge. Yeah.

And that’s, you know, whatever I have to offer, I’m willing to help them and maybe somebody will reach out that knows a lot more than I do. That would be good too. Or somebody that has ⁓ some capital that they want to employ and maybe they don’t have as much time might be able to work something out. Or if they want to know about private lending in pools, that works too.

I don’t run a pool. I’m part of one. So they lend money from 14 to 16 percent as hard money. And then the rest of us get 9 percent. But we are first on the deed in that case. Like when we lend money for a property we’re first on there. So we’re not like three or four lanes down the road. We’re we’re first on there. So if the

If the person can’t pull off the rehab and pull off the cell, we take over the property ourselves and we do it. And that’s for our safety because we don’t want to lose our money.

Michelle Kesil (23:26)

Yeah, absolutely. Okay, perfect. Well, thank you so much for your time and your story. Appreciate you coming on here.

Sherry Easterling (23:33)

Well, thank you

for inviting me. really appreciate the opportunity to connect with you and reach out and find out. I’d like to know a little bit more about your organization. I should probably ask that to begin with, but I didn’t have the opportunity. But if you don’t mind having a quick phone call or something later, maybe you can tell me or maybe now.

Michelle Kesil (23:50)

Okay. Yeah, I’m just going

to wrap up here. So thank you so much for all the listeners. If you are tuning in, please, if you got value, subscribe. We’ve got more conversations with operators like Sherry who are building real businesses and we’ll see you on the next episode.