While many tax lien investors buy tax liens in order to eventually gain control of the property through the foreclosure process, there are others who just want the lien redeemed so that they can collect the fees and interest on it. If you are a member of the latter group, then it is likely very important to you to invest in tax liens that have a high likelihood of being redeemed. While you never have a guarantee that a tax lien will be redeemed, two types of properties do have extremely high probabilities that this will happen.

Owner-occupied homes are a good bet if you want your tax lien redeemed. This is because the owner of the property is actually living in the property. His or her life is linked to that piece of land and the buildings on it. As a result, the owner has a highly vested and emotional interest in redeeming that lien if at all possible so that they can remain in their home. Of course, sometimes in today’s economy owners do lose their properties to tax liens and tax foreclosures because they simply cannot pay the bills. You can hedge your bets further by taking a good look at the property before you bid. If it appears to be neglected with a lot of maintenance issues then you may have a distressed homeowner situation on your hands if you invest in that tax lien.

Mortgaged properties will nearly always be redeemed as well. A mortgage lender will not want to lose the money that they lent on the home and their option to foreclose simply because the property taxes are not paid. Most mortgage lenders will opt to pay the taxes themselves to keep their lien at the “front of the line.” Of course, again, today’s economy has made this slightly less of a certainty. If a home is deeply underwater or located in an area where the lender has no hope of ever recouping their losses on the house via foreclosure and sale of that house, then they may opt not to redeem the lien.

While there are always uncertainties in tax lien investing – and any type of investing for that matter – you can hedge your bets by doing your research on properties ahead of time and making sure that the situation that the property is in matches a scenario that is likely to give you your desired outcome.