Every legal path to real ownership — explained.
Louisiana examples, nationwide application. Pick the strategy that fits your capital, timeline, and market — then work it with partners who split the costs.
Adjudicated Property
In many Louisiana parishes, if property taxes go unpaid and no one buys the lien, the parish itself becomes the tax debtor's substitute. Those adjudicated properties can be acquired directly from the parish — often faster and cheaper than any auction.
Post-Sale Redemption
In redemption states, after a lien or redeemable-deed sale, the owner has a window to pay. Buying redemption rights during that window (or from the winning bidder) can leapfrog you into ownership without another auction.
Buying Redemption Rights
Purchase the owner's right to redeem via quitclaim or redemption deed. Redeem the outstanding lien, quiet title, and you own the property in 60–120 days.
Abandoned & Blighted Properties
Municipalities maintain blight lists and abandoned property registries. These are often eligible for streamlined transfer via land banks, expropriation, or negotiated purchase from unmotivated owners.
Quiet Title Overview
After any tax sale acquisition — deed, foreclosure, or redemption rights — you'll usually need a quiet title action to insurable title. Budget $1,500–$4,000 and 60–120 days depending on state.
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Be honest. Every play below is real money, real filings, real risk.
Ten ways to actually make money in this game.
Every play below is legal, documented, and running right now in Louisiana and beyond. Entry costs and profit ranges are real-world 3Paw numbers — not marketing math.
| Play | Entry cost ↑ | Profit / deal | Skill | Speed | Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Remote | $0 – $100 | $1k – $10k | Beginner | Medium (6–12 mo) | Paper |
Remote | $0 – $100 | $500 – $2k | Intermediate | Medium (6–12 mo) | Paper |
Remote | $100 – $500 | $5 – $50 | Beginner | Fast (< 6 mo) | Paper |
LA | $500 – $2k | $7k – $30k | Intermediate | Medium (6–12 mo) | Property |
LA | $1k – $3k | $10k – $50k | Advanced | Slow (12+ mo) | Property |
Remote | $2k – $10k | $200 – $2k | Advanced | Medium (6–12 mo) | Hybrid |
LA | $3k – $7k | $10k – $40k | Intermediate | Medium (6–12 mo) | Property |
LA | $3k – $8k | $10k – $25k | Advanced | Slow (12+ mo) | Property |
| $3k – $7k | $15k – $40k | Intermediate | Medium (6–12 mo) | Hybrid | |
Remote | $3k – $7k | $10k – $30k | Intermediate | Fast (< 6 mo) | Property |
Numbers are per-deal estimates. Interest Farming and Note Investing quote a % return in their card — the $ range here reflects typical per-deal profit at 3Paw entry sizes.
Redemption-Rights Flipping
Buy tax liens cheap, then contact the delinquent owner and purchase their redemption rights via quitclaim. You redeem the lien yourself, quiet title, and own the property in 60–120 days instead of waiting out Louisiana's 3-year redemption window.
- Entry
- $500 – $2,000 per deal
- Profit
- $7k – $30k per property
- Skill
- Basic title research + owner-outreach negotiation
Louisiana example deal playbook— Calcasieu Parish — Lake Charles Northside
1,320 sq ft Creole cottage on Broad Street, 2018 tax sale, delinquent owner living out of state after Hurricane Laura.
- Pull the 2018 Calcasieu tax sale list from the Sheriff's Civil Division and identify liens still inside the 3-year redemption window.
- Verify the tax sale certificate recording in the Clerk of Court conveyance records; confirm no prior redemption filed.
- Skip-trace the assessed owner via LandGlide + BeenVerified; locate the son in Houston who inherited de facto after mother's death.
- Mail a written redemption-rights offer ($1,500 cash for a quitclaim conveying all redemption and ownership rights).
- Close at a Lake Charles notary — signed quitclaim + act of cash sale, recorded same day at the Clerk of Court.
- Pay the outstanding taxes to redeem the lien in your name; file a monition proceeding (or 5-year quiet title) to clear the title.
- List with a local agent or wholesale to a Northside landlord buyer.
- Calcasieu Parish Sheriff tax sale list (annual, June)
- Tax Sale Certificate + recording page from Clerk of Court
- Assessor's parcel record (calcasieuassessor.org)
- Quitclaim / Redemption-Rights Assignment (notarized, 2 witnesses)
- Act of Redemption filed with the Sheriff
- Monition or quiet title petition (14th JDC)
Adjudicated Property Arbitrage
Buy adjudicated parcels directly from the parish (or via CivicSource in Louisiana) after they've cycled through tax sale with no bidder. Clear title, then resell to rehabbers, landlords, or infill builders.
- Entry
- $3k – $7k per parcel
- Profit
- $10k – $40k per flip
- Skill
- Title clearing (monition/quiet title) + local buyer network
Louisiana example deal playbook— Orleans Parish — Central City
Vacant 30' x 100' infill lot adjudicated to the City of New Orleans after two unsold tax sale cycles.
- Download the current NORA / City of New Orleans adjudicated property inventory (nola.gov/nora).
- Cross-check zoning (HU-RD2) and confirm the lot is buildable under the New Orleans CZO.
- Submit an Expression of Interest through NORA's Lot Next Door or Growing Home program.
- Complete the NORA application, proof of funds, and development plan attestation.
- Close via CivicSource or NORA's designated closing agent; deed recorded with Orleans Parish Clerk.
- Order a monition proceeding to cut off the 6-month post-adjudication challenge window and clear title.
- Assign or resell to an infill builder or ADU developer with a buildable-lot letter attached.
- NORA Adjudicated Property Inventory
- Orleans Parish Assessor parcel report
- CZO zoning verification letter
- NORA application + Development Plan
- Act of Cash Sale from NORA
- Monition judgment (Civil District Court)
Tax Lien Interest Farming
Target liens on mortgaged, owner-occupied homes at auction. Mortgage servicers redeem these fast to protect their collateral, and they pay the statutory interest + penalties on the way out.
- Entry
- $100 – $500 per lien
- Profit
- 5 – 10% return in 30 – 180 days
- Skill
- Spreadsheet tracking + disciplined auction bidding
Louisiana example deal playbook— East Baton Rouge Parish — Sherwood Forest
Owner-occupied 3/2 brick ranch with a Rocket Mortgage first lien. Owner missed 2024 property taxes during a job transition.
- Register for the EBR online tax sale (govease.com) and fund the bidder deposit.
- Pre-filter the sale list against MLS + assessor data: keep only owner-occupied SFR with a recorded active mortgage.
- Bid at the lowest legal % (Louisiana Act 774 — post-2024 sales pay 1% per month, capped; pre-2024 pay 12% flat + 5% penalty).
- Win the certificate; record it with the Clerk of Court.
- Send the statutory redemption notice by certified mail to the owner AND the mortgage servicer's tax department.
- Wait for the servicer's tax-protection team to redeem — typically 30–120 days once they receive notice.
- Collect certificate cost + statutory penalty + interest at the Sheriff's Civil Division.
- EBR Sheriff tax sale certificate
- Assessor property record + homestead exemption flag
- Mortgage recorded in EBR conveyance records (mortgage servicer identifiable)
- Certified-mail redemption notice + green cards
- Act of Redemption issued by the Sheriff
Foreclosure Surplus Recovery
Track foreclosure auctions where the sale price exceeded what was owed. Those surplus funds legally belong to the former owner — but most never claim them. You locate the owner, sign a fee agreement, and help them recover the money.
- Entry
- Minimal — public records + phone + postage
- Profit
- $1k – $10k per case
- Skill
- Public records research + clear, honest communication
Louisiana example deal playbook— Jefferson Parish — Marrero
Sheriff's sale of a Marrero 4-plex; sale price exceeded the mortgage payoff by $18,400. Former owner unaware.
- Pull the 24th JDC executory-process case docket and monitor sheriff's sale results.
- Compare final adjudication price against the recorded judgment + costs; flag surplus cases.
- Confirm the surplus is deposited with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff / registry of court.
- Skip-trace the former owner (PeopleFinders + LinkedIn + Facebook).
- Send a fee agreement (Louisiana caps recovery fees — draft to comply with R.S. 9:4901 et seq.).
- File a Petition for Distribution of Surplus in the 24th JDC on the client's behalf via retained counsel.
- Receive court-ordered distribution; collect contingency fee at wire.
- 24th JDC executory-process petition & judgment
- Sheriff's Deed and adjudication amount
- Registry of court deposit receipt
- Signed contingency / representation agreement
- Petition for Distribution of Surplus Funds
- Court order authorizing disbursement
Blight-to-Build Program
Acquire blighted or adjudicated lots through parish/city programs, clear title, and sell to production builders, modular-home installers, or ADU developers hunting for entitled lots.
- Entry
- $3k – $8k per lot
- Profit
- $10k – $25k per lot
- Skill
- Title clearing + contractor and builder relationships
Louisiana example deal playbook— Orleans Parish — 7th Ward
Adjudicated 30' x 90' lot with a collapsed shotgun that the City demolished under the Code Enforcement lien program.
- Pull the New Orleans Code Enforcement blight list + NORA adjudicated inventory.
- Confirm the demolition lien and outstanding tax certificates via Orleans Assessor + Clerk of Court.
- Apply through NORA's Growing Home / Lot Next Door program (owner-adjacent) or Public Sale (open bid).
- Bundle 3–5 adjacent lots when possible — production builders want pipelines, not one-offs.
- Close, then file monition + curative work to strip the demolition lien and clear title.
- Package a buildable-lot binder (survey, soils, zoning letter, utilities availability) for builders.
- Sell to a modular installer or ADU developer targeting 7th Ward infill.
- Code Enforcement blight hearing decision + demolition lien
- NORA adjudicated inventory + Growing Home application
- Boundary survey by LA-licensed surveyor
- Zoning verification letter (CZO)
- Monition judgment
- Utility availability letters (Entergy, S&WB)
Tax Sale Data Brokerage
Aggregate parish and county tax-sale data — upcoming sales, adjudicated inventory, redemption timelines, parcel maps — and sell curated datasets and hot-zone maps to other investors.
- Entry
- Time + Excel/GIS skills
- Profit
- $500 – $2,000 per dataset (recurring subs pay more)
- Skill
- Data organization + light marketing
Louisiana example deal playbook— Statewide — 64 Louisiana parishes
Investor-map subscription covering upcoming tax sales, adjudicated inventory, and redemption timelines for Southwest Louisiana.
- Scrape or FOIA parish sheriff and clerk sites for upcoming tax sale rolls + adjudicated inventories.
- Normalize into a parcel-level table: APN, owner, assessed value, delinquent years, redemption clock.
- Overlay assessor GIS shapefiles in QGIS to build hot-zone heatmaps by census tract.
- Cross-reference MLS comps, occupancy status (USPS vacancy indicator), and code-enforcement flags.
- Package as a PDF investor map + CSV data drop (Starter / Standard / Pro tiers).
- Deliver via the 3Paw Investor Map product; renew subscribers each parish sale cycle.
- Parish sheriff tax sale roll (annual)
- Clerk of Court conveyance & mortgage index
- Assessor GIS shapefile + assessed values
- USPS vacancy data (via approved licensee)
- Code Enforcement / blight registry
- Subscriber license agreement
Succession-Resolution Deals
Find heirs of adjudicated or tax-delinquent properties where the original owner died without a completed succession. Help the family finalize succession, then buy or take assignment of the property.
- Entry
- $1k – $3k legal fees per succession
- Profit
- $10k – $50k per deal
- Skill
- Patience + a succession attorney on speed dial
Louisiana example deal playbook— St. Landry Parish — Opelousas
Family home adjudicated after the matriarch died intestate in 2019; four heirs, none of whom completed a succession, taxes 5 years delinquent.
- Identify the property on the St. Landry adjudicated list; pull the assessor + Clerk of Court chain of title.
- Order a death certificate and identify all legal heirs via obituary + Ancestry + parish records.
- Meet with the heirs; propose a paid succession + purchase offer (net of taxes, legal, and their share).
- Retain a St. Landry succession attorney to open a small succession (Article 3431 affidavit if under $125k).
- File Judgment of Possession placing heirs in title; heirs then execute an Act of Cash Sale to your entity.
- Redeem the outstanding tax sale certificates; file monition or quiet title.
- List or wholesale to a local rehab buyer.
- Death certificate + obituary
- Small succession affidavit (La. C.C.P. Art. 3431) or full succession petition
- Judgment of Possession (27th JDC)
- Act of Cash Sale (notarized, 2 witnesses)
- Act of Redemption + monition judgment
Tax-Deed Joint Ventures
You bring the acquisition — a tax deed, adjudicated lot, or redemption-rights buyout. A local rehabber brings the construction capital and crew. You split the exit profit on a pre-agreed structure.
- Entry
- $3k – $7k acquisition side
- Profit
- $15k – $40k per flip (your split)
- Skill
- Deal structuring + a written JV agreement, every time
Louisiana example deal playbook— Caddo Parish — Shreveport (Highland)
Highland bungalow acquired via redemption-rights buyout; needs $45k rehab. 3Paw partner brings the deal, a Shreveport rehabber brings capital + crew.
- Acquire clean title (redemption-rights or adjudicated path) — 3Paw partner's contribution.
- Draft a written JV Operating Agreement BEFORE construction: 50/50 split after return of capital, defined rehab budget, decision authority, exit trigger.
- Form a single-purpose LLC (Caddo entity); property deeded into LLC.
- Rehabber funds rehab through an LLC operating account; monthly draw schedule with receipts.
- List with an MLS agent at ARV; escrow closes into LLC bank account.
- Distribute per waterfall: return of rehab capital, then split net profit 50/50.
- JV Operating Agreement (with waterfall + dispute resolution clause)
- LLC Articles of Organization (Caddo)
- Property deed into the LLC
- Rehab scope-of-work + draw schedule
- Insurance binder (builder's risk + liability)
- HUD-1 / Closing Disclosure at exit
Out-of-State Tax Deed Arbitrage
Buy tax deeds in fast-title states — Texas, Georgia, Florida — where you take ownership at (or shortly after) sale, then flip remotely to local rehabbers or wholesalers.
- Entry
- $3k – $7k per deed
- Profit
- $10k – $30k per deal
- Skill
- Online auction participation + remote title clearing + a boots-on-ground contact
Louisiana example deal playbook— Louisiana base → Harris County, TX
Louisiana-based partner buys a Harris County resale-deed property (post-struck-off inventory) at online auction, flips to a Houston wholesaler.
- From your Lake Charles office, register with the Harris County Constable + LGBS resale auction platform.
- Screen the Harris County struck-off list; comp values in Zillow + Redfin for the target ZIP.
- Bid remotely on the online auction; win + wire the balance within 48 hours.
- Receive Constable's Deed; file for recording with the Harris County Clerk.
- Coordinate a Houston boots-on-ground contact to photograph the property and confirm occupancy.
- Sell as-is via assignment or double-close to a Houston wholesaler / rehabber.
- Harris County resale property list (LGBS)
- Constable's Deed
- Harris County Clerk recording confirmation
- Boots-on-ground inspection report + photos
- Assignment or Purchase & Sale contract to end buyer
- Texas title company closing statement
Tax-Delinquent Note Investing
Buy real-estate-backed notes where the underlying property is tax-delinquent. Either bring the taxes current and keep collecting, or foreclose and take the property.
- Entry
- $2k – $10k per note
- Profit
- 10 – 20% annualized ROI
- Skill
- Basic note-purchase docs + servicing setup
Louisiana example deal playbook— Lafayette Parish — Lafayette
Seller-financed note secured by a Lafayette rental duplex; borrower is 14 months behind on taxes, still current on the note payments.
- Source the note through a Louisiana note broker or FCI Exchange with tax-delinquency filter.
- Order a title O&E report; confirm the note lien position + verify the tax delinquency amount at the Sheriff's Civil Division.
- Underwrite as if you may have to foreclose: value the property at 70% quick-sale ARV, subtract taxes, subtract executory-process costs.
- Purchase the note at a discount (typically 55–75¢ on the dollar given the tax status).
- Assign the mortgage + endorse the note; record the assignment with Lafayette Clerk of Court.
- Option A: Bring taxes current, keep collecting monthly at contract rate. Option B: Initiate executory process foreclosure if borrower defaults.
- Original promissory note + allonge / endorsement
- Recorded mortgage + assignment
- Title O&E report
- Sheriff's tax delinquency statement
- Payment history / loan servicing ledger
- Executory-process petition (if defaulted)