My inspiration for this post comes from dealing with many new students’ fears (which is also why I wrote the first positive attitude article). Here’s an example of what I hear regularly: “All the lists have already been requested. Everyone’s already worked these claims. There’s nothing left for me. This found money business thing is a hack.”

That’s a great example of a negative attitude. Again and again, people are finding and collecting claims. One student (who is pretty new to the business) has gotten something like 7 claims – from one county! I’ve emailed personally with this student, both before and after his success. I can tell you this: I have never detected one hint of negativity when corresponding with him. If you know who I’m talking about, I’m sure you’ll agree.

The same is true for other successful people here. They are not positive because they are successful. They are successful because they are positive. Another example? Rick himself. Obviously, I’ve known him for 30+ years. While he was an evil tormenter when we were kids, I can honestly say that Rick has never had a negative attitude about almost anything.

If you are one of those “this doesn’t work, nothing works, I just end up failing at everything I do” types, man, you’ve got to get over that as soon as possible, or that will end up your reality. Make that priority #1.

By the way… no judgment here. “Hello, my name is Maggie, and I’m a recovering negative thinker.” I have been the worst of the worst in this respect, so I speak from experience here. It wasn’t until I made a conscious effort to stop viewing everything in negative terms, and expecting the worst, that my finances (and everything else) started to really change for the better.

Not only that, but when you change that attitude, it seems like you suddenly start running into successful situations that didn’t appear before. Why? Who knows. The scientific types hate this, but anecdotally, evidence of this is everywhere.

Here’s the bottom line. If you stop expecting the worst, if you stop finding all the possible pitfalls, if you stop complaining, and you put in a diligent effort, you will become a successful money finder.

Tax Sale Arbitrage Scam

Tax Sale Arbitrage Review

Stacy Kellams Scam

Guess what? “Hooked on Overages Scam” is now the number one search term leading people to this blog! People hear about the program and want to enroll, but there’s that little inkling of doubt that leads them to search for others who might say Hooked on Overages is a scam.

It’s sad that there are so many real estate programs out there that leave people feeling scammed. There are even a few programs available out there now about overages that are scammy – one was even produced by a member of Hooked On Overages, who joined, took our information and then used it to produce a second-rate ebook – with no support, no updated information, in general just a scammy rip-off of the real thing.

But overages is no scam – unless you’re looking at it from the perspective that the government effectively scams people out of their money by seizing it when they don’t collect it in time.

Nope, overages are very real, and so is the profit potential that comes along with it. And sadly for homeowners, there’s more tax sale overage and mortgage foreclosure overage out there now than ever before. Their loss is your opportunity to help them get some of their money back.

If you’re considering getting in the program but have been burned by crappy systems in the past, don’t worry. There’s a money-back guarantee with Hooked On Overages. You’ll have plenty of time to check the program out before committing – and you should know pretty quickly whether this is something that excites you, that will make you feel good to do for business, and that you can see yourself making money with.

Hooked on Overages… definitely not a scam.

Lately, I have been having a problem with burnout. I haven’t been getting stuff done – at least, not enough stuff. I’ve been waking up in the morning with serious backaches, which I think have a lot to do with the amount of time I spend sitting in the same position. I’ve been hustling to get a lot done, and seemingly haven’t gotten as much done. My workouts have fallen by the wayside, and I put on 5 pounds (which makes me very, very unhappy). I haven’t been enjoying my off-time as much, since I feel like I can’t spare the time and need to be working. In general things have been off.

I’m very thankful this happened. You wanna know why?

I’ve stumbled on a better way of getting stuff done.

This may not work for everyone, but if it’s your way, you’ll know it when you try it. I’ve solved the backaches, I’ve solved the burnout, I’ve solved the anxiety during off-time, and I’m back to producing. Oh yeah, and I dropped the 5 pounds.

Here’s how I did it.

1. I made a list of everything that needed to get done. This includes working out, all work-related jobs, all non-work related jobs, housework, exercise, everything.

2. I divided all these things into 4 groups: work, non-work (like school/homework, or other work-y type tasks that are not essential to get done to get paid), housework and other chores, and everything else that wasn’t “work” (like exercise, books I need to read, and other semi-enjoyable non-work tasks).

3. I prioritized these tasks.

4. I broke them into 15-30 minute segments, and started running through them one at a time, group by group. So for example, I needed to write 15 short articles today. So I first wrote and published two of them. Then I switched to a non-work task. I’m writing an e-book, so I wrote a chapter of that. (Still work-y, but a different gear from my first task.) Next I got up out of my chair, which before I might not have done for hours, and went into the kitchen and cleaned up the breakfast mess and wiped down the counters, which I might have let go until I cooked dinner before. After that I spent 10 minutes on the elliptical machine.

Then I started over – only this time when got through work, non-work, and chores, I took a real break and watched an episode of a tv show I like on DVD.

It’s amazing how refreshing this approach to work was. I actually enjoyed my day – and since I was getting lots of stuff done all day, I felt great and motivated. I never got tired and achy because I was up cleaning and doing laundry between bouts of work – as well as getting in 50 minutes of cardio exercise, which felt like nothing broken up into 10 minute chunks. This is a super efficient way to get tons done.

If you’re suffering from burnout, a simple rearrangement of your daily schedule may help you get back on track the way it did for me. If you’re in the found money business, try breaking up your tasks into groups like above: maybe emailing and researching lists, then break off and do something non-overages related for another endeavor. Then clean up a little and go for a short walk. Then when you come back, do some skiptracing (or whatever) – you get the idea.

Not only does this allow you to get a lot done, but it also allows you to work a 16 hour day without feeling like you’re going to die at the end of it. And for me personally, there is just no better feeling than getting into bed at the end of the day knowing that my house is cleaned up, my workout got done, and best of all, I put in the effort necessary to get way ahead financially the best I could.

And got in a few episodes of Dexter, too.

If you’ve heard that you can make huge finder fees on tax surpluses, you haven’t been led astray. Unlike state-held funds such as old bank accounts, stock dividends, and utility deposits, tax surpluses are often for huge amounts of money and aren’t advertised publicly on the state’s website. They’re the best-kept secret in the “found money” business. But are tax surplus finder fees legal?

If you’ve studied your state’s code, you probably ran across a section titled “Unclaimed Property Act” or something along those lines. In it, it outlines what happens to abandoned property, who holds it, how long they have to hold it, etc. It also outlines restrictions on those acting as money finders – helping claimants find their lost funds, and collecting a fee for their services.

Most states limit what money finders can charge at between 5-15%. This would appear to indicate that the 30-50% tax surplus finder fees are violating the law. Thankfully, not everything is as it seems.

The wording in the state code only applies to those funds held at the state level. If you read the code closely, it will describe what exactly constitutes “abandoned property”, and thus what those 5-15% limits apply to. Tax surplus finder fees ARE legal, because they fall outside of this definition (for a time).

What this means is that restrictions imposed on fees and finders do not (in most states) apply to finders working tax surpluses. Since there is a time when they are not considered “abandoned property,” during that time finder fee limits don’t apply and requirements for who can work the funds also don’t apply.

Anyone who is interested in becoming a money finder can get around these state restrictions by working tax surpluses. Because of the high foreclosure rate, there are a lot of funds to be claimed – and once you get good at tax surpluses, you can move on to the huge surpluses created by mortgage foreclosure and also estates and missing heirs. There’s no end in sight to the creation of these funds, and you can safely and legally collect 30-50% as a finder for these funds.

The current foreclosure rate won’t last forever, so now is the time to take advantage of the situation. Read our Free Guide to Tax Sale Overages for more info.

By now you’ve probably heard about the billions in unclaimed funds the government is holding on behalf of private U.S. citizens. If you want to collect unclaimed funds for finder’s fees, you’ll want to stay away from state funds. Limitations on state funds generally don’t apply to big funds that are held outside the state level, namely real estate overages. Tax sale overages are the best place for a beginner to start.

All real estate overages are being created at a dizzying rate because of the high number of foreclosures. However, mortgage foreclosure overages are a bit more complicated than tax sale overages. Frequently you have to have an attorney make an appearance in court to petition for the funds’ release, and it may be a matter of months before you’ll see a check cut to your claimant.

This is not to say mortgage foreclosure overages are bad funds to work – quite the opposite. You can find huge foreclosure overages – in the hundreds of thousands, easily, in many cases – that you can make a huge fee on. But they are an advanced move in the unclaimed money business. Beginners should start with tax sale overages.

Tax sale overages – the overbids arising from the tax sale auction when more is bid for a property than was owed in back taxes – are simpler. Often, it only takes filling out some forms to get them released. Also, the claimants that are due these funds are often completely unaware of their existence – whereas those that have had mortgage foreclosure may already know about the overage (and simply not have to funds to get them released).

What this means is that people who are owed tax sale overages really need your help to keep their money from eschewing. Since these funds are often only required to be held for a certain period of time, a year or so, if not claimed in time, these owners will lose all their money. This is why money finders working real estate overages legally charge 30-50% for their services.

That adds up to a very nice income for anyone putting a full-time effort. Start with tax sale overages, and then work your way up to more complicated funds like mortgage foreclosure overages and unclaimed estates. By the time you’ve got a few tax cases under your belt, you’ll feel like an old pro.

If you want real-estate-sized paydays without owning property, read our Free Guide to Tax Sale Overages — a secret money-making machine of the Tax Sale “Insiders.”

If you’re anything like me, all the things that you need to get done could fill both sides of a college-ruled notebook paper. Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed at the amount of tasks that have to get done, the logistics of all of it, and the limits of 24 hours in a day. Let’s take a deep breath and be logical about your to-do list.

Accept the fact that if you are even approaching successful, you will never, ever be done with your to-do list. (Forget being ahead.) What you need to do is learn to manage your to-do list so that what needs to get done most gets done – and so that you don’t become so overwhelmed that you get nothing done at all.

The best way to approach the tasks you have at hand is by categorizing all your to-do items into four groups, that conveniently all start with “D”: “discard,” “delegate,” “delay,” and “do.”

Into the “discard” pile goes anything that can be discarded. Please, do yourself a favor and be liberal with this pile. Whether you realize it or not, having 100 items on your to-do list is stressing you out. You can discard at least 20% of your list. Face it: you don’t really need to go to Home Depot for a new houseplant. Get that off your list.

Into the delegate pile goes anything you can have another person do. Time is money. If you’re not seriously considering outsourcing burdensome tasks, you may be stepping over dollars to pick up pennies. Pay someone to come and take your car for an oil change or to clean your house.

The rest of the items on your to-do list should be items of some degree of import and necessity. These are things you must do yourself, and that must be done in a timely fashion. Pick the five most important tasks, and rank them in order of importance. “Delay” the rest of your tasks, and focus on your number one most important “Do” task. Work on it until it is finished, or split it up into smaller parts, and alternate working on #1 and #2. Focus on five tasks for the day. Tomorrow, add a new task to the bottom of your list, or re-prioritize based on new developments.

The bottom line? Never have more than five things on your current to-do list. Focus on your top five, and you’ll find yourself getting more done, and with less stress.

When working as a professional money finder, there is one overriding quality you must have: credibility. This is especially true when working with people to collect overages from tax sale. Tax sale and mortgage foreclosure overages are often for huge sums of money, and if people think you are a scam artist you don’t stand a chance.

In order to ensure you don’t look like a scammer, you’ve got to have several things in place.

1. A website. If a potential claimant goes online and wants to see your professional website, you’d better make sure you have one!

2. Nothing incriminating on Google searches. If you went a little crazy with your Facebook or MySpace page, make sure you clean it up. Those show up in Google searches. Make sure you Google yourself and take care of any suspect looking things that come back.

3. A toll-free number. Having an 800-number makes you look like a real business.

4. A real address. Having a P.O. box is okay, but it’s better if you have a street address.

Additionally,

5. Incorporate or get a business license. Showing you are a “real company” or at least have some state-issued business credentials will help build trust.

6. Join the Better Business Bureau, if possible.

Wondering what tax sale overages are? When more is bid at tax sale than is owed in back taxes, an overage fund is created, which the owner can usually collect. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons they seldom know about the funds, and never come in to collect them. After a while, they lose the money permanently to the government.

Money finders who specialize in tax sale overages collect a finder’s fee for their information and assistance in collecting the funds. They find records of funds, find the rightful owners, connect the two, and enjoy a six-figure income for doing so.

So, how to find records of these funds, and find their owners? Easy, read the *free* Hooked On Overages “Insider’s Guide.” Click here now: http://HookedInsidersGuide.com. Or, take the *free* 5-day Overages Video Training. Click here now: http://HookedVideoCourse.com.

It may sound like an obvious answer, but the best states for tax sale overages are ones that actually have them. Did you know that in about half of the states in the U.S., when more is bid at tax sale than is owed in back taxes, the overage escheats immediately to the government? In the rest, the tax sale overages are held for at the very least six months for the owner to collect. A few states hold these overages indefinitely.

Other than that, there really are no “best states for tax sale overages.” Customs, restrictions, and accessibility to records vary county by county, state by state. Some states, such as Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina, have limits on what you can charge as a finder’s fee. Florida also requires certain credentials, in some cases. However, since you don’t have to live in the state you’re working, if you’re from Arizona, Texas, Florida, or North Carolina, don’t fret.

When you go to choose a state to work in, examine the state’s code carefully. What restrictions do they have on money finders? How long are the tax sale overages held before they escheat? What kind of access does the public have to records of these funds? Can you communicate by email? Do they legally have to send you records by email? How long do they have to respond to public records requests? These are all questions that will help you determine which are the best states for tax sale overages for you personally.

Some states make it especially hard to find records, and owner information. Before you decide that those aren’t the best states for tax sale overages, consider this: if the states are making it hard to work, how many other people do you think put in the time and effort to work there? If you are persistent, you’ll often find that hard states to work are the best, because of all the untouched overages you’ll find there.

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So, how to find records of these funds, and find their owners? Easy, read the *free* Hooked On Overages “Insider’s Guide.” Click here now: http://HookedInsidersGuide.com.

Interested in buying property directly from owners? Read “5 Days to Getting Tax Sale Property for $200 or Less.” Click here now: http://Deed-Grabber.com.

The answer to this question is: it depends on which unclaimed property you are recovering. Some funds are great to work; others can be difficult for a number of reasons, and offer little in the way of profit to the money finder.

The more difficult funds to work are just about any funds held by the state (in the Unclaimed Funds Division/Department). These funds are generally things like forgotten bank account, uncashed refund checks, unpaid stock dividends, etc. They are generally for small amounts (under $1000). They are regulated by state law, which limits finder’s fee caps at 5-15%, and worst of all, they are very public. Most states have a website where anyone can type in their name and see if the state is holding any funds for them.

While this makes it easy for you to find funds, it also is easy for your competition to find them. Worse yet, when you alert the owner to the fact that they have missing money, all they have to do is go to that website and find out where it is for themselves – and pay you nothing. Obviously, to be profitable, you have to find a way to be able to keep your sources secret.

Forget those funds. The best funds for an unclaimed property recovery specialist to work are real estate created overages. These are funds arising from tax sale, and sheriff’s sale, as well as from some probate cases. They aren’t held at the state level, and so through this legal loophole you can charge 30-50%. And these are big funds. $10,000, $50,000 – even more, sometimes. You do the math.

These funds urgently need to be worked, because unlike most state funds, real estate overages escheat – that is, if no one claims them, after a short period of time, the government gets to keep them. So not only do you get the benefit of a nice income for yourself, but you get to save these owners – most of whom sorely need the money – from losing money they never even knew they had in the first place.

With more and more foreclosures happening monthly, there’s never been a more profitable time to become a unclaimed property recovery specialist. The government is holding literally billions of dollars in funds that will be lost permanently without the intervention of a money finder.

Read the Insider’s Guide to Making Money With Overages.

Or click here: http://About Hooked.com to learn more about Hooked On Overages.

I’ve been emailing a lot lately with members of our Hooked On Overages training who are struggling to get their businesses off the ground. Throughout these interactions, as well as observing other people’s actions in the class and reading posts on the forums, I’ve noticed one thing is constant: those with the right attitude are the ones that are succeeding. Across the board.

I spent a little time weighing the possibility that this is a “chicken/egg” type of scenario (they have a positive attitude because they’re doing well). But it’s becoming pretty obvious that they are succeeding due to their positive attitudes, not vice versa. A positive attitude is a necessity for anyone to succeed but this is so, so important if you’re an entrepreneur.

Being self-employed is not easy. There is no “work day” for most entrepreneurs, and while this often thought of as one of the perks of being an entrepreneur, it can actually be one of the more stressful aspects. I lost the concept of a “weekend” (as well as a bedtime) years ago. Balancing work with time off is a constant struggle, since for many of us there are no clear boundaries there.

Add that to the uncertainty in income that often accompanies the “perk” of no set work hours, and you’ve got the ingredients for a very, very stressful life.

Maintaining a positive attitude under these circumstances is absolutely essential. This is not merely because it makes your experience, in general, more pleasant (i.e., if you are not thinking how badly everything sucks, and how stressed out you are, you’ll feel happier), although it certainly does have that effect. The reason this attitude is so key is because it allows you to perceive solutions to problems you might otherwise miss. When you’re mired in a negative mindset, you tend to find the outcomes you’re assuming will happen. This isn’t an accident. Your actions lead to these outcomes.

Not only that, but your negative attitude sucks away energy you could be funneling towards making your business a success. When are you more likely to put in a 12-hour, productive workday – when you’re worrying yourself about how you’re going to pay your bills, or when your mind is clear and worry-free? You’re likely to throw in the towel at 4 p.m., pour yourself a strong drink and zone out in front of reality t.v. in the former.

If you decide what you’re trying to accomplish can absolutely be done, and that you’re going to do it, and enjoy doing it, you will find your way to that end.

As an entrepreneur, you’ve traded some comforts for the possibility of greater future achievement. You likely have (to some degree) less predictability in your financial matters – but in return, you’re not limited by a salary. You don’t have to get up, go to work, and deal with a boss all day, but you do have to put in much more work during whatever hours you choose to work at home.

And if you want to succeed, you’ve traded in the luxury of having a crappy attitude in return for the satisfaction of being your own boss, and having a hand in creating your own destiny. Your attitude will make you or break you, so choose your thoughts wisely.

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Interested in learning about the Hooked On Overages training program? Get the Insider’s Guide Here.