# Opportunities Table — Column Glossary

Every column in the Tax Liens → Opportunities table, what it means, and how to use it for bidding decisions.

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## Identity columns

### County
The municipality or county that's running the tax sale. Format varies by state:
- **NJ:** `City of Salem (Salem)` — since NJ sales are municipal, not county
- **TX:** `Harris County` — county-run Sheriff/Constable sales
- **FL/AZ/IN:** County name

### Sale Date
When the auction happens. **Plan by this:** 30+ days = research phase, 14 days = shortlist, 3 days = lock your bids.

### Parcel
The parcel ID / account number / tax ID — the unique identifier on the county's assessor roll. Use this to look up ownership, zoning, flood zone, liens, and assessor records. In TX this is called the "Account#"; in NJ, "Block/Lot".

### Address
Street address or location description. **Blank or "0 SOMETHING ST"** usually means vacant land or an unimproved lot. Addresses with `N/A` or "UNKNOWN" warrant manual review.

### Owner
Recorded owner of the property at time of the tax judgment. Watch for:
- **"Estate of..."** — probate-linked; title risk elevated.
- **LLC/Inc.** — entity-held; check registered agent in state business records.
- **Blank** — enrichment gap; bump risk.

### Type
Sale classification (state-specific). Harris County, TX codes:
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **SALE** | First-time offering at auction |
| **RESALE** | Re-offered after a prior failed sale |
| **STRUCK OFF / S** | Already awarded to taxing unit — bid against jurisdiction |
| **EOS** | Estate / Owner-related status |
| **EXE** | Executor/administrator sale |
| **R** | Resale variant |

In NJ: typically "tax lien" (certificate sale) vs "tax deed" (ownership sale).

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## Financial columns

### Min Bid
**The minimum opening bid** set by the court/municipality. Usually = delinquent taxes + interest + penalties + fees. You can't bid lower than this.

### Assessed
**Assessed value** from the county assessor roll. Used for property-tax calculation. Typically **lower** than market value (assessors under-assess to reduce disputes). Good for sanity-checking but not a valuation.

### Est. Value
**Estimated market value.** Source varies:
- **TX Harris:** "Adjudged Value" set by the court (can be inflated; treat with caution)
- **NJ:** Enrichment provider (ATTOM, RentCast) — usually accurate
- Falls back to `assessed_value` when no external estimate exists

**⚠️ TX warning:** Adjudged values are NOT the same as market appraisals. A $1.4M "adjudged" in Harris County might be worth $300K. Always pull independent comps before bidding.

### B/Assess
**Bid-to-Assessed ratio** = `Min Bid ÷ Assessed`. Lower is better (less you're paying relative to assessed).
- < 5% = screaming deal on paper, investigate hard
- 5–20% = typical tax-lien range
- > 50% = minimal equity; usually a skip

### B/V
**Bid-to-Estimated-Value ratio** = `Min Bid ÷ Est. Value`. The main signal for bidding decisions.
- < 10% = elite opportunity (but verify — usually something is wrong)
- 10–30% = strong bid candidate
- 30–50% = review, may still work
- > 50% = pass unless you have local intel

This is typically **lower than B/Assess** because market value > assessed value.

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## Risk + workflow columns

### Risk
**Risk score 0–10.** Populated by adapter heuristics (or manually later).
- 0–3: Clean
- 4–6: Moderate — investigate
- 7–10: Red flags (missing enrichment, STRUCK OFF, estate issues, zero values)

Current scoring is primitive — will improve with the risk-scoring rules engine.

### Review
**Review status** — operational state of due diligence.
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `new` | Just ingested, not touched |
| `needs_review` | Flagged automatically (title, occupancy, missing data) |
| `in_review` | Analyst actively working it |
| `cleared` | Diligence complete, clear to decide |
| `blocked` | Hard stop (senior lien, probate, can't get title) |

### Decision
**Final call on the property.**
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `unreviewed` | No decision yet |
| `pass` | Not bidding |
| `watch` | Monitoring but not bidding this cycle |
| `bid` | Will bid — included in bid worksheet export |
| `won` | Bid accepted at auction |
| `lost` | Outbid |
| `removed` | Property pulled from sale by the jurisdiction |

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## Visual cues

- **Red-tinted row** = `has_title_flags = true` OR `risk_score ≥ 7`
- **⚠ no enrichment** label next to address = `estimated_market_value` is null (view shows assessed as fallback)
- **Sort dropdown** defaults to `Sale date (soonest)`; switch to `Bid/value (lowest)` to surface best deals first

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## How to work the table

1. **Filter** by State (e.g. TX) and Decision = unreviewed
2. **Sort** by Bid/value (lowest) or Spread (highest)
3. **Skim** top 20 for anomalies (zero values, STRUCK OFF, missing enrichment)
4. Click into each → Underwriting page → make a decision
5. **Export bids** (Tools & Downloads → Bid Worksheet Export) the day before the sale