Finding Owners
What is the best way to find owners of vacant properties, when the only information I have is the address of the property?
What is the best way to find owners of vacant properties, when the only information I have is the address of the property?
It depends a little as to your network of contacts.
The idea is to search the county records and work backwards. If you have a friend at the title company they can look it up. Many times the records are on-line or a Realtor can find it.
From there you can try mailing to the address where the tax bill is sent. You can also use a reverse directory to see if there is a phone number listed for that address. Again, something you can find on-line.
There are skip tracing services where you can pay someone to do most of this and more.
John
[addsig]
Everything John said is true and the way to go. I of course usualy start with the next door neighbor. I really look for the neighborhood gossipy type. Amazing what they know. Also the postman is a goody, try and contact him. Offer him a piece of candy or a coke whatever and engage him in conversation. Just might turn him into a uniformed Bird Dog. I also check Utility companies the approach is a little covert, but cross your fingers think of something and call them. Amazing how many times a trip to the Tax Office shows that they are getting their tax bills at another address and oh yes, do not forget, they might be in jail. That makes it simple if you are trying to get a buy. Nothing like Jail to motivate a person to sell their property especialy if the representation you offer him can be solved and paid for by a simple signing of a deed. It goes on and on. Sort of fun.
Cheers Lucius
Larry at www.deadleads.com will provide you a full report filled with all known addresses within the last 15 years or so, telephone numbers, drivers license info, corperate affiliations, huge list of relatives and their contact information, and so much more.
It is well worth the $25 if the house is worth going after. Do learn to do some preliminary searching because you don't want to spend $25 for every property you look at. That gets mighty expensive