Pre Foreclosure Listings
I have had a tough time finding a good source of listings. I live and do business in NJ. The listings that I have used...and paid for...have either been too old or too imprecise. Can anyone recommend a source that will be reliable, current and complete? I will gladly pay a price commensurate with quality.
Got to the courthouse. Check and see if you can access records on line. That is where the list are being created from so you should have the latest information. From what I have seen in my home state you can get the foreclosure information and addresses all at the tax assessors web site.
If your county is not on the Web yet then - YEAH! You have eliminated most of the competition because they are lazy. If you also want to be lazy, then work another county. I work at least five counties.
I think you have a big advantage if you can get your self to the courthouse and start learning the records for your self. Admittedly what I am going to tell is from books and not my personal experience but I think it would work. Put on some good clothes to play the part of the new records researcher. Head down to the courthouse and start looking around. Ask if some one could show you how to use the system. They may have computers, books, microfilm but they have some way of keeping track of the foreclosures. There will more than likely be other people from law firms or title companies looking around and they may be willing to lend you a hand. If you put in the work I am sure you will be rewarded. This is where all the stuff on the internet or the local legal paper is coming from. Let every one else deal with the scraps that are left over after you are finished.
This is more book knowledge than practical but I think it is partially a case of quality vs quantity. Some people are mailing hundreds of postcards out to foreclosure lists but I would guess that many of the good deals were already picked up before they download their list from the internet. Quite a few people send out large mailings and they are trying to hit people before it goes to the courthouse and get a bit of a better deal. For that matter there are many areas other than foreclosure that people would send mailings to such as section 8 rentals, out of state owners or as known to the rest of the world…. motivated sellers. I think it makes much more sense to try and target your audience as much as possible. It sounds good to say “I send out thousands of postcards” but if you are not getting responses it doesn’t matter a whole lot. If you can learn the county records in your area I would wager to say that it is going to put you ahead of just about every person who is purchasing one of those ready made lists.
Try calling Larry at www.deadleads.com a TCI partner
C-
also www.findtheseller.com
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You also might try using u s a t r a c e . c o m they have a Investigative member area where you can run all kinds of searches to help in the location of property owners. They are really cheap compared to the others above.($15 per search).
[ Edited by 007Invester on Date 06/20/2005 ]
I read the Washington Post article and then I downloaded the report:
You can find it on the Nation Consumer Law Center website. The title of the article is "Dreams Foreclosed"
It is 68 pages but well worth the read. The fact that these people want more government regulation concerns me.
I look forward to hearing what other investors think about this.
[ Edited by reelfineagent on Date 06/07/2005 ]
you can avoid registration on news sites with http://www.bugmenot.com/
It give you a username & password that should work.
Unfortunately, The Washington Post article made every investor, even the honest ones, sound like "con-men/women". The only way to distinguish youself, is to continue to act honorably & honestly. Unfortunately, there are some crooked investors out there. True testimonials from satisfied people that you have helped is one good way to separate yourself from the "bad apples."