Shark-bait Tools?
I saw a few posts about 'shark-bait' software - software that will give you information about foreclosures. My question is, where do the software vendors get their feeds from? I know that this information is public - I'm just curious how the software vendors get the information from the courthouse. Since I'm a software developer, I would just as soon read the feed myself if it is available.
-e-
dataquick is one provider there are many more. Try the SB site and you will find who is operating in your area.
I guess what I'm wondering is if there's any way of getting the feed - I can customize software to my own ends. Dataquick probably provides it - but this stuff won't necessarily show up on MLS, will it? I'd rather just pay for the data feed if I could.
-e-
As you probably know, shark bait is a program owned and operated by the owners of the foreclosure dot com websitte. You can screen through it. By doing so, I found it to be repetitious and redundant. I builtl myself an excel spreadshieet which is faster and in my opinion infinitely superior. Of course it's specific to the information I'm interested in and only for the data I collect in NV. If you go to that site you will see that there's a preforeclosure servicer to which you can subscribe. Once, while surfing the internet I found 3-4 preforeclosure collection services for Southen California to which you can subscribe.
There's a mention on the Shark Bait website that you can find out about different liens on a property. Doesn't SB need for you to import foreclosure info from a site like www.foreclosure.com? Do those sites run title searches on every property before getting the info out? I doubt it.
Seems like many on TCI think that SB is a waste of money.
I can't speak for Shark Bait- never used it.....
but if they are using www.foreclosure.com as
their source of data...then garbage in=garbage out.
I've seen many listings on www.foreclosure.com that showed a property still available when it was bought at auction. I bought one at auction in Jan., went to www.foreclosure.com last week just to check it out.....my property was listed as 'bank owned REO' - what rubbbish.
I'm NOT a bank and I won the bid and I own
it, not some REO dept. Seeing that
led me to dismiss www.foreclosure.com as a
source for credible leads.
SharkBait, on their website, lists links to many different companies that compile foreclosure and sales comp info. The big thing here would be to find one of these companies that does the compiling and gets it to you the same or the next day that they were digging through county records. Any more than that, and you already have other investors one step ahead of you.
Of course, on the SharkBait site, it looks super-cool. I would be interested to hear from more people that have this program, how often they use it, and what they think of it. Is it worth the money? It seems to do quite a bit more than any database that I'd set up myself can do.
I'm a new user of Shark-Bait. I purchased it for the marketing aspect of the program. I had another program that was totally useless and I returned that one. I would be interested in finding out more about the success or failure of Sharke-Bait as it does have a 30 day money back offer. Please let me know any comments from users or former users. :-o
Can one configure SB to fit ones own needs?
Thanks,
miles
I made the huge mistake of buying SharkBait when i started working with foreclosures. It is a HUGE piece of krap! Buy it if you want to throw your money away! If you in the 30 days, get a refund. Anyone that knows anything about databases can create the same thing in 1 hour.
all of these type of f/c suppliers listings are "old news" by the time i recieved them.......kenmax
econrad,
SharkBait (SB) actually requires two sets of data. First is the foreclosure listings provided from a vendor such as http://www.forclosures.com. The second is property sales information from a vendor such a dataquick.
You do not need an online subscription from dataquick. You would purchace the "Property Pro" CD every three months or so (to stay current).
SB compares the data in the foreclosure listing with "comps" from the dataquick data to get a ballpark figure of equity in the property. You use SB to eliminate properties with too little equity to persue.
SB also holds your contact information, repair estimates, appointments and followup reminders, mailings, photos of target properties (taken yourself), and more.
You need Microsoft Access 2000 to make it work (I don't think an earlier or later version is acceptable). You also need Microsoft Outlook for appointments and such. In short, you need the full Office 2000 package.
The price ($400) seems a bit prohibitive to me for an Access based solution, but to each their own I suppose. Perhaps after doing your first deal you might take some of your profit and invest in it.
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Sammyvegas,
Actually, SB is owned by CRS Data Solutions. They are not affiliated with http://www.foreclosures.com except that the latter has an arangement to sell SB.
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rehabber_pa,
Not http://www.foreclosure.com, http://www.foreclosures.com (plural)...two entirely different animals. The latter site actually hires people to daily hand research foreclosure information. They sit in the recorder's office with a laptop and notepad, and the information is usually posted by noon that day (in my area...some areas it's actually weekly, however).
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vguo,
No, SB is not very customizable at all. Pity, as it could have been a decent piece of software with more customizable features.
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HomeSelling,
I know more than a little about databases (hierarchical, relational, network, object-oriented, and spacial). While certainly not the platform I'd choose, it is certainly accessible to a large audience. But I seriously question anyone's ability to design (engineer) the entity sets, relations, constraints, et. al., and psysically build the database, tables, indices, et. al., design and build a meaningful UI, and finally test and debug a system like SB in...what did you say...1 hour. Let alone the research involved just in developing code to import dataquick data, in addition to developing the various reports and queries. Which version of SB did you buy (and when)? And what equivalent product did you develop to take it's place?
I'm confident that I could build something better (as could a number of people I know personally, and I'm sure tens of thousands of others I don't know), but it would be at a significant cost of time to reinvent the wheel here...time better spent chasing down deals.
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kenmax,
Yup...most of them are a waste of time. The website mentioned above collects letters from dissatisfied customers of many such organizations and posts them for all to see. If you can't find a reliable source online for your area, go down to your recorder's office and ask the clerk if there's any regulars that show up with laptops. Then talk to them. Chances are there's at least one researching foreclosures by hand, and maybe you could get a subscription personally. You'll get much better and timely data from a local than a national chain anyday.
It is my understanding that this site is that of Tim and Alexis McGee and they also provide training in pre-foreclosure and foreclosure. If the software they market is considered garbage, by some, then my question is whether anyone in this forum has any first hand knowledge of their courses and training programs? If so, can you share with us your feedback. Thank you, in advance.
Dave
[addsig]
I created a filemaker solution in a very short time. Its not that challenging since you don't have to be an expert to wirk with filemaker.
The biggest problem with SharkBait is its secutity. It needs a unique reg code for your computer. It is a very buggy technology because if anything changes in your computers registry, you have to get a new reg code. I.E. your out of business and allways at ther mercy.
Thanks to all for a lot of good information. As I am an experienced software developer, I'm less concerned with buying someone's software package, and more concerned with getting timely data feeds. As the SoCal market is still pretty hot WRT appreciation, I may end up looking in other markets, such as Phoenix and Reno. I'll add to this thread once I get my own system set up and pass on anything I've learned.
-e-
Homeselling,
Thanks for the reply...that's a very good point I hadn't considered. I've heard good thinks about Filemaker and a few times have considered buying a copy. So far, I've worked with Oracle, PostgreSQL, and Visual FoxPro. I suppose I would use FoxPro if I were to develop something because it's so easy to write code for, and building GUI's that tie in to your database is a snap...it's also nice that user's don't need FoxPro on their machines to run an app. built with it (unlike Access).
One convenient thing about SharkBait, though, is that foreclosure list vendors publish their data in a format native to SharkBait. Instead of typing the information yourself into the software, you just click to import the data file directly. Saves a lot of time typing tedious and repetitive information (a very mistake prone process).
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econrad,
Since you're in San Diego area, do you frequent Ward Hanigan's site?
Wannabe21 - I'm not familiar with Ward's site, but I will check it out. As far as a file format, the last thing I want to do is type in data - I would just parse the file format and stick it into a database that I would write my own front end for. I have licenses for SQL Server, so I would use that with a C# front end.
-e-
If you've got the time and talent then go for it. If you're ever in need of a beta tester...hint, hint.
BTW, Ward offers one-on-one training in foreclosures, title holding trusts (land trusts), junior bene buyouts, etc. If you want just basic information, pick up on of his recorded speaking engagements on CD. It's hard to go wrong for $21. (check your PM for URL)
I'm still living paycheck to paycheck at the J-O-B, but once I get enough cash reserves I think I'm gonna hop an Amtrak down your way to sit under Ward for a week. That's one of my short-term goals :-D [ Edited by wannabe21 on Date 05/31/2004 ]
I think that superior mortgage in SLC uses SB or a derivative from what I have seen.
Wannabe21 - Thanks. It's more a matter of finding the right data feed(s) and making time to write it. Right now, I would think that it would be very difficult to find foreclosures, since the market is so hot. In addition, I have a couple of other things going on so I probably wouldn't write the tool unless I were going to go hot and heavy on the foreclosures, or there was a market for it. If I do put it together, I will make it available.
-e-
Hey All,
This is not a shark bait question, but is related. I am working to develop a web based marketing tool for investors and realtors to find motivated sellers.
Aside from direct mail, email marketing, and foreclosure listings, what features would you like to see in this type of site?
You can set-up filemaker to do the import very easily. You can open your dbf file or whatever format it is in, with filemaker and it will create the entire database for you. All you have to do then is decide how you want to view the information. Very easy to set-up. You can create stand alone with filemaker. I have a very extensive system developed for my investing. Automate everything you can!
Guys, stop playing computer nerd, you sound like my kids. This is not brainsurgery.
Originaly, shortly after the flood. I went down to the Recorders office and got the tape which is completed by 5 pm each date. Then you would sit and play the tape. This tape had every document on it that was recorded that date. Having memorized pretty much all the tracts numbered and name you identified those properties of interest. Remember most of the 4,000 to 6,000 documents are not relevent. But you highly educated searcher pick up on the good stuff like NOD's and Notice of Trustee Sales.
I did that and as time went by we got self starters on cars and guess what you finaly got to micro fish. This made you a little dizzy watching it all but it was all there.
In modern times I get a service call'd www.RETRAN.net. Got it all in perfect reference if you know what you need. Its all www.there.One day after recordation. Even has a Thomas Guide notation so you can line them up for your daily run. You know you take a page out of Thomas Guide you go to Kinko and have it laminated so you can write on it with a grease pencil. You line them up attach them to a clip board and away you go into your selected area which if you know your stuff you play King of the Mountain. (You become identified as him who can solve all things in Real Estate) You know you have achieved this exhaulted status when some farmer stops you, removes the straw from his teeth and asks you about the crop prospects for the coming season.....
Mailing in this area of the world are so enormous that they have no effect. You have to run the defaults. You have to go there and stand in the door and get insulted and sneered at and just keep at it. Use humor, project the fact that you care. Be concerned. Try to help and in helping you sometimes make a profit and sometimes you will have to wait for heavens future reward. 70 virgins. maybe I'll convert. Nah I never looked good in a vest and all those explosives' Never get a perfect fit. When I was a fighter pilot I looked silly in a Mae West.
My cost is about $90 a month for the reports on line. I print out the ones I want to run and you have to learn to read them fast cause they got a lot of good stuff in them. Prior sales, comps. All the dates of actions and amounts. Trustees, service agents etc. etc. etc.
I map my run on the Thomas Guide. I attach in order the NODs or Notice of Trustees Sales if I am running close. I get in my car. I wear simple clothes a shirt and an occasional very conservative tie. No Mickey Mouse stuff. I wear simple shoes, slacks and I keep my hair cut and my nails short. I bite them. I drive a 1981 VW pickup truck all fixed up. Fancy wheels, gray paint etc. etc. super conservative. I look like somebodies grandfather who drinks a lot. I talk in a low voice and am very attentive. I know my stuff and can solve almost all problems. That includes family, jobs, finances, and of course Real Estate. I am totaly involved. And I care about people.
Cheers Lucius