How to find houses that have been taken off MLS?

Foreclosures, Short Sales, Tax Foreclosures
1

I am a new investor and so far have only been to wholesale training. But there is a house across the street from me that has been vacant for a long time now, and I believe they are foreclosed. There is a realtor sign in the front but when I checked the site for the house, nothing. How can I find out who owns the house (bank, owner, etc…)? I did a search for it on numerous sites, but it says its been taken off MLS. What’s my next step because I am looking forward to wholesaling it to a rehabber.

2

check the county clerk to see if there was a lis pendens or notice of default filed. if so, then check to see if it was sold at a sheriff sale. in my county it there will be a record for the sheriffs deed.

if it has been purhased you will see who bought it, or if it went back to the lender (in my county it will show a sale for $100). then perhaps you might be able to followup with the lender and maybe work something out? if it is REO, my guess is it goes through whatever process and then is listed with an agent that they normally list with. it doesn’t hurt to give a call and inquire about it.

3

well a realtor showed the house one time but since then they never did anything. it WAS on the market for a while, but now it is gone. so is it possible for me to still get a good deal off of this situation or no?

BTW ryanpal, what county/state are you in?

4

if it is an REO property listed with an agent… good luck… in my dealings with REO agents they all stink. time is not of the essence. follow the previous advice and check with the county clerk. even if it did go thru sheriff sale, you can still check the recorded deed to find out which bank retook possession of the property. after that, it just takes a bunch of phone calls to work something out

good luck

5

Thank you both, I will be doing so this morning :biggrin

6

Morris County NJ :wink:

7

If the property is a foreclosure, you can check with your county clerk, or look it up on a free listing site like ours. You can usually find the listing along with price info and photos online if you know the state/county/town where the property is located. I do know that many of the listings in our directory aren’t on MLS, so you might want to have a look.

Good Luck,
TJ
www.ushud.net