probate

I have attended a J.G.Banks seminar in my area. I know nothing about RE investing, but this sounds like an “untapped” way of investing. I know that foreclosures have been profitable to investors.

Is finding Probate properties hard to achieve? Can this really be done? What does anybody know about the J.G. Banks courses?

Alot of questions, but I would like to hear what true investors think about this subject.

I’ve been marketing to estate executors for a few months now. I visit the county surrogate’s office and search through probate cases looking for those in my market area. The computer system at my local surrogate’s office lists the address of the deceased and the address of the executor. A decedent’s address in my target area and an out of state executor seem to me the best possibility for motivated seller.

Once I locate what seems to be a reasonable prospect I search the county clerk’s office for real estate owned by the decedent, the date of sale, mortgages, etc. Once I locate a decedent with a property with equity I send a letter to the executor with condolences and a notice that I would be interested in purchasing the property.

What is the county surrogate’s office?

In my target area (Southern NJ) the county surrogate’s office is part of the county government where you file death notices and wills and probate an estate.

My local county government has several branches that have real estate related functions:

  1. County Sherrif holds sheriff sale for foreclosures and conducts evictions
  2. County Clerks office includes register of deeds, mortgages, liens, etc
  3. Tax Office holds tax records
  4. Surrogates Office provides death certificates and probates estates.

JMD

I had never come across the term of a county surrogates office. I will look more into it. It could just be a small office down in the county courthouse.

The reason I made the post was after attending the “free” seminar that had some general information, there is a 3-day advanced training that is a few thousand dollars. Just wanting to know if anyone is using the Banks techniques and have found success in probate investing?

Thanks