Thanks guys for some of your insight in my last questions…
first let me start an say my initiations im located in Texas an I want to be able to get my local forecloses list every month and do all the research like address, the taxes owed, estimate the value of the property, repairs and even go see what I can do to raise the property value if I decided to buy it. I know how to do all of that and sort out good leads. But my main problem (some of yawl have given me some ideal on my last post) is finding what is owed on the properties when it is in forcloser I can’t even get the mortgage companies names. I know I should go to the county records department and look at the liens and the property documents. Ive tried that; ive gone down their and they don’t show me how to use the data bases and they have even given me their website that I can use to do it at home. But I can’t figure out how to work them. I don’t want to do 50 title searches a month I would never make any money. Does anyone know of anything that could help me maybe a web site or a book or even some personal knowledge or ideas? I am willing to take anything I can get.
Also when a property is going to be sold lets say in an up coming auction is it possible to contact the owner of the property or their bank to buy the house before the auction or is it too late.
Thanks guys
Michael Starks
Sorry if I keep asking the same question over and over!
You can try RealQuest (www.realquest.com) and see if it works in your area. There is a charge to use it but you can usually see the mortgages on the properties. Not the balance but the amount of the loan and interest rate when it was financed.
That being said, don’t get too hung up on what is owed. You can try and work with the owners bank and get them to take a discount before it goes to auction.
Have you tried Netronline.com yet? You can find out if your county provides information online. Sometimes to actually see what your wanting to see you may have to pay for the actual copies to see this. But if online you should be able to sort yourself out.
Good luck…Not as expensive as realquest is free except for the pages you may have to pay for. Also if online you can check most liens and other filings against property. But always before purchase do a title report. Sometimes titlesearch.com is good as well for that. But realquest is good for property value evaluations. Their backed by a title company. Another thing is like lexis nexis. But see what you find. I truly usually get most information from Netronline.com
Why bother to do research on properties you may never buy. FIRST, locate the motivated seller. When the seller gives you clear indication they are ready to sell, and you have some clue as to how much, and if its in your budget and investment objective, and there is a good chance the seller will go through with the deal, then start only BASIC research. How! If you work with a Title Company, contact their Customer Service Dep, request a Property Profile, with comps and complete documentation. Remember! A comp will NOT Include liens and judgments and info could be 30 to 60 days old. Meaning! anything could be filed within this period and it may not appear on the profile. When you talk to the owner, you can find out the monthly mortgages, mortgage balance and approximate delinquent amount, back taxes etc. IT IS MOST LIKELY INACCURATE too. If you know the monthly mortgage payments, number of months not paid, you can multiply the monthly mortgage payments and duration and get a starting point, then add to it, foreclosure fees, legal fees, trustee fees and all other fees. Calculate your fees to be around the day you anticipate you will close the deal. Now! even though the numbers are inaccurate, not to worry. Write a simple clause in your contract that states any amounts not disclosed, or any amounts exceeding the amounts disclosed by the seller will be deducted from the seller’s proceeds at the closing of escrow. If you use a Title Company, they will do all the work for you and find out the reinstatement or pay off amounts. If you are going to do the due diligence yourself, get a written authorization of RELEASE OF INFORMATION from the seller authorizing you to talk to the bank. By law, you become an entitled party if the property owner grants you permission (in writing), the lenders have no choice but to give you the info you request and need to take care of the loans or otherwise.
Work Smart!
This is so beautiful, I have been trying to figure out how to go about approaching foreclosures and pre-foreclosures in the right way, the answer in it all is the “The Bank Authorization form to Release Information”, this makes my work so much easier especially when you are bird dogging, thank you, thank you.
There are subscription services you can purchase that provide all the info your looking for. You might google “foreclosure listings services” and see what comes up.