BiggerPockets

The tax assessor will sometimes have a mailing address if they changed it.
One of the most effective ways is to ask the neighbors.

Hire a PI :)

If you are having a tough time finding the owners through conventional means, I suggest using a pay per search service that will run a "trace" search for you.
It will cost you a few bucks per search, but in the long run you will more than cover your search expenses.

Thank you for the response guys. I am still learning the ropes :)

Sam: As for asking the neighbors, would I be infringing on someone's privacy? Just wanted to make sure I wouldn't step on any toes.

Ibrahim: I went to the County and received a print out all of the information available. Is there somewhere else I should look?

jesse: I have heard of skip tracers. I have never used one before, do you have a recommendation? How much do they charge? How long does it take for them to find the info?

Thanks again everyone! You all are awesome!

Ali,

I use a service called Intellius. You can pre-pay a couple hundred bucks and get somewhere around 500 searches. This is a do it yourself type thing unless you have a VA making calls for you. Basically you'll just be getting the sellers phone # and calling versus sending out a letter.

www.Intellius.com
www.MerlinData.com

Hope this helps.

You can try http://www.publicdata.com/ for $9.95 a month you get 400 searches. This site is best for landlords to do background checks on tenants.

One of the deals I currently have in the works the neighbor took my card and faxed it to the owner. The neighbor was keeping an eye on the property for the owner.

Another couple of deals that didn't work out the neighbor just said "they moved to "X"

I looked for the owner in "X" and what do you know!!! It is a good way to narrow a search to know what city they live in.

Hi everyone,

I've used this site previously you do have to pay to get the owners information, but on some properties it'll list part of the owners name. Then I do a search on whitespages.com for their number and call away..

http://www.netronline.com/

these are all great responses. I also had a realtor tell me to photo copy only the front of a $20 bill and stick it on the front and the backyard doors of the house. The note on the back should read "for the real bill, please inform us where the property owner might be. We can be reached at xxx-xxx-xxxx"

All these methods work--if he is living there --
or leave any info --some times they move out of state or go live with relatives.

Yes --skip tracer may work -

Best suggestion is to send him a hand written note -- include $10 cash and invite him to meet at McDonalds--for lunch --write him that you want to save his credit and will like to help him-- Now on the envelope--write down
Forwarding Address Requested -- -- so if he moved and left address --it will be delivered
to him--- IF not -go to post office after you get the envelope back and pay $3 to post master
and they will find the address for you --

If you have last name and frst name--find other people with same last name and make few phone calls---may work

If you do this, make the photo copy at least 150% of the original size. To replicate US currency by ANY means is a violation of federal law. You don't want add any complications with the Secret Service to your real estate business. :wink:

http://www.secretservice.gov/money_illustrations.shtml