Residential and commercial real estate sales · Crofton, MD · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 4 votes
Hey guys,
So I've recently been pulling probate files at the county court houses. I've pulled about 200 leads and have began a mailing campaign. I send out a personalized letter to the Personal Representative, and haven't been getting any calls back. Any ideas?
Hey guys - I have worked probates for about 8 years. I love this niche.
You don't know how long the person has been deceased when the executor/ administrator actually opens the probate. It may be as long as 9 months to a year so I start mailing when they file the probate. That is an indication that they are ready to move forward and that is when I start mailing. These folks are ready when they finally get mentally ready to tackle the task.
I only use white computer generated letters. People in this situation are very sensitive so you have to handle them with kid gloves, but it is an extremely lucrative niche.
Mail to them every month until you buy the house, someone else buys the house or they are removed from your list for another reason. Remember that 85% of your deals will come at or beyond the 5th mailing.
i see a trend here of mailing white letters for probates which im all for. however if you happen to have the persons cell phone number how risky/insensitive would it be to send a text concerning the house? "hi sir/mam im sorry for your loss, concerning the house when you are to sell, i would like to be of assistance with buying the home...thank you." myname and email.
Once in awhile the PR will provide their e-mail address in addition to their phone number(s).
BP provides a sample probate letter. Go to "Tools", "FilePlace: Free Forms and Files". You can send off the sample probate letter (or edit it) to the PR's e-mail. If you do use it consider adding condolences and sympathy in wording of the letter..
Hello, guys I am new to REI and the information provided on this thread is amazing. I would love to get into the probate niche. @Sharon Vornholt I would love to learn more about locating probate leads. Can you help?!?
Taneka - You will need to do a little detective work to find out how to get them in your area. There are more than 3300 counties in the US ad each one of them is different. Start by Googling probate + your county. They could be online, in the newspaper, in a legal publication, etc. No two areas are exactly the same.
@Nick Luongo I'm doing the same thing here in Western CT. I find some courthouses look at me like I'm a criminal trying to do some dirty work and waste their time while other smaller places ask me if my chair is comfy enough. It all depends on the courthouse I guess. Boston only let's you see five files a day!?!?!
@Taneka Redman welcome to BP. take a look at @Sharon Vornholt blog as well as searching through BP. There is plenty to read and learn from both. Best of luck!
@Christopher Reid - You might try contacting a local attorney to see where you can find a list of probates filed. They may be able to direct you to a service or publication. There should be a notice to creditors published somewhere. That list is published once a month in the newspaper where I live.
@Sharon Vornholt thanks for the advice. I've connected with an attorney who specializes in estate planning and see HUGE potential here.
Notice for Creditors is the way to go, I made a spreadsheet of over 400 executors wtih name and address, the estate of____, and date of decree (thought this would be good for monitoring conversion). Any pertinent info that I'm missing? I'm hoping that's enough to start a mail campaign.
One you have those critical 4 pieces of information, the name and address of the deceased and the PR, then what I do is have someone look up every property to see if it's a property I might be interested in. That will eliminate some of the less desirable areas and lower your mailing costs.
@Christopher Reid - one other thing I do is group my probates by month. You will need a way to go back and scrub your list from time to time. 400 names is a huge group. Remember you will be adding new names each month so it will be important for you to scrub your list and remove "solds" periodically.
@Sharon Vornholt Thanks for all of your knowledge on this topic. I have been listening to your podcast and it is very evident in those podcast marketing and probate are two areas you have mastered. Would you recommend not mailing to PR if they are currently living in the same house as the deceased? I have heard some people shying away from those particular leads.
If it's a surviving spouse no. However, if you know who the PR is and the home has been transferred into their name, it just might be a case where the probate attorney had them do that. I mail to them in that case.
Every now and then they might actually be living in the house, but not typically. Be sure to stop by my blog too Aria. Good luck.
@Sharon Vornholt Your podcasts/blog has been very helpful. I noticed while searching county records that sometimes Guardianship/Wards will come up in searches with real estate involved. Does it make sense to send Direct Mail to the guardian? This one in particular is a professional guardian. I'm wondering if this professional may already have a process for disposing/selling of the real estate.
Guardianship usually refers to someone who is a minor or someone who is incapacitated. This person (the guardian) is appointed to watch over their interests. In the case of professional guardianship, this refers to someone who is not a member of the incapacitated persons family that carries out the duties of a court-appointed guardian. This person charges fees for doing this.
So to answer your question, I guess you are assuming the person has died and the guardian would then be in charge of selling the property. I'm not sure how this works in individual states. If you belong to your local REIA, I would recommend you grab an (attorney) member and ask how that works in your state, or ask any local attorney.
Yes, it looks like the person is deceased and the professional guardian has assumed responsibility for the estate. I've actually seen the same professional guardian for a few probates. I've got a REI meeting this Thursday. Thanks!
How soon after they file probate can you send a letter? Plus once it goes to probate does the Administrator/Executor has to make sure all outstanding bills are paid before they can sell the home?