Virginia Bch, VA · Member since 2021 · 3 posts · 2 votes
New to REI and wondering other than looking on Zillow and realtor apps for multi family properties what is the best way to contact an owner of a property I like. Let's say I drive by a place that I'm interested in. What should I do to get the owners contact information?
Rental Property Investor · Akron, OH · Member since 2021 · 36 posts · 17 votes
5y
I'm glad you asked this because I've been wondering the same thing for a while now lol. I know this doesn't gives you answers but maybe more people will see it if there's a reply :)
Rental Property Investor · Rancho Cordova, CA · Member since 2020 · 111 posts · 27 votes
5y
The county tax collector would be a good place to start. Property owner information is generally public. Sometimes you can get it from the tax collector's website. Or you might have to email them to get it. Or maybe call or visit the office.
@Michael Ringler there are also real estate websites that can help you identify property owners and offers skip tracing so you can get their direct phone number. One of the websites I have heard a lot about is PropStream. They offer a 7 day free trial. Best of luck.
Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2018 · 14 posts · 9 votes
5y
@Michael Ringler
Propstream.com
Whitepages.com
The county the property is located in should have a county website.
If you enter the address in any of these three you should be able to get the property owner. Propstream and whitepages are paid sites, but can provide the owners contact information, mortgage information, and other info that is beneficial.
Another benefit of propstream is you can create list for a certain area, based on certain criteria without having to physically drive by the house.
Rental Property Investor · Surprise, AZ · Member since 2020 · 405 posts · 179 votes
5y
@Michael Ringler
Depending on your state you should be able to google ‘(county) land records’ then type in the address on the site to get current info. If it owned by an llc you can google ‘llc lookup (state)’ then type in the name. Otherwise you should also be able to find it in the deal machine app for free I believe.
Specialist · Denver · Member since 2021 · 159 posts · 101 votes
5y
If you have an individual (or list of) property in mind, then skip tracing is the way to go. It will take the property address and find the owners, phone numbers, email address, mailing addres etc. The question of which is best is going to be debatable for some. Whichever you choose, ensure it can get you as close to credit bureau data as possible. You may run across properties that are owned by LLCs, corporations or trusts, skip tracing those are harder but there are skip tracers that can do that.
As it relates to sourcing a list, there are a few suggestions above - list source, propstream, property radar. They are more depending on the niches. I'd be happy to share more if you need them.
If you are just looking at one address at a time as opposed to an entire list, you can easily do this on listsource for free. Create your own list> Geography> Street Name > Populate appropriate fields. Type the actual address (street number) into both the high and the low.
If nothing pops up in the count, go to the Options tab and make sure no preference is ticked on each item. Once you have something in the count, click purchase list, and in the next window add both standard and expanded property characteristics (from "other output packages"), then click add to order, then over to the right, click "View Sample record".
A window will pop up with all the info you want. Copy and paste into excel for future reference.
Alternately, you can use the map search and polygon tool to draw just around the property you're interested in then follow the same checkout procedure. You can do all of this without making a purchase, or even setting up an account. Most of the other resources mentioned will require an investment and are over kill for onesies and twosies like driving for dollars turns up.
Do it a couple of times and it becomes quick and easy