Real Estate Consultant · Glendora, CA · Member since 2019 · 314 posts · 95 votes
Hi BP,
My name is Brandon. I've been an agent for about a year and a half. All in all, it's been going pretty well. My question is have you been able to generate leads from probate attorneys or real estate attorneys?
If so, how? and what value did you provide to them to generate leads or establish a relationship?
I don't know if it is just my market, or if that is common...but when I pulled all the probate cases for a year in Tarrant County which is the County for Fort Worth, TX...of course there were 100s or a 1000+ probate cases with real estate. What surprised me though was that it seemed pretty standard for most of the attorneys listed to only handle one case. There were a handful that maybe had 5-10-15 cases, but those were pretty sparse. So not sure worth prospecting the ones that get 1 case every year or two or three.....as some of those won't be sellers....maybe husband/wife survivors that stay in the house, kids move in, they already have a realtor, or some other excuse.
You might get the 2020 list and run that for your county or local probate court and see if you can put that in Excel and shift and sort by attorney to see the ones who really are active and handling cases.
I don't know if it is just my market, or if that is common...but when I pulled all the probate cases for a year in Tarrant County which is the County for Fort Worth, TX...of course there were 100s or a 1000+ probate cases with real estate. What surprised me though was that it seemed pretty standard for most of the attorneys listed to only handle one case. There were a handful that maybe had 5-10-15 cases, but those were pretty sparse. So not sure worth prospecting the ones that get 1 case every year or two or three.....as some of those won't be sellers....maybe husband/wife survivors that stay in the house, kids move in, they already have a realtor, or some other excuse.
You might get the 2020 list and run that for your county or local probate court and see if you can put that in Excel and shift and sort by attorney to see the ones who really are active and handling cases.
From my own personal experience @Brandon Carlson I had to consult and hire my own attorney as the lead attorney who represented my other five siblings was hesitant to take me on as a client.
What Iv'e learned from my past experience researching probate files, probate attorneys represent the PR (Personal Representative) while the PR represents the decedent (estate).
The attorney can be a friend, can be evasive or slow you down. Probate is a title problem ~ Heir's don't want solutions, they want relief.
Generating a relationship with a (or any) probate attorney is not the fastest way to get business. BUT you can try taking them out to lunch (golf country club) and discuss how you can help with their practice.
You should consider marketing to PR's who reside outside the state of CA. (TX, Ohio, WY, N.Y., etc)
As far as I know none of the 58 CA counties sell probate leads. An investor must have the decedent's name and case number to view a probate file. Some files may not have real estate.
Remember that you are a problem solver which is why I got my license and probate is not seasonal.
No matter how much time has passed the emotions for the family are still raw. (Iv'e been there)
If I can be additional help don't hesitate to contact me...
Brandon - reminder: real estate pro’s are in the problem solving business. I can assure you that, having complete thousands (yes!) of probate deals attorneys do not consider finding an agent in the San Gabriel Valley a problem!
Most ALL attorneys find agents to be pests rather than welcome guests (true!).
I strongly suggest you focus on solving granular problems at the consumer level and develop your expert chops working tax defaulted and pre-probates. A great example is to use Property Radar or similar list to find properties currently in foreclosure. Reverse mortgages a perfect example. Make sure they have plenty of equity (because that’s what you’ll get paid from).
Then, find one or two local probate attorneys in your farm area. Probably not the attorney that pitches the agents because I keep seeing bad stories about getting his clients into trouble.
Study title research before probate. This will improve you capabilities. Few agents will bother and give up.
The money is in finding the pain points for clients.