Flipper/Rehabber · Golden, CO · Member since 2013 · 590 posts · 319 votes
I was driving down the street and found an abandoned looking house, so I looked it up when I got home and found its in pre foreclosure. I've looked at the Assessors Records and found the owners name, purchase price, loan amount, and some liens, but cannot find his current address or phone number. How do I tracked this info down?
When I've encountered this situation I do a couple things....1.) There are companies online that offer skip-trace services that help locate phone numbers and addresses that are associated with that particular name. In my experience, the majority of the time this information is not of much value. Numbers are disconnected or an old number the person may have had 5+ years ago. Same with the addresses you get back in the skip-trace. 2.) I go talk to the neighbors and just let them know that I noticed the house was vacant, I'm a real estate investor and was trying to contact the owner to see if they might have a need to sell. Often times the neighbors have some type of information that proves to be useful. I've had more success with knocking on doors and talking to neighbors than skip-tracing people. That's just my personal experience though.
Does the assessors records still show the mailing address for property taxes as the address you are targeting? If so, then it will likely take some work to track this person down. If you are able to view records online regarding how long this person has owned the property that help to determine whether or not they have any equity in the property. If they've only owned for a couple years there may not be much equity, making it difficult to swing any kind of deal that would be worthwhile. Just my two-cents.
When I've encountered this situation I do a couple things....1.) There are companies online that offer skip-trace services that help locate phone numbers and addresses that are associated with that particular name. In my experience, the majority of the time this information is not of much value. Numbers are disconnected or an old number the person may have had 5+ years ago. Same with the addresses you get back in the skip-trace. 2.) I go talk to the neighbors and just let them know that I noticed the house was vacant, I'm a real estate investor and was trying to contact the owner to see if they might have a need to sell. Often times the neighbors have some type of information that proves to be useful. I've had more success with knocking on doors and talking to neighbors than skip-tracing people. That's just my personal experience though.
Does the assessors records still show the mailing address for property taxes as the address you are targeting? If so, then it will likely take some work to track this person down. If you are able to view records online regarding how long this person has owned the property that help to determine whether or not they have any equity in the property. If they've only owned for a couple years there may not be much equity, making it difficult to swing any kind of deal that would be worthwhile. Just my two-cents.
@Nick Paul He paid 158k and took a loan for 126k in 2006. Looks like there is equity. I think I found him on Facebook of all places, but it sort of feels like stalking to message someone on Facebook that may or may not be the owner. What do you think?
@Kyle Doney That's a tough call....are you able to drop by and talk to the neighbors at all? I would recommend doing that first and see what type of information you get. Then if you don't receive any good info from them you could try contacting him via facebook. If you do end up using facebook as a means of contact, just make sure you have a good approach as to why you are contacting him and how you can HELP him in his situation. He needs to know you are trying to help him out, not take advantage of his situation. Need to pitch it as a win-win for both sides.
I'd hit him up on facebook, too. Hopefully, you get a neighbor to confirm that is them, and use them as your way to introduction. You took a chance and found him as the possible owner. Don't take too long...