I have invested a ton of time into Driving for Dollars .
Out of 42 abandoned properties I located, I tracked down 25 owners. I then either called or personally visited those people. I received negative responses on all of these for various reasons (not interested in selling, in probate, property was recently sold etc).
I have another 17 leads but I cannot find these people. I have tried asking neighbors, yellow pages, looking through court documents for an alternative address, google, facebook and intelius.
I really don't want to spend a lot of money looking for each person as the likelihood is I will receive a negative response. I know of findtheseller which charges $25 per search and skiptrace services which are equally as pricey.
I am so hoping for recommendations from people who have had success with a website or service that are reasonably priced.
Thank you
@Nat C. I thought MIA meant "Missing in Alaska." (Or, Alabama!).
You need to decide what your time is worth and if you are going to be a professional or an amateur. I want to see you succeed because are taking action, however I can't make you decide to spend the money.
If you decide to do the work yourself, subscribe to PI magazine, which is Intended more for amateur sleuths and such but useful to us.
Use social media, too.
Search Amazon for books on skip tracing and you'll find quite a few.
Much of the work is grunt work and not online, such as interviewing neighbors, law and code enforcement, schlepping courthouse and other county archives. I'm eager but not that willing to do the work myself anymore as it's not a good use of my time.
Here's what I have done successfully: when I discover a property with the right amount if equity and triggers such as compounded problems (deceased owner, no probate, in foreclosure AND vacant) I decide if there's at least $100K potential profit.
If it meets the criteria, I hire a licensed private investigator to find my target prospect. Costs me about $1,000 per property! I only close on one (1) out of five (5).
Shocked? Don't be. Do the math. I spend $5,000 to make $100K net. Very, very few people will do this and I'm well aware of that.
Now, once you've connected with your prospect, the real fun begins. How do you contact them? Write, call, knock?
And the all important question: 'What do you want to see happen with this property?'
And then shut up and patiently listen to their response.
I wish I had the magic words to make this easy for you but I don't. I actually can only give you one piece of advice and that is to not give up!!!! You may have to find new ways or expend more energy or keep your attention on these properties over time patiently to come up with an answer/method, and from personal experience, people can sometimes be slow to respond if you have sent a letter etc.
Keep trying and thinking outside the box and you will find a way!!
@Nat C. I thought MIA meant "Missing in Alaska." (Or, Alabama!).
You need to decide what your time is worth and if you are going to be a professional or an amateur. I want to see you succeed because are taking action, however I can't make you decide to spend the money.
If you decide to do the work yourself, subscribe to PI magazine, which is Intended more for amateur sleuths and such but useful to us.
Use social media, too.
Search Amazon for books on skip tracing and you'll find quite a few.
Much of the work is grunt work and not online, such as interviewing neighbors, law and code enforcement, schlepping courthouse and other county archives. I'm eager but not that willing to do the work myself anymore as it's not a good use of my time.
Here's what I have done successfully: when I discover a property with the right amount if equity and triggers such as compounded problems (deceased owner, no probate, in foreclosure AND vacant) I decide if there's at least $100K potential profit.
If it meets the criteria, I hire a licensed private investigator to find my target prospect. Costs me about $1,000 per property! I only close on one (1) out of five (5).
Shocked? Don't be. Do the math. I spend $5,000 to make $100K net. Very, very few people will do this and I'm well aware of that.
Now, once you've connected with your prospect, the real fun begins. How do you contact them? Write, call, knock?
And the all important question: 'What do you want to see happen with this property?'
And then shut up and patiently listen to their response.
@Nat C. I thought MIA meant "Missing in Alaska." (Or, Alabama!).
You need to decide what your time is worth and if you are going to be a professional or an amateur. I want to see you succeed because are taking action, however I can't make you decide to spend the money.
If you decide to do the work yourself, subscribe to PI magazine, which is Intended more for amateur sleuths and such but useful to us.
Use social media, too.
Search Amazon for books on skip tracing and you'll find quite a few.
Much of the work is grunt work and not online, such as interviewing neighbors, law and code enforcement, schlepping courthouse and other county archives. I'm eager but not that willing to do the work myself anymore as it's not a good use of my time.
Here's what I have done successfully: when I discover a property with the right amount if equity and triggers such as compounded problems (deceased owner, no probate, in foreclosure AND vacant) I decide if there's at least $100K potential profit.
If it meets the criteria, I hire a licensed private investigator to find my target prospect. Costs me about $1,000 per property! I only close on one (1) out of five (5).
Shocked? Don't be. Do the math. I spend $5,000 to make $100K net. Very, very few people will do this and I'm well aware of that.
Now, once you've connected with your prospect, the real fun begins. How do you contact them? Write, call, knock?
And the all important question: 'What do you want to see happen with this property?'
And then shut up and patiently listen to their response.
Thank you so much for your response Rick. Your suggestions and advice are highly valued and appreciated.
I hadn't even thought about doing PI training and research. That's definitely a skill-set I would love to have. If I could master the art of finding missing owners, I believe my business would flourish. I have become quite skilled in many areas and I work very hard so this barrier is something I need to overcome.
I've already had luck tracking down a few owners from talking to neighbors and getting leads. It is quite exciting when you do investigative work and finally find the person and knock on their door. Strangely no one ever seemed astonished or asked how I tracked them down.
Definitely learn how to find and read public recorded data for your county (counties). All recorded docs, all court filings (criminal and civil), and any local death/obit notices and vital stats. Also learn how to use Pacer.gov for BK and other federal court filings. And get access to the Social Security Death Index. Learn what newspapers publish what and when. An owner that you can't find could be at the address on the last recorded IRS lien. Or at the mailing address on the court case for which they were served. Or the address on their BK filing. Or at other property they own or that is owned by family members.
More importantly, learn to identify property debt and title issues before you look for owners that are MIA.
city-data.com - look for your county and city, and use the address to find the owners' name. Not always updated and accurate but usually a good resource.
Your county's tax assessor - you'll be able to find the tax address of the owners, which may indicate their primary residence. Some counties will show the name as well.
County records - Once you have a bunch of addresses go to your county's offices and ask to use their public computers to get property records. Some counties are better at that, some are not but it's worth a shot.
Radaris.com - plug in the address and it'll find you the owners' name and numbers. Again, not always accurate.
411.com - Another source to find phone numbers.
Investor friendly RE agent - Many agents, especially ones that are established, have a system in place to track down property owners. Find one, develop a relationship and work with them. They may have access to property records which will provide you a lot of information that will aid you later on when contacting them.
Definitely learn how to find and read public recorded data for your county (counties). All recorded docs, all court filings (criminal and civil), and any local death/obit notices and vital stats. Also learn how to use Pacer.gov for BK and other federal court filings. And get access to the Social Security Death Index. Learn what newspapers publish what and when. An owner that you can't find could be at the address on the last recorded IRS lien. Or at the mailing address on the court case for which they were served. Or the address on their BK filing. Or at other property they own or that is owned by family members.
More importantly, learn to identify property debt and title issues before you look for owners that are MIA.
There are some awesome tips in here, thank you so much.
I have already learned a number of things you mention here-
#identify property debt and title issues
#find and read public recorded data from civil and criminal records
I had an interesting case where civil records listed an owner at one address but there was a criminal arrest file for a domestic violence incident at another address.
I was not aware of pacer.gov website or death index, which are helpful links.
I also thought I should look at county jail records and the person could even be incarcerated.
city-data.com - look for your county and city, and use the address to find the owners' name. Not always updated and accurate but usually a good resource.
Your county's tax assessor - you'll be able to find the tax address of the owners, which may indicate their primary residence. Some counties will show the name as well.
County records - Once you have a bunch of addresses go to your county's offices and ask to use their public computers to get property records. Some counties are better at that, some are not but it's worth a shot.
Radaris.com - plug in the address and it'll find you the owners' name and numbers. Again, not always accurate.
411.com - Another source to find phone numbers.
Investor friendly RE agent - Many agents, especially ones that are established, have a system in place to track down property owners. Find one, develop a relationship and work with them. They may have access to property records which will provide you a lot of information that will aid you later on when contacting them.
Thanks Assuf! My experience with the above mentioned-
citi-data.com- never tried it, will check it out
county tax assessor- lists the owners address as the abandoned property
radaris- always get a disconnected number
411.com- same as above
Investor friendly RE agent- I have several broker friends but they all said they have no special program to find owners