Realtytrac-DefaultReasearch-opinions of services
Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 0 votes
Can I get some feedback on the following pay for property data sites:
A) Realtytrac.com
B) Defaultreasearch.com
C) Myrealtydata.com
D) Buybankhomes.com
E) Forclosures.com
F) Realtystore.com
Any other sources that work well??
Thanks,
James :green:
I have onlu used realtytrac and find their comp data outdate and you can get better comp data from free sites such as zillow. I had their membership for a whole year and found that it wasn't doing it for me. Their searching method to locate properties just plainly sucks. You are confine to the fields they provide for you which is very difficult.
Most of their data out dated and they keep recycling it. You can obtain better information from zillow and the only difference is that you can view the owners address, trusty or bank own informaiton.
Other than that its over rated, save your money you can do better. Get with a realtor and establish a relationship and he can get you all the reo's and foreclosures you can possbile think of. If you are in Southern California i can provide you with an reo and foreclosure list for free. I get this across my desk from month to month and don't mind passing them to real estate investors.
I don't use them so i would have someone put them to better use. There is thousands of them listed, all you need is one or two from the list to get you goin to continue to build that momentum.
You can find a bunch more listed at:
http://www.biggerpockets.com/pre-foreclosures.html
I looked at all of the listed sites and found the data very dated and inacurate for my area. Example: My town has less than 10 n.o.d,s
and 1 notice of sales at Co. Recorder. Realty Trac has over 60 pre-forclosures and bank owned homes listed as "currant", this is simply not the fact. Huge error margin of a high percent. Usually the n.o.d,s get cured, as there has been one sale in the last couple of months. 1/2 hour away is a town that has a few each month, then 45 min to an hour away several more.
My buddy ( A Broker) has an account with a major title comany. We looked at the service yesterday, and it gives as much info as a true preliminary title report! Do all realtors have this information available to them? I am going to call the title company and see if I can get an associate account.
James
Yes any license real estate agent has access to title, foreclosures and property data information that will put dollar signs in your eyes. Once you have this type of access you will be very powerful my friend. Title companies do not like dealing with investors at least most of them do not because if investors run around with this type of data in their hands they are scare that people with ruing the market place.
With that said you can buy these services from them as a persciption bases on monthly, quarterly and yearly rates. Having a real estate license will give you access to these tools and tricks of the trade that only the real estate professional have or you can simple pay for these services on your own which many investors do anyways.
Always treat the data and the industry with respect because if we allow others to abuse it, it reflects bad on everyone else.
Good luck on your quest if you PM with info on you PM i can pull some foreclosure and/or farm data on your a particular area that you want to invest in FREE OF CHARGE and I WANT NOTHING IN RETURN. What i do ask is that you treat the data, people and the real estate industry with respect. Do not abuse the powers you are about to come forward with or the people you will transact business with.
I only invest in income producing properties and there are millions of properties in the US and i can't do them all and willing to share the information that i have access to with others.
I know how hard it is when you start and having the right tools is important. People hord away secrets beleiving that if you keep them to yourselve others will not take your opportunities creating more for yourself.
I beleive in free knowledge as their is plenty of business to go around and we can all be successful together so we may sit at the same dinner table at that particular expensive restaurant no one else has access to and enjoy the fruits of our labor an discuss how beautiful life is at the top!
With that said you can buy these services from them as a perception bases on monthly, quarterly and yearly rates. Having a real estate license will give you access to these tools and tricks of the trade that only the real estate professional have or you can simple pay for these services on your own which many investors do anyways.
Can you expand a bit on the above?
Agents have access to data though I am not sure most know what to do with it when it comes to investing. Very few agents invest.
Title companies having problems with investors having access to the data? Why? How will the investors mess things up if they have the data?
Tools and tricks of the trade make it sound like you have to be in a club or something. Having a RE license certainly goes not give someone membership. What tricks of the trade are you referring to?
Professional RE investors are likely to be folks on this site and others who are doing deals on a regular basis. There is no professional body otherwise so where are you drawing the line?
John Corey
With that said you can buy these services from them as a perception bases on monthly, quarterly and yearly rates. Having a real estate license will give you access to these tools and tricks of the trade that only the real estate professional have or you can simple pay for these services on your own which many investors do anyways.
Can you expand a bit on the above?
Agents have access to data though I am not sure most know what to do with it when it comes to investing. Very few agents invest.
Title companies having problems with investors having access to the data? Why? How will the investors mess things up if they have the data?
Tools and tricks of the trade make it sound like you have to be in a club or something. Having a RE license certainly goes not give someone membership. What tricks of the trade are you referring to?
Professional RE investors are likely to be folks on this site and others who are doing deals on a regular basis. There is no professional body otherwise so where are you drawing the line?
John Corey
John if the title companies want to give investors access to title informaiton such as foreclosure farm lists and everything else that comes with the ability of pulling information on properties then everyone would have access to it but as you can see it is exclusive and/or you must pay for it if you can afford it.
Yes you have to be part of the club of either one or both which is be a real estate professional who has access to these tools and/or you must buy these services as an investor plain and simple.
A real estate license does give you access to tools that the average person does not have if they are only an investor.
Not sure why you even asked these things you know very well that what type of access being in the real estate industry one has and if you don't which you do as you provide hard money funding services you know exactly what i am talking about.
John if the title companies want to give investors access to title informaiton such as foreclosure farm lists and everything else that comes with the ability of pulling information on properties then everyone would have access to it but as you can see it is exclusive and/or you must pay for it if you can afford it.
Yes you have to be part of the club of either one or both which is be a real estate professional who has access to these tools and/or you must buy these services as an investor plain and simple.
A real estate license does give you access to tools that the average person does not have if they are only an investor.
Not sure why you even asked these things you know very well that what type of access being in the real estate industry one has and if you don't which you do as you provide hard money funding services you know exactly what i am talking about.
A few too many assumptions. Your logic is circular so not up to engineering standards.
Agents get very little for free. Their access to services is charged to them one way or the other.
Investors can buy as much or as little as they want.
Title companies do offer directly access to the data. Some will even provide weekly mailings to investors where the investor pays nothing.
The club idea is overrated. If people want access they can get it. We have discussed this already on this site.
As to what I use or what anyone else uses. You are guessing and you are not very good at guessing. Better to offer your views without making stuff up. When you make it up and get it wrong people start to doubt everything you are saying.
If agents have access to all this great data why is it that statistically agents rarely invest in RE? Did the data scare them off? Maybe being an investor is less about what services you have and more about getting deals done.
John Corey
Thank you John, well said. firoengineer is making absolutely no sense, he sounds like a real estate industry conspiracy theorist. There are a lot of services and databases available - title companies will share information with anyone whom they have an established business relationship.
I looked at all of the listed sites and found the data very dated and inacurate for my area. Example: My town has less than 10 n.o.d,s
and 1 notice of sales at Co. Recorder.
James
Looks like you may want to consider a larger town for your research.
Hi Maybe because I am new but I don't get what is said here. Is there somewhere it was suggested I intro myself? Did I miss it? 10 posts before offering services? Again did I miss that? Agree with your don't over promote suggestion and hate knuckleheads who try to sell services, we all need to make a buck and some services are valuable. As a monderator I appreciate your efforts and admittedly just clicked on ok when told rules, maybe I missed some things.
Steve
This was a scenario to show that I find the info way out dated. I don't work my immediate area. These pay sites show dozens of NOD-NOT, as current. So, the info is a collection of vey old collected data, I think. I have this handled now for accurate info from title Co.
Did you introduce yourself in introductions? Reminder, 10 contributing post before offering any services please. Then go to "making deals forum" and dont over promote please. People will know who you are and what you offer, just by your sticking around and contributing to the group.
Thanks again,
Yes Flipper, I did.
I'm working on NOTS in the Seattle area by door knocking that has been moderately successful getting contracts signed ,but I'm looking to get into NOD stage to build up some rapport with the owners to obtain lease options, Listings, more contracts, etc. A foot in the door before everyone else.
Can anyone recommend me a current data source that will provide NOTICE OF DEFAULT? I understand some Credit agencies or Banks provide these sources with Fee.
Thanks everyone and I value your help!
A WA investor living closer to OR has a list sent to him from the title company each week. He mostly uses direct mail (letters plus some post cards). He is sending out something like 400+ a month. The title company changes him nothing for the electronic list. They just expect that he will send them business when it comes time to close his deals.
Note that he gets the list almost as soon as the NOD is filed. Most of his deals come from people who respond much later. He finds that he has to mail people multiple times before they call on average. There are exceptions as this is the average.
I assume you are a member of the Seattle REIA. It is a large group. There could me employees of local title companies that attend the meetings. That is what happens at the Portland OR REIA meetings.
Focus on the customer service representatives as they are paid to bring in new business at the title companies. Some will offer online access to their systems.
John Corey
The process that James is explaining is specific to CA. It is a trust deed state and the trustee handles the auction.
Other trust deed states will vary in their process. Definitely when it comes to the timelines.
In mortgage states the process will be even more different. The process involves court action (no trustee).
Learn from the way James thinks but check out the rules in your state for foreclosures.
John Corey
I found this site (albeit a bit stale) to be a good resource for the foreclosure rules in all 50 states
i dont think i can post urls but go to realtytrac's site
then /education/noframes/foreclosurePro.html
That should get you there
Good Luck
Jay Michals
REO Workout Solutions
When you ask a title company for the forclosure leads, what exactly do you say. "Could I have a listing of Notice of Defaults in the area?" How would you phrase it?
Here is a site that has more details including links to applicable state statutes http://www.foreclosurelaw.org/.
jeff88 - The key in approaching a title company is to establish a relationship with them - convince them that you will be utilizing them for all your title/escrow work. Even if you're just starting out talk to the marketing rep at the title company of your choice and be sincere in your desire to form a partnership. They will give you the list.
:wink: I promise this is not a solicitation, but I happen to know a little about this topic...
Most services are data mills. The problem is that they use automated systems to deliver data. There is very little 'human' involvement when compiling it. You need that human involvment to search the tax records, civil court records, judgment records, and the register of deeds.
From my experience, most services are very 'so-so' and offer very little useful info.
This is especially important when looking at pre-foreclosures and short sales. You don't want to spend weeks negotiating a short sale to only discover a $20k judgment that has to be paid at closing. That will usually kill the deal. It's important to have that info from the beginning so you don't waste your time.
There are very few services out there, who are really good at this. Depending on your area, you may find a good real esate attorney or title agent who can get good info. There are also some services that are regional or local. You will likely get a little better info from them. Look for quality --- not quantity. Someone may send 10 times the properties, but the info may not be very useful.
In a western state where escrows are handled at the title company and lawyers are not involved...
1. Contact the customer service rep.
2. You want a list, weekly will be just fine, sent by email. The list should be all the Notice Of Defaults that were filed that week with the local recorder's office. Note that there could be a slight lag between the legal filing and when the title company's database is updated.
3. Explain that you will be bringing all your closings to the title company when you have deals to close. Be honest about this. Expect that they make their money when you do a deal so bring them the deal. Their prices will be competitive so no real risk there.
If a customer service representative can not get you the info them call the next title company. You will likely have a few in your local market. Some might even offer you a login on their system so you can pull up information directly. If that is the case then make sure they train you in how to do a search for a recent NOD.
In some cases you might be interested in other notices. Check the state process for how a borrower who is in default is handled. When I say NOD I mean in a generic way rather than in a specific way for each specific state. Notice of Trustee Sale, lis pendens, are some other terms you will hear depending on the state.
John Corey
M Park,
How about working with Josh to offer a free copy of the report to all the BP folks who would like one? A way to 'advertise' but do it on terms that benefit the BP community.
John Corey
That's a good idea. I would be happy to provide a handful of free reports for anyone who is interested. Keep in mind, we only cover Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina right now. We will be expanding over the next year, but if you or anyone you know work in that area, it would definitely be useful.
If anyone would like one, email me at [email protected].
Thanks!
It is tough to find pre-pre-foreclosures (meaning, somebody who is defaulting on one or 2 payments). one technique i use is access to public records, in GA most counties have websites with updated deed transactions. once a i see a bank name on them, i know the bank has that property on REO! How to get the address? I talked to postal workers and meter readers! they know when a house is vacated.