Hello everyone, I had a question regarding finding the owners to negotiate a subject to. Some of the properties I have gone to have a realtor sign on them even though they are 1 week from foreclosure. Here's the question..would it be a good idea to contact the real estate agent to get the owners contact information when m having trouble finding them? Even if it would mean paying the agent a finders fee if she wasn't able to sell and I was able to close the deal? Also, any suggestions on other ways of finding the owners would be great! Thanks!!

As real estate agents you cannot ethically pay us "finders fees". Offering a finders fee is an insult to our profession. If you don't already have the contact information for the owner realtors aren't going to give it to you. Be careful not to rub the realtors the wrong way in Texas. The seller is under a legally binding contract with the agent. You seem a bit new at RE investing. You might want to find a local REIA in your area. Subject TO deals are more complicated than just finding who the owner is and making an offer. Do you have an attorney that is writing your contracts? Do you understand how foreclosures work in Texas? Texas is a Tax Deed State.

I guess finders fee was the wrong term to use since these properties are listed all over the foreclosure listings and aren't exactly hiding. More specifically it wouldn't necessarily be a finders fee of the property but a finders fee for sharing information of an owner that was about to get foreclosed on because they couldn't sell the property. What I'm getting at is, if the real estate agent failed to get the property sold and I was in a position to bail out the individual that was about to get foreclosed on. I wouldn't mind sharing some of the profit on the wrap that would follow if the real estate agent had contact info that was more up to date than what I was able to get a hold of. Yes I am new to REI so I want to establish a good relationship with other investors or realtors, which is why I would want to include them in the deal if I was able to close. With that being said, I understand the Subject to deals are more complicated and am working with an experienced real estate attorney, and have all the necessary documents in place. I'm only concerned about having the best avenues of contacting such owners that have listed multiple false numbers/living out of state or have just plain abandoned the property.

I've talked to people that have had the house listed with an agent. Don't tell them to cancel their contract with the agent, ever.  I simply tell them that if they ever decide to terminate the contract and the house is no longer listed with an agent, to feel free to call me back to see if we can help them.  Sometimes they ask questions about how our "Sub-To" program would work and sometimes you can entertain a hypothetical conversation.  

Thanks Juan I will definitely keep that in mind when approaching deals that are already listed with a realtor.