Tax PreForeclosure VS PreForeclosure
I have seached and searched and cannot find the answer to my questions. I have been trying to locate preforeclosures here in Austin via the courthouse. Everytime I get anyone on the phone or via the internet at the courthouse, they all refer me to the "tax accessor-collector". Is he the person that I need? When I talked to him he said all the only list he has are homeowners behind in taxes?!? I hear other people saying to visit the courthouse "daily" but the courthouse says that the preforeclose list is only out every 3 weeks since the auction is the first Tuesday of every month. Why would I need to visit "daily?" Can I find out about preforeclosures before the 3 week time period that they are released in the newspapers and courthouse? I am very thankful for this site and thanks in advance for your time!
Hi....
Welcome to the board.
When you say Austin, I am assuming you mean Austin, Texas? If that is where you are wanting to learn about pre-foreclosures, I can certainly help.
The "Tax" sale as you are finding is Travis County foreclosing on a property for the unpaid taxes. IF the owner has a mortgage on the property, it will get wiped out at the auction. Honestly, very few lenders will allow that to happen so they end up paying the taxes and adding that amount to the balance owed on the mortgage.
The County publishes a list of these but Travis County employee's either don't know the information or they don't have the time to explain it.
I personally don't like the Tax sale because of the redemption restrictions.
The mortgage foreclosure sale that you are wanting information on is very different. A "Trustee" is the person that has been appointed by the law firm that was hired by the lender that wants to foreclose on the property.
The trustee must post the legal notice to foreclose inside the courthouse NO LATER than 21 days prior to the first Tuesday of the coming month. Foreclosure listing companies will publish "early postings" if the trustee posts the notice earlier than the deadline.
The listing companies extract all the useful information from the actual mortgage and publishes it 18-19 days before the sale on average. I would suggest that if you subscribe to the service, that you get the online version rather than the printed book version. The online option has a search engine so you can weed out a lot of houses that don't have equity.
The two companies that I know of are:
Foreclosure Listing Service and
Rex Report
Travis County usually averages around 350 postings per month and Williamson is around 200.
I teach classes in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio on abandoned foreclosures and how to contact, present and buy property directly from the owners before the houses reach the auction. I am a TREC certified instructor for Realtor MCE credits for Kaplan Professional Schools and I also teach for DFW Real Estate Investors Network in Dallas.
My website is: www.dfwmentor.com, where you will find some basic information as well as dates for classes, etc.
If you have questions or need some help, please email me, call me or message me. I help anyone that needs it as long as they conduct their business in an ethical manner.
Thanks and good luck!
Jim Watkins
www.dfwmentor.com
[email protected]
Great to be reading this conversation. I too am a newbie with limited experience but motivated to learn the ins and outs of acquiring preforeclosures as my niche. Is there any information you can share with me? I reside in NYC
Eva
