Finding owners address or phone number from County Tax Assessor

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Finding owners address or phone number from County Tax Assessor

Tyler Eiland
Member since 2021 · 4 posts · 0 votes

I have found a piece of land I would like to purchase to add manufactured homes to the lot. The property has been on the MLS for about six months. I want to reach out to the owner and see if they are willing to finance. I went to the county tax assessor website and input the address but couldn't find any details on the property. Does anyone have any guidance in getting the owner's contact information? Any tips are greatly appreciated.

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Lucia Rushton
Realtor · Dallas - Fort Worth Metroplex, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 925 votes
4y

It's on the MLS right? why don't you reach out to the Listing Agent? It doesn't cost you anything extra to navigate the sale through the agent.

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  • Benjamin Tarantur
    Real Estate Agent · Orlando · Member since 2022 · 6 posts · 5 votes
    4y

    Here in Florida as realtors we have different websites that we can use to look up this information such as Remine, but being that you are in Texas and the property is on MLS I would start by reaching out to the listing agent. Hope this helps

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  • Jorge Siverio
    Investor · Miami, FL · Member since 2021 · 38 posts · 29 votes
    4y

    You could try a skip trace. 

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  • Lucia Rushton
    Realtor · Dallas - Fort Worth Metroplex, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 925 votes
    4y

    It's on the MLS right? why don't you reach out to the Listing Agent? It doesn't cost you anything extra to navigate the sale through the agent.

    1Reply
  • Bruce Lynn
    Real Estate Broker · Coppell, TX · Member since 2011 · 5k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    4y

    @Tyler Eiland If it is listed on the MLS, reach out to the realtor, and they can contact the owner about owner finance if that is even possible. If they have a loan on the property they need to pay off, or need the money from this sale to fund the next purchase they might not be able to do it.

    I would say probably in 95% of the listed properties, owners can't finance, but doesn't hurt to ask.  If they can they will advertise that normally as it will attract potentially more buyers.

    1Reply
  • Tyler Eiland
    OP
    Member since 2021 · 4 posts · 0 votes
    4y

    Thanks everyone for the help!

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  • Wale LawalBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Houston | Dallas | Austin, TX · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    4y

    Reach out to the listing agent. They will be able to help. 

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  • Marco Bario
    Specialist · Frederick, MD · Member since 2017 · 474 posts · 454 votes
    4y

    @Benjamin Tarantur, @Lucia Rushton, @Bruce Lynn, @Wale Lawal - 

    Speaking generally, I wish Realtors understood more about seller financing. Too often they don't. For instance:

    1. They assume there's no way to seller finance with an existing loan in place. (There is)
    2. They assume the process is too complicated (It's not - and seller-financed transactions can close much more quickly than institutional financed transactions)
    3. They assume there's no way for them to receive a commission. (There are several ways to address it)
    4. They're concerned their client will ask them for more information about seller financing, but they don't understand it themselves and don't want to appear uneducated.

    For these reasons, most real estate investors prefer to avoid an intermediary and speak directly with the seller. It increases the chances of addressing the seller's needs and increases the odds of a closed deal for the investor.

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  • Bruce Lynn
    Real Estate Broker · Coppell, TX · Member since 2011 · 5k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    4y

    @Marco Bario   Seller financing is so risky for most buyers and some investors, that's why we don't like to mess with it, even if it is possible.  Also risky for many sellers.  Just had this discussion with an investor yesterday and 90% or more of the sellers can't do seller financing.  They need the money today to buy the next one, even investors...trying to roll up to the next bigger deal.  The very few owner financed deals we see are just horrible for the buyer in most cases.

    Investor meeting this last weekend had a great example of a fairly experienced investor who decided to buy owner financed deal only to find out after the seller died that seller had quit making payments on the original loan that investor did not know about and it was now in foreclosure with $80,000 balance.  Tenants let him know about foreclosure notice.   Those are the crazy risks so many buyers never know about and where they get taken on owner finance deals.   Of course as an investor he wanted to save money and did not close the deal with a title co, so never did the right title search to know there was outstanding loan.

    Since about 2010 Texas no longer allows owner-financing under Texas House Bill 10 — the “SAFE” Act — unless the seller has a license.  Under the current code, owner-financers must have a Residential Mortgage Loan Originator license from the Texas Savings and Mortgage Lending Department. There are a lot of other restrictions here on owner finance that make it difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. If I remember right there is also a limit of 3 in 12months....and all the ways people think they can work around this were eliminated from what I understand....trying to do 3 in Mr. name and then 3 in Mrs. name and 3 in an LLC and 3 in a different LLC....don't think that works any more.

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  • Marco Bario
    Specialist · Frederick, MD · Member since 2017 · 474 posts · 454 votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Bruce Lynn:

    @Marco Bario   Seller financing is so risky for most buyers and some investors, that's why we don't like to mess with it, even if it is possible.  Also risky for many sellers.  Just had this discussion with an investor yesterday and 90% or more of the sellers can't do seller financing.  They need the money today to buy the next one, even investors...trying to roll up to the next bigger deal.  The very few owner financed deals we see are just horrible for the buyer in most cases.

    Investor meeting this last weekend had a great example of a fairly experienced investor who decided to buy owner financed deal only to find out after the seller died that seller had quit making payments on the original loan that investor did not know about and it was now in foreclosure with $80,000 balance.  Tenants let him know about foreclosure notice.   Those are the crazy risks so many buyers never know about and where they get taken on owner finance deals.   Of course as an investor he wanted to save money and did not close the deal with a title co, so never did the right title search to know there was outstanding loan.

    Since about 2010 Texas no longer allows owner-financing under Texas House Bill 10 — the “SAFE” Act — unless the seller has a license.  Under the current code, owner-financers must have a Residential Mortgage Loan Originator license from the Texas Savings and Mortgage Lending Department. There are a lot of other restrictions here on owner finance that make it difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. If I remember right there is also a limit of 3 in 12months....and all the ways people think they can work around this were eliminated from what I understand....trying to do 3 in Mr. name and then 3 in Mrs. name and 3 in an LLC and 3 in a different LLC....don't think that works any more.

    A couple of things:

    1. In 2020, there were 19,958 seller-financed notes created in Texas. There were more seller-financed notes created in Texas in 2020 than in any other state in the country. Florida was #2 at 8,491.

    2. When I sell a property and take back the financing I require a lender's title policy, just as all institutional investors do. It's usually paid for by the buyer. If the investor you spoke of had done so, not only would they have been aware of the underlying debt, they also could have requested the seller give the current lender authorization to share information with the investor. The investor could have monitored payments that way. 

    Even better would be to use a licensed loan servicer to collect payments from the new borrower, then make payments to the underlying lender. Cheap insurance.

    1Reply
  • Jerel Ehlert
    Attorney · Austin, TX · Member since 2014 · 888 posts · 759 votes
    4y

    Might want to consider SB 43 that went into effect 1/1/2022.

    Wrapped lenders/sellers are fiduciaries to wrapped borrowers/buyers is only one of many changes.  Cap on 3 in a rolling 12-month period.  All "related parties" are counted together.  No "llc 1" and "llc 2" and etc. etc. etc.  All are counted together.

    Not exhaustive, just the highlights.

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