Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2020 · 24 posts · 4 votes
Hi All,
Newbie here trying to target my direct mail a bit. I just spoke to someone at the Department of Revenue for Massachusetts who claimed that this personal tax information (property tax delinquency) is private. There is a public list I found with those in some towns who owe $25,000 + in taxes. Is that really the only list that is publicly available or was the representative wrong?
I keep hearing that this is one great way to find motivated sellers but I don't see how to generate this list at all. I have a list of the towns I would like to source the lists from but I'm lost now. Some areas are in the city of Boston and others are surrounding towns.
Does anyone have experience with this that can point me in the right direction?
Investor · Natick MA · Member since 2014 · 214 posts · 118 votes
6y
Hi @Michael Rivers The Mass Public records law allows us to request a list for the taxes owed. We send this list to the assessor's office for the specific town. I will connect you with Andrew and he can share the letter that we use to obtain the list.
Specialist · Member since 2019 · 494 posts · 220 votes
6y
@Michael Rivers You might save some time and frustration working with a list broker to get a list. I'd recommend Owners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS). These are people who are struggling financially. They may or may not have become delinquent, but it will help you to hone in on a large enough group to expect some results. Another advantage to this list - it is new and there aren't many investors mailing to them.
Investor · Natick MA · Member since 2014 · 214 posts · 118 votes
6y
Hi @Michael Rivers The Mass Public records law allows us to request a list for the taxes owed. We send this list to the assessor's office for the specific town. I will connect you with Andrew and he can share the letter that we use to obtain the list.
Real Estate Agent · Boston, MA · Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 11 votes
6y
Definitely make the records requests to the towns/cities you are interested in (you can find the info for public records requests very easily on most town/city websites), but would also highly suggest thinking about other types of motivated buyer lists you can obtain - tax lists tend to be the go to for investors (and by all means still utilize them), which means the people on them are often getting targeted by multiple investors which can be overwhelming for them and less beneficial for you. Think about what types of homes you are looking for and who is likely to own them, then use a source such as listsource to purchase specific lists of property owners (ex: properties with no remaining mortgage owed or properties that are not owner occupied).