@Tanganika Darden
There are “finder” companies locating all kinds of unclaimed funds in government trust accounts. The successful ones operate on a relatively large scale, often nationwide, and act as finder for many types of unclaimed funds, not solely tax overages.
It’s a fairly sophisticated operation, with an unusually long time lag between first identifying the unclaimed funds, tracking the beneficiaries, obtaining a contract from said beneficiaries, gathering all the documents needed for “proof”, dealing with numerous government agencies, and finally hopefully having your client receive the funds and you getting paid. I say hopefully because many of these payments are reduced or altogether eliminated by any amounts owed by the beneficiary to other government agencies, such as income taxes, loans, etc.
Bottom line is that this is a business, requiring all the skills and assets and expenses necessary for all businesses. My beef with the people who teach this are
(1) they imply this is somehow related to real estate investing; it is not
(2) they imply you can be successful with only the knowledge they teach; this is not true, you need managerial and business skills and knowledge to a degree way beyond the scope of the “training” they provide.
(3) they imply you can successfully do this on a part time basis; it’s actually a full time business demanding all of your attention
(4) they imply competition is limited; competition is actually fierce, except for the deals on which there is no profit.
Additionally, this industry is state regulated, by the state in which the property is located. For example in Texas a finder is limited to a maximum fee of 10% of the net amount received by the beneficiary, thereby eliminating from profitability a significant percentage of deals.
This is the same over hyped, over promoted, over promised, under performing opportunity as note broker, house wholesaler, etc. yes, some people (who run it as a full time business) do well, just as some people who run automotive manufactures, chemical plants, and construction companies do well. It is a legitimate business, but that doesn’t mean you have the experience, skills, knowledge, time, dedication or capital to be successful. What it’s not is an easy, profitable, part time business.
