Wholesaler · Mount Rainer, MD · Member since 2013 · 31 posts · 5 votes
Hello Bigger Pockets,
I need some advice with something that seems to occur very often when I am checking the property tax records for owners of vacant houses I see that I know anyone is not living in. When I search for the owners mailing address to send a postcard to see if they are interested in selling the property, the mailing address for the owner matches the address of the vacant house. I am pretty sure no one is living in the house but i kinda hit a road block when this happens and I cant seem to find a way to find the owner. I pass 4 houses in my neighborhood that are boarded up and I know they will be good flips but I cannot find a way to get in touch with the owners.
Real Estate Investor · Springfield, MA · Member since 2011 · 1 post · 0 votes
13y
Leave a stapled laminated note with your intentions and contact #. You can also try spokeo, white pages etc.. I've used these sites to even get relatives names and search them. even Facebook you'll be surprised
Real Estate Consultant · Bloomfield, NJ · Member since 2010 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
13y
Jeffrey there have been PLENTY of threads discussing the issue of finding owners of vacant houses. Use this site's search function and I'm sure you will find plenty of info. Good luck.
Real Estate Investor · FL · Member since 2011 · 586 posts · 360 votes
13y
Are you also checking to see if the current owner has a mortgage on the property? It's more than likely that they have abandoned the house because they're letting it get foreclosed on.
Wholesaler · Mount Rainer, MD · Member since 2013 · 31 posts · 5 votes
13y
"Leave a stapled laminated note with your intentions and contact #. You can also try spokeo, white pages etc.. I've used these sites to even get relatives names and search them. even Facebook you'll be surprised"
Thanks Mr. Lindsay. I will leave a note on the door of the properties as soon as possible and I will give white pages and facebook a try. Thank you
Real Estate Investor · FL · Member since 2011 · 586 posts · 360 votes
13y
Jeffrey Mark My county offers online searches for the clerk of the court. I didn't spend a lot of time on yours but it doesn't look like they offer the same.
It does say however that they allow public searches so you can probably go once a week to the courthouse and look up your leads. You would simply search the owners name against public records to see if a mortgage has been recorded or not. If there is no mortgage, or there has been a recording of the satisfaction of mortgage, then the owner would almost always be free an clear of a mortgage. There are however other liens that could be against the property. These liens should come up when you do the search.
Spend some time on that site and see if you can do an online search.