All Forum Posts by: Will B.

@Gary Parker If a house is clearly vacant and the property address and mailing are the same I will skip trace them and mail to ALL of their relatives. A post card 9 times out of 10. I use a service called TLO which is awesome but there are many others. Its only a dollar a search. I skip traced myself and it was almost scary. Had my social all the addresses Ive lived at the past 10 some years AND phone numbers and addresses for all my family members and even my sisters husbands "parents" correct address. Believe me, If you mail to these people that owner is gonna get message one way or another.

@Chris Lipumano I have not tried zip letters but they do look pretty cool haha. As far as if a seller will actually "call" after opening it, who knows. Again depends on the list and if you hit them at that right moment. Personally I stick with letters and PC's but may give them a shot in the future. Would be worth testing.

Delinquents will be different for each county. Call up your counties tax assessor and ask them if they have a list of all the "tax certificate" sales and if they are downloadable. They likely are. Once you get the list which may be HUGE scrub the list down.

What I did personally was got all the sales which took place just under 2 years. In FL after 2 years the tax certificate holder can technically go down to the court house and petition for the deed and they own the house for whats owed in taxes.

Since they are on the brink of pretty much losing the home that way, I KNOW there has to be motivation. That and the fact that they haven't paid in 2 some years tells me they could care less or "something" happened. Someone died, loss of income, the list goes on.

This may be different in your state but find out the time frame and adjust accordingly.

After this my list was still pretty big. To start I took out just the zip codes with a high number of cash sales and focused on one zip code at a time. Why mail in areas that no one is buying?

I shoot for the properties with a decent amount due in back taxes. If its only a couple hundred bucks them I dont bother mailing.

@Chris Lipumano I would 100% hit the lists you just mentioned first. Code violations, probates, vacant houses. Its a much more targeted list and a lower chance that they are getting 50 letters a month like pure absentees. A friend of mine in a market much less competitive than yours sent me a picture of a HUGE STACK of yellow letters, postcards, white letters, everything and the kitchen sink that his friend who is an "absentee owner" got in a matter a 45 days. It was insane. Hes an investor with ZERO intention to sell. There was easily 50-75 mail pieces in that stack which soon went into the garbage. Not saying you cant make money off mailing to a list of absentees but its exactly what EVERY new investor is taught and exactly who they mail to along with the 50 other guys and gals who read the same e-book or article. All hoping to find that ONE burnt out landlord.

Save your money and hit those targeted lists with a yellow letter and 30 days later post cards for the next 6 months. If they are probates stick to just the letter for the whole duration.

That 2,500 list of absentees I would send a post card and 30 days later another. Use click2mail. Its the most cost effective. I would only send to this list after you have sent to the ones mentioned above.

@Lamar Cannon I have had the most success with the list above actually but also to include delinquent taxes.

I conveniently hit the perfect storm earlier this week. Sent a post card to a vacant house and the guy was an absentee with an inherited house that was 2.5 years back in taxes AND 2,700 in code violations.

This guy was not listed as an absentee in the property records but it was clearly vacant. He wanted 13k for the house which wasnt a spread at that point. Asked him if he was aware of the 5,500 in back taxes and violations that were on the house and he had no clue. Said "I would hate for you to lose the house and get ZERO if a tax deed is applied for which could be tomorrow, how about I give you 2k at closing and I will pay for the back taxes and code violations. 2k is better than zero right?" He signed the contract yesterday for $7,500 and will wholesale it for 13-14K. Never saw the house or met the seller. Will pay my birddog $500 dollars for finding the house and taking pics etc.

You look to be on the right track as far as consistency but what about the list you are mailing too?

This is key considering its looks as if your are in a very competitive market being in San Diego (if you are staying local). Mailing to say simply absentees may be a huge waste of time as they are getting BOMBARDED with direct mail that looks exactly the same as yours.

And before you go making a comment saying "steal" the house. Its a 2/1 in the "hood" and worth next to nothing. Him getting 2k is great for him. Not sure how your comment correlates to the question I asked. No one is stealing anything.

Yes 2k plus the back taxes.

Looking for a good copy to send to delinquent tax owners. Preferably a post card to save on costs. Does anyone know of any?

I don't want to send a general message, I really want it tailored to the fact that they are delinquent and within a few months they could possible be bought out by the tax certificate holder and be left with ZERO.

Im not sure who it was but a guy on the BP podcast spoke about mailing to these people and had good success.

I just got a house under contract yesterday for the amount of the delinquent taxes and 2k and the home owner had no clue that he owed anything. Was left to him by his uncle and was sitting there vacant for 2 years which is why I sent him a postcard after driving by.

I had to let him know once I went into the tax assessors site that he had several fines and back taxes dating a little over 2 years and it was very possible he could lose the house and get nothing so why not get something (2K)

Some people just have no clue which is why Im looking for this particular message.

Thanks for any assistance!

Looking for a good copy to sent to delinquent tax owners who are also absentee(or not). Preferably a post card to save on costs. Does anyone know of any?

I don't want to send a general message, I really want it tailored to the fact that they are delinquent and within a few months they could possible be bought out by the tax certificate holder and be left with ZERO.

Im not sure who it was but a guy on the BP podcast spoke about mailing to these people and had good success.

I just got a house under contract yesterday for the amount of the delinquent taxes and 2k and the home owner had no clue that he owed anything. Was left to him by his uncle and was sitting there vacant for 2 years which is why I sent him a postcard.

I had to let him know once I went into the tax assessors site that he had several fines and back taxes dating a little over 2 years and it was very possible he could lose the house and get nothing so why not get something (2K)

Some people just have no clue which is why I'm looking for this particular message.

Thanks for any assistance!

Joel Owens. Yea, Its pretty much the same here.

Looking for off market opportunities as well but most are junk that I have come across which is not what this group wants.

Will keep searching though.

Just find it hard to believe having "multiple cash offers" on day 5 on some of these properties. Seems like something is going on that I'm not aware of.

This may be a moot question but is there any way around the Fannie Mae 15 day first look rules? I'm not talking about doing anything illegal. Just a legal "work around" to get these properties before they get to day 16 and every hedge fund and investor are in an all out bidding war. BTW I am working on behalf of a hedge fund as an agent and my market is going crazy with REO's and Short Sales so Im looking for an "edge" if one even exists. There not flipping these properties rather holding as rentals for yield and long term appreciation. Any advice would be appreciated.

Im more so concerned about squatter laws. She never had a "lease" or anything like that. Pays nothing. What right does she have to stay on the property once we legally own it? BTW I am in FL concerning the laws if anyone knows.