All Forum Posts by: Marty Boardman

I would not trust ANY third party source for this information. It should come either from the title company or directly from the clerk of courts. As Lauren mentioned, the lien position should be fairly easy to obtain directly from the county. What you may NOT find though are local, state or federal tax liens. Those can "stick" to the property for up to a year and prohibit you from selling or refinancing. In some states, if all lien holders are not named in the judgment or Lis Pendens those creditors could have a claim against the property after the sale. You'll also want to find out how much is owed in property taxes as this could affect your maximum bid. Finally, if the US government is named as a defendant then they may have redemption rights on the property for 120 days. Bottom line, this would be an extremely risky strategy for acquiring the property.

This is the book that inspired me to start real estate investing back in 2002. It's motivational, but doesn't have a lot of strategic advice. I had to look to other places (like BiggerPockets) for that.

I'm curious what's working? Direct mail, text blasting, paid SEO, door knocking, something else?

The biggest mistake I made was not finding a good mentor/coach. My first 2 years in real estate I paid a lot of money (and wasted a lot of time) on "guru" programs that didn't work very well. Don't get me wrong, I learned a little from these coaches and made a few bucks, but overall their systems weren't sustainable or a good fit for my skill set. I remember meeting with a real estate attorney that told me to stop wasting time and money buying courses from instructors that aren't practicing real estate investors. So I found a guy that was doing deals in my market and learned pretty much everything I know about real estate from him. With his help I closed around 40 wholesale deals in two years. I tell people now to seek guidance from coaches that get results for themselves and for others.

As Chad mentioned it depends on which lien holder is foreclosing. If it's the first lien holder then all subordinate lien holders get wiped out at the sale. There are exceptions, however. If there's any kind of local, state or Federal tax lien on the property then there could be redemption periods that could jam you up. In some states if ALL creditors are not named in the Lis Pendens then they could cause problems for you as well after the sale. To minimize your risk get a title report on the property to make sure the foreclosing lender is in first lien position and there are no skeletons in the closet that could come back to haunt you.

Your question has been answered a few times, it's a public records search in Appomattox County. I don't see an obvious place on their website to get the notice of sale document so you may need to go to the court to access the information. I've been buying foreclosures in Arizona, Wisconsin and Illinois since 2003 so a few tips: 1. The more difficult the information is to get the better it is for you. Embrace the inefficiency! If it's difficult to find the foreclosure that means less competition. 2. Don't trust 3rd party services to gather this info. Get it yourself and check regularly with the attorney that is handling the auction to make sure the sale is still scheduled. No reason to waste time going to look at houses that aren't in foreclosure anymore because the homeowner paid off the loan or brought it current.

Is there a sale date scheduled yet for the auction Ernesto? I buy houses regularly at the auction and banks are doing "drop bids" on properties that require a lot of work to entice investors to bid at the sale.

Welcome JR! I've been fixing and flipping houses in the Milwaukee area since 2012 and I own a duplex and 3 single-family home rentals there (I live in Arizona). As Marcus pointed out there are a lot of investors in this market. I stay away from low priced properties (and low numbered streets). My sweet spot there is 120-160K (purchase price + rehab) for single-family houses and 175-250K for duplexes. You'll attract great tenants and get an excellent ROI.

I bought two houses in January, 4 in February and 1 so far this month. These are all pre-foreclosures, or properties I bought at the auction. No matter how good or bad the economy is doing there will always be people that fall behind on their mortgage (job loss, medical issues, divorce) that need to sell quickly. I've found that these homeowners don't respond to direct mail or text message blasting. It's best to just knock on their door.

I'm usually up by 6a for a workout, then shower and breakfast. I'm at my desk (home office) by 8a. Although I live in Arizona most of my fix and flip deals are in Milwaukee and they're 2 hours ahead of us. But, I've trained my PM to not call before 8a. I'll say I'm definitely at my best in the morning, I do the less interesting/mundane work in the afternoons when I don't need as much brain power. That said, I've found great deals (the most important thing I do) in the morning, afternoon and evening so I don't think it really matters how early you get up, but about the results you are getting when you're awake.