All Forum Posts by: Sharon Vornholt

Carl - I wouldn't go back more than 3-6 months.  Get those then add the new ones every month to build a big list.  They will mostly all be sold before the 15-18 months.

Sharon

@Jasmine Brumfield.  Have you joined your local REIA?  You will find a lot of like minded folks there.

Sharon

@Stephen Barton - There are about 3300 counties in the US and each one of those counties is different. Some states like CA have much different requirements than KY.

Sharon

@Jake Engle and @Stephen Barton -

Each county and state has different rules and laws that apply.  In KY, there is a certain procedure that must be followed during the probate process.  But I have never been told by the executor/admin. they had to get court approval for any sale I have been involved with. 

Now I have had my closing attorney say to me, before we can close they still need to do X, Y or Z.  In other words the folks missed some of the steps along the way.  I have been in situations where probate attorneys have failed to file a piece of paperwork. But in general, these deals are no different than any other deals. I always deal with the "decision maker" aka the executor or administrator, make the offer and that's it. 

In my REIA there are several attorneys that are also investors. and that is the key. Use someone that is an investor. I always close with one of these guys and I write it in my contract; we will be closing at ..... company. I have almost zero problem because of this.

Look for a attorney your REIA and ask about the probate procedure for your state. If you have to, make an appointment with them and pay for their time. It will save you a lot of grief in the long run. I hope this helps.

Sharon

@Steven J. said, if you get "too watered down" your marketing starts to lose it's effectiveness. Your mail piece needs to touch on their "pain".

-The list - if you don't have a highly targeted list you will get terrible results in spite of getting everything else right.

-The mailing - You can't send a few mail pieces and quit.  Consistent direct mail campaigns over time seal the deal.  You want to be the "last man standing" when everyone else has thrown in the towel.

I hope this helps

Sharon

@Rick H. - 

A lot of people are under the impression that the is "a way" to get probate information; one way that works everywhere and that just isn't the case.  

I know CA has a lot of rules that we don't have.  Here it is really straightforward.  All of the information is actually published in the newspaper once a month; the name and address of the deceased and the executor.  We just look up the address on the tax assessor's site to see if the deceased still owns the property. All you have to do is make the offer to the executor/administrator. 

My closing attorney (we use attorneys here rather than title companies) will run the title,find out what if anything needs to be done, and when that is done you can close the deal.  Probate investing is drop dead easy here, but it certainly isn't that way in every county.  This information is available to everyone, but most folks send a letter or two and quit.  That's good news for me.

Folks need to find out what the procedure is for their county and state.

Sharon

@Erick Martinez - I really don't know about your county records.  In my area, you have to look each one of them up on the tax assessor's site to see if they have property. There is no shortcut for this in my area.

What you want to ask is this question; "Is there a way to get a list of all the probates filed weekly/monthly"?

If you work from a list that is pulled from obits, you don't have the information you need.  You need the name and address of the deceased and the executor/Administrator AKA "the decision maker; the person that has the legal right to sell the house.

Sharon

Just for clarification @Rick H. and anyone following this thread -

I called my probate court to ask the question, "How could I go about getting a list of probates filed each month"? They said, "They are published in the newspaper on this date every month". Mystery solved.

Sharon

@Mark Pedroza 

They are in the newspaper here.  Some areas they are online , and in others you have to go to the courthouse.  Each area is different.

Sharon

You have to find out where you get the leads for your county.  It's different in each of the 3300+ counties in the US.  I would do 2 things;

1. Call your local probate court.  If you can't get any info you may actually have to go to the courthouse.

2. Google "probate + your county" and see what comes up.

They are printed in the newspaper here but the probate court is where I got that information.