All Forum Posts by: Tim Bender

This depends if it was a private lender or a registered lender. If it was a registered lender, like a bank, even if that bank is dissolved, they will have a successor trustee bank. If it was owned by MERS, go to https://www.mers-servicerid.or to locate the current servicer. Then simply contact them for a release. 

If it was a private lender, you will probably need an attorney to find the successor of the company and/or file a quiet title action. 

@Bryce Vanmeter the very first thing is to learn about basic title searching and what causes clouds. There are a few books on title searches out there, look under title abstracting, and a couple of web sites if you google them. Each state is a little different. Then start reconstructing title searches that you’ve had completed in the past with issues. Try to replicate them from scratch.

@Jay Hinrichs. I didn’t learn about titles until about 10 years ago. I’d been flipping for years but once I learn about title defects and how everyone runs when there is a title issue, it started me on a different path. At first I’d buy them and not worry about the defects, I was just cash flowing them but I’d only only paid pennies for the propertys. Then later I learn how to cure the issues and strip the liens so I could then flip them. That was a game changer. Profits per property sky rocketed. Best of all once we let everyone know that’s what we bought, we never had to look for properties again, everyone calls us.

Our investment company makes $250k on each $50k we have invested in current holdings each year. We make a consistent average of 400% return on each dollar invested in real estate. BUT we only buy title defected properties, and spend an average of 10% of appraisal. Once you learn to cure title defects and strip liens, there’s an unlimited amount of properties to buy. Don’t run from title issues, educate yourself on curing techniques.

HI Rob, 

Court records are always public record, unless they are sealed or dealing with juvenile records. However, that doesn't mean the court clerk makes them available online. You may have to go to the courthouse to the probate division to obtain records. Usually you can obtain the case number from online records, even though the viewable records may not be on there.  Once you have the case number or the name of the case, just ask the clerk for a copy of the file. Once you're familiar with the documents in a probate file, you can then start asking for specific docs within the file, such as the devisees or judgment. They may charge your for copies, usually its around a dollar per page.

First, do your own title search. NEVER, and I repeat NEVER depend on county tax records as evidence of ownership. I own a curative title company and we do title searches all across the country and these records are wrong about 30% of the time. Also, before you buy, make sure you have a grasp of all the liens that may come with the property that are not necessarily recorded. Depending on the jurisdiction, liens and ownership interests can be held on a property and not recorded in different formats such as in courts, by cities, taxing athorities such as federal and state entitites. Know how to research those out. Also make sure you've checked through Pacer to make sure they don't have a bankruptcy pending, those can discharge tax liens on real estate. If the owner is behind on property taxes, usually there are other liens out there. That being said, if there are liens on the property, learn how to strip those liens and utilize those liens in your negotiation in price. I usually try to buy properties with liens in place, such as judgments, tax liens from the IRS, medicare etc. I utilize the liens to reduce the purchase price and then after closing, strip the liens, usually for nothing or for a fraction of what was owed.  

As far as approaching the owner, there are several ways to do it. I always start with a conversation on the phone. If they are not interested in selling the property, I'll offer them a loan to pay the back tax. The method I offer them is a QC deed over to my holding company, then a lease option back to them to repay the loan at a normal interest rate. In my experience, about 80% of them default on the lease option and I still end up owning the property for the back tax amount. If they are not interested in the loan or selling, I make a note of the property with my notes on it on a tickler calendar and recontact them about 30 prior to the end of the expiration period to pay the tax. Usually they are more favorable to a loan when their time is starting to run out. 

You can also buy the interest of the heirs prior to probate. I've done this a few times. After you completed your due diligence on the case and title, and if the heirs are agreeable, you can contract it and purchase their interest with an assignment of interest contract. Then you inject yourself into the probate case as another party. You can pay them part of the amount at the time of the assignment of interest, and the remainder after probate ends.  The advantage to this is that you can discount the amount you will pay them for an upfront interest and have your self named directly in the probate record. Why you do you want to name yourself in the case? To have some control over the case. This can help if you have other heirs that are fighting with each other and you come in as a third party or you can also drag out the process through legal means in order to obtain more interest from heirs that may not be willing to negotiate. Never underestimate the power of greed from free money and family infighting.  This isn't a newbie method but one of my advanced methods of buying properties that I teach. One of my favorite sayings I learned from a great teacher Ugly Scott Jelinek "Its hard to buy deep, until you know the pain" (you need to know what motivates them to get the best discount)

I only buy with cash. This allows me to discount the price. My offers are always cash, as is and close the next day. I've already done my due diligence and title review before making the offer. I also only make offers directly to the seller, never through an agent, theirs or mine. These kind of offers allow me to make extremely low ball offers and explain how I can do it directly to the seller. If you make the offer through an agent, it's likely to get turned down. Most agents won't believe you can do a closing the next day. (We do all our own title work, if you don't know how, learn).

A cash offer and quick closing affords you a huge advantage over someone that a.) needs financing (will financing fall through)  b.) needs an inspection period  c.) needs a month or longer to close =    all of this allows for a huge discount.

IF you need more cash for more deals, you finance it AFTER you purchase it to pull out capital.

Yes you can, I buy properties every day without a title policy. Every title is clearable. The big question should be what are you paying for it? I factor in a clouded title into my purchase price. You can also buy just part of a property, even a 1% share, and wrestle the other interests away. I often buy these properties and then get them cash flowing while I’m clearing up title issues. Feel free to give me a call during the day and I can go over the steps your looking at. Have the title abstract available for questions I’ll have. I have a curative title company and teach buying clouded titles, they’re extremely profitable. Look at my profile for contact information since it can’t be posted here.

You can make significant money with tax overages...but it's not as simple as the gurus like you to believe. I work with tax properties a lot, probably 50% of my portfolio work per year. I also make money with the overages. But I don't think it's worth the amount of effort required. The most I've made in a year from just overages was about $100,000. That's with a full time secretary working on them. In the same period of time, I could have had that secretary make me three times that amount on clouded titles. However, depending on the state the overage is in, you may be severally limited on what you can make from the overage. For instance in Arkansas and in a lot of states, if you make a claim as a third party on behalf of a "client" ie the owner of the surplus, the state may limit you to a finders fee of only 10%. They may also require you give them a notarized document from the owner that states the owner is aware of the surplus, how much you are charging, and that they can claim these funds without your help. Some state attorney generals may even pursue suits against you for "unfair business practices violations." Remember, you are demanding these funds from the county or state. If no one claims these funds, they get to keep them. They also are politically connected with unlimited deep pockets, they will try to stand in your way to claim these funds. Fighting the county or state is a very tough battle sometimes.

What I do like to do with these overage lists, is to research the property itself. I discover why it was sold at the tax sale, seek out the previous owner and get a quit claim deed from them (even if a new deed was awarded from the tax sale), then attack the collection deed and win the property back, usually for just a few hundred dollars.  The overage lists is a great resource to find ugly deeds for pennies.