Finally selected my niche!!! Looking for advice from the EXPERIENCED

[Cordell Hinton-Brown]

Hello fellow investors,

Finally I have decided to go with wholesaling probate deals as my niche. Obviously I am a new investor and I am seeking any and all advice from those who have mastered the art of probate deals. I have chosen this for multiple reasons. One being, I am very low on capital and my credit isn't the best either, so in order to build my revenue Im going to wholesale until I can make bigger and better moves. I have done a good amount of research on this and I am continuing my studies here on BiggerPockets. I've chosen to order bandit signs with my google voice number posted on them as my initial marketing to end buyers. Please give any advice you have in field. I am also looking for a solid mentor in the Houston area who is willing to teach a young, hungry, and very motivated future investor. I am willing to offer my time to someone who provides me with the experience and knowledge needed to succeed in this journey. Thank you all in advance. I hope to hear from you very soon. 

[Dev Horn]

Probate is a phase that an estate goes thru, the purpose of which (we care about) is to transfer the ownership of real estate from the name of the deceased into the name(s) of the heirs.  In the case where there are multiple heirs, the heirs are often represented by a family trust.  In the probate process, the executor (aka personal representative) files with the county court the appropriate documentation (will, inventory of assets, etc.) and when the process is completed, the deeds for real estate are changed to reflect the new owners (the heirs).  Now, those new owners can sell the real estate, if they choose.

When probates are initially filed, that record is public information and you can get it and market to those people.  Probate marketing needs to be very sensitive and professional - it's not the cheesy "my wife and I want to $BUY$ your grandma's house" stuff.

Probate processes can take months, so we mail to them every 2 month over a 6 month period (i.e., 3 mailings).

Some of the people I know that are successful with probates actually research the estates and call the executors/PRs.

Any communication needs to be super professional - you provide a service to convert real estate to cash, with very little hassle.  And cash is the only way to divide the estate among the heirs, if that is what they ultimately want to do.

But once a property is inherited, sometimes family members live in it or it will sit vacant for years.  I often find people still paying all the bills on their parent's vacant house for YEARS after inheriting it, just because they haven't gotten around to doing anything about it.

So, where does a property go after the probate phase?  If the heirs don't live in it, it then shows up in your ABSENTEE OWNER lists.  THAT is why that list is good for us.  We can't buy a house while the estate is in probate, not until the deed is in the name of the heirs.  It's the ABSENTEE OWNED INHERITED HOUSES that you want to target.

Absentee Owners are a better, more target rich list than Probates, because absentees also includes "tired landlords" - one of our other favorite targets.  As a result, I would first market to absentees, then consider probate as an additional layer to my marketing strategy.

"Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later." ~ Og Mandino