Probate Wholesaling: I Got the List, Now What?

Question

Hello everyone! I'm new to wholesaling in Central Jersey, and when I say "new," I mean new.

I'm 19 and made an arrangement with my parents--if they see me make $10k before the summer's over, they'll support me next summer. Otherwise it's back to the IT internship. *shudders*

So, here we go!

Today I went down to my county's courthouse and asked around for every list I could think of to start generating some seller leads. Special proceedings, pre-foreclosure, water outage...and the only one the county clerk responded to was "probate."

So, I spent $42 (didn't even know what the cost would be for a list, nobody ever mentioned that I even had to pay for it. Whoops!) and got 2 lists of hundreds of names. One is titled "Transmittal Sheet for Wills" and one is "Transmittal Sheet for Administrations."

Each entry looks like this:

• Last, First: Doe, John
• D.O.D: XX/XX/2019
• D.O.P: XX/XX/2019
• WILL_01 (or 02, 03, 04)

So, I'm assuming D.O.D. is the date of death for the person named, and the WILL # is for a type of will in NJ.

My questions are:

• What does D.O.P. mean (and is it important)?
• Am I supposed to SkipTrace the deceased person using just their name?
• What list should I be using: Wills or Administrations? I'm assuming one is unnecessary in this case.

Any advice on this would help a ton--I hope that at the very least, I'm taking action towards something.

Thanks!

Jerry Holt · Answer

@Suraj Sanyal

Unfortunately the list you obtained won't be of much value. When sourcing probates you need to look at documents titled "Petition to Probate" or "Application to Probate". It is one of the very first filings in a probate case. Skip tracing with probates is generally not necessary as most of the information needed is on one of the application or petition. It will list the name and address of the petitioner/executor and should also list the address for the decedent. It will also show the attorney contact info. Sometimes phone numbers for the executors and attorney's are available as well. Keep in mind that the rule of thumb with probates is about 35% of the decedents don't own property to begin with. So, you will need to check the decedent's address against your local assessor/appraisal office to see if they in fact owned the property they resided at.

I would suggest going back to the courthouse and looking at the actual filings for the cases. I would also suggest taking a camera with you to take pictures of the documents if they will allow it. As someone who's literally sourced 1000's of probates I can tell you it will be a real time saver. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me. Good Luck!

Mark Pedroza · Answer

The document you should concentrate on is Letters of Administration (if there is no will) or Letters Testamentary (if there is a will).

It's a court-mandated form and is required by the PR (Personal Representative) to sell the estate property.

The other two required documents for the PR to possess is the Petition for Probate and Order for Probate.

Suraj S. · Answer

@Jerry Holt Thank you for the advice—do you know if there's any costs associated with finding a Petition/Application to Probate in your own county office? Just trying to avoid another unnecessary purchase, haha!

I'm interested in giving this another shot. I'll go down to my county's surrogate's office and ask to "look at filings for probate cases in the last month." Does that sound right?

@Daniel Whitmore I'm glad to see another newbie learning the ropes with me! Best of luck to you in your journey.

Daniel Whitmore · Answer

Thank you, Jerry. I appreciate your advice and knowledge on the subject! I would guess filtering through and digesting these documents could be a bit overwhelming the first time. I will give it a shot or perhaps even try to find someone more knowledgeable I could tag along with for a county office visit.

Jerry Holt · Answer

@Daniel Whitmore

I guess it would depend on how you want to spend your time. Personally I think it's advantageous to source them yourself. In doing so you can get a better feel for each probate as you're able to look at the various documents filed, including the will in most cases. This will give you a better idea the of family members and their role in the case, if any. And looking at the will generally allows you know who's slated to receive the real property. I hope that helps.

Robert Freeman · Answer

hello bp im new to the wholesale world wanted to know what too contracts i would need to start with i was told there was two types of contracts one is an assignment and the other im not sure or where i can find the contracts need some help thanks bp

Daniel Whitmore · Answer

@Jerry Holt

I wanted to chime in and ask Jerry a question if I might. I’m a newbie and also interested in obtaining lists. My question is as follows:

Do you have a preference in terms of where you obtain probate lists? Is it advantageous to go to the county office or is it just the same buying a list from a third party like ForeclosuresDaily.com? I would love to use my time wisely (or save time) by sourcing lists from someone who has done the work already. However, if there is an advantage to going to the county office, or if there is money to be saved by doing so, I might go that route.

Would love to hear your thoughts Jerry. Thanks.

Probate Wholesaling: I Got the List, Now What?

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