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Updated over 12 years ago on . Most recent reply

Need some advice contacting home owners who are in pre pre foreclosure
Hi,
Through the local clerk of court's website I am able to go online and find all of the properties where the bank has just started the foreclosure process in the last week or so. I am exctracting the information and preparing to contact these people.
I will be setting up a mailing campaign to contact them 4-5 times over the next couple months. Does anyone here do this type of marketing and if so would you be willing to share your letters? I have a general idea of what to put in each letter but I would love to see what other people are doing to make sure I am not way off base. I'm an "options and education" type of guy, for the first letter I was thinking of researching foreclosures in my state and providing the owner with a list of options, one of which being to sell the house to me.
In additional to needing suggestions on how to word the multiple letters I was also looking for some general feedback on how to handle different types of situations. For example, if the owner is upside down on their mortgage and they want to walk away is it possible for me to negotiate with the bank and try to do a short sale? Is there other creative methods to try to solve these problems where I can help the owner going through foreclosure and also make some money myself in the process?
I was also thinking of setting up an appointment with a local attorney who handles foreclosures and spend a couple hours with him going over the entire process and the local laws so I know I am doing everything correctly.
Any advice would be appreciated. Unfortunately, I don't know any investors who are experienced in pre foreclosures and short sales.
Most Popular Reply

As far as the underwater borrowers and short sales, you will need to partner with an agent experienced with short sale negotiations, and they'll get a commission out of it. You need an agent because the bank will typically insist that the property be placed on the MLS (the MLS paperwork will be part of your data submission), though you can immediately "pend" the listing with your offer. I see this frequently. You and your agent need to:
* prepare the borrower submission package very carefully and completely, all pages labeled clearly with loan # on all pages
* try to work with the assigned BPO agent (an unrelated agent who has signed up to do BPO's with the major servicers) to get a low BPO, providing low comps and highlighting negative aspects of the property and neighborhood. This will work best when the property needs a decent amount of rehab.
* try to get from the lender a waiver of deficiency, if you are in a state where the lender can pursue a deficiency judgment.
* be aware of the foreclosure timeline and try to get the foreclosure sale delayed, as the SS progresses.