Probate

[George Rodriguez]

How is the competition in mailing to probate leads vs absentee owners? I've been reading stuff online and see that it's more challenging to get quality probate leads and they can be pricey as well. Does this deter a lot of investors from mailing and/or is it the hurdle of the probate process ? Jorge

[Daniel Lopez]

I think that both are great quality but the probates seem to be more motivated. With absentees you can order them for free form tittle but with probate you either have to do the research yourself ( which I have done )  or you can hire someone to do it or pay the probate leads company. I think most people wont pay or do the research themselves so that could mean a more open market for you.

[Brian Grignon]

Jorge:  I've had a lot of luck mailing to probates.  I have built a scraping application that will pull my counties probates in every week.  I make sure to mail the letters by the following Monday so that I'm the first person in that person's mailbox.  As Daniel above has mentioned, probates tend to be pretty motivated. 

I do have a couple of other investors to which I offer my services on pulling an compiling probate leads.  I also have some sample letters that have worked very well for me in the past.  If you're interested, please reach out to me directly, I'd be happy to work with you on this!

Good luck with the probates!

Brian

[Rick H.]

it would be more helpful to understand the true motivation and timeline if these sale.

For example, owner dies, PR files probate, is optimistic about keeping property, gets letters soliciting to buy or list, then reality of burden sets in.

Taxes are due.

Tenant stops paying

Defaults on Mortgage 

Is in panic mode.

Which seller would you rather buy from?

[Michael Smith]

Here in Houston, you can get probate leads online for free from the county tax assessor. When I did probates, it did not seem to be a lot of other writing them or calling them. I base that on what the leads told me. You might try to check your county to see if you can also get these leads.

As far as motivation, I found absentees to be more motivated. I had several probate leads that wanted full price or more for their homes, if they wanted to sell at all. Absentees on the other hand were calling me several times to try to get deals done. 

As far as deterring other investors, I wouldn't worry about them. One, if they are mailing as well as you there is a chance that they might call you and not them. Works the other way around I know but say they get one letter, another one, and then yours is the one that finally gets them to take action well there you go. I also found that several leads told me "Your the only one I have called that answers or called me back".

[Blake McBride]

Hey @Brian Grignon, I'm super intrigued by your post. I am brand new to having an account on Bp, although I've been listening to their podcasts for a long while. I work real estate out of the greater Seattle, WA area, and just recently got a pretty promising absentee owner list today. Regarding probate, for one of the two counties Im interested in over here, I had to fill out "a Data_Dissemination_Form_" in order to hopefully get an active probate list? At least this is what the lady at the clerks office told me to do. I am super interested in the scraping application you speak of as well as any examples you might have of successful probate and absentee letters you've used. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!