Probate Leads

[Sharon Vornholt]

In my city, our probate leads are published in the newspaper at the same time each month. I am finding that even in some big cities, folks are still having to trek down to the courthouse.

I was wondering, where all of you "probate investors" get your leads?

[Russell Ponce]

I'm just starting to mine for probate leads in my CA county and here's what I've found: Recent filings are online and supply the following: Case #, DC Name, PE Name, ATT Name and address. This saves me some time so I can gather case #'s for estate settlements only.

At the courthouse I can only pull 10 files per day and very few of them refer to real property.

My question is, is there any chance of real property if there's no mention in the case files? Also is there a different letter to a surviving spouse living in the property as opposed to an heir who has inherited a property?

[Yu L.]

Russell Ponce,yes, you should use the decedent's name to check if they own any property, don't just rely on the petition file. Usually probate investors drop the case with surviving spouse. I don't know about surviving children though.

[Russell Ponce]

Thanks Yu, that is good advice

[Alison M.]

Sharon Vornholt and other probate investors: Here's the place where I always get hung up. How long after the probate is announced in
the paper do you start mailing? If the decedent passed away within the previous 6 months I am unsure if it's too soon to start mailing. Suggestions?

[Sharon Vornholt]

I start mailing when the notice is published. You don't know how much time has passed, but it is often 6 months or even a year.

Sharon

[Yu L.]

Sharon Vornholt, thanks for sharing. There are some useful articles on Sharon's website regarding probate:

http://louisvillegalsrealestateblog.com/category/probates

[Sharon Vornholt]

I'm glad to help.

Sharon

[Rick H.]

There are so many factors that it's just not practical to worry about what is the perfect time to mail. Just mail.

Your mailing piece is arriving in the PR's mailbox in lieu of you knocking at their door. Hopefully, it gets delivered. And opened. And read. And gets their interest.

You can't control the mood that they're in when it opened (if its opened). My experience is that grief is not the big issue that prevents an admin or exec from taking action.

I know most will argue this but I don't even think you have to be the first letter that arrives. What is important is that your message is the one that arrives on the day that the PR is open to taking action and that you have sufficiently connected with them such that they contact you by calling you, or emailing you, going to your landing page, etc.

What I believe to be more important is to continue to mail for an extended period of time to that lead because time changes things. What facts and circumstances existed yesterday can be completely turned upside down with what happens today. Consequently, their plans to keep or sell may change in a heartbeat. I know this to be a fact.

The job of your letter is to be a substitute for you knocking at their door at the right time with the right message. So, frequency of mailing should be of high importance to you as a direct mailer.

[Yu L.]

Once in a while, I run into probate cases where they put in a $ amount in the market value of real property section, however,
when I use the decedent's name or the living trust to check against
the tax collector's record, I found no real property at all?
I usually give up and throw away that lead, wondering anyone
know a better way to make good use of this lead instead of just throwing it away.

[Marcus Kennedy]

@Sharon Vornholt

@Sharon Vornholt

[Sharon Vornholt]

Marcus -

An executor is a person that the decedent specifically named in the will to handle their estate. They were chosen in other words and there is a will.

For someone that dies without a will, there will of course be no one named, so the person that will handle probating the estate is chosen by the court. That person is called either an Administrator or a Personal Representative (same thing).

The executor and the PR or administrator are the same. It is just the manner in which they came to be the decision maker. You want to market to all of these decedents "decision makers".

The heirs while they stand to gain from this estate,They ultimately have no say in how things are done because they are not the decision makers. Make sense?

Sharon

[Marcus Kennedy]

@Sharon Vornholt

So beautifully explained! Thanks so much. Makes perfect sense now!

By the way how is your probate business going now? You still rocking the probate niche?

[Sharon Vornholt]

It's going great. Thanks for asking.

[Yu L.]

Hi @Sharon Vornholt , nobody answered my previous question, wondering if you can help.

Here comes the question again:

Once in a while, I run into probate cases where they put a $ amount in the market value of real property section, however, when I use the decedent's name or the living trust to check against the tax collector's record, I found no real property at all?

I usually give up and throw away that lead, wondering anyone know a better way to make good use of this lead instead of just throwing it away.

Thanks!

[Sharon Vornholt]

@Yu L. - It is possible that there has been a time delay and the property has already been sold. Are you also looking up the property address? That is where I always look first.

Sometimes the property has been transferred into the executor's / PR's name. I look the property up by address, then by different variations of the name. For instance it might say in the notice:

David James Bolinger. So the name on the tax assessor's site might be:

David Bolinger

James Bolinger

David J. Bolinger

D.J. Bolinger

D. James Bolinger or some be listed some other way. So I would always put in "Bolinger" and look for the address too. I will usually find most properties by address. The names are often put in incorrectly, so I would try this.

Sharon

[Stephen Masek]

Originally posted by K. Marie Poe:

I would work more in Los Angeles County if the traffic were manageable, but it's not, so I drive 50 miles farther but it's 3 times faster to get there. :)

Interesting thread. Yep, that traffic is a major issue for many of us.

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by Yu L.:

Once in a while, I run into probate cases where they put in a $ amount in the market value of real property section, however, when I use the decedent's name or the living trust to check against the tax collector's record, I found no real property at all? I usually give up and throw away that lead, wondering anyone know a better way to make good use of this lead instead of just throwing it away.

Many reasons for this. A few: 1) Decedent owns partial interest in property and is not listed as owner in tax collector records. 2) Decedent owns real property in county other than where probate file case is opened.

[Yu L.]

Thanks @Sharon Vornholt , yes, I always check the property address. I guess I will also check the executor's and PR's names when I come across that again.

@Account Closed , thanks for the info. I am already searching the 3 nearby counties, maybe I should add the 4th one, anything that's not within these 4 counties is too far away for me to handle.

[Yu L.]

@Sharon Vornholt, I just come across a probate case with 2 executors who happen to live in the same mailing address, however, they don't have the same last name, I assume they are just domestic partners (male and female). In that case, do you send each one a letter or send out a letter to one of them?

Thanks!

[Mark Pedroza]

Originally posted by Yu L.

I just come across a probate case with 2 executors who happen to live in the same mailing address, however, they don't have the same last name, I assume they are just domestic partners (male and female). In that case, do you send each one a letter or send out a letter to one of them?

Are Letter's of Testamentary pending with both last names (different) on DE-150 form??

Me, I would send just one letter addressed to both since both have an interest in the real estate.

Both being domestic partners should not be an issue unless instructions are clear how the will is worded.

Keep us posted...

[Rick H.]

Domestic partners as co-executors? Maybe but they're probably just siblings. This is the danger of making assumptions.

Susan and Mary have different last names for other reasons, too.

They may live together but don't talk much. Send each a letter.

I'm tempted to lobby the California Judicial Counsel to change form numbers just so Pedroza will have to stop worrying about forms so much.

[Sharon Vornholt]

@yu

@Yu L. - I haven't run across two names or co-executors a whole lot of times, but I was personally a co-executor of an estate once. I agree with the others. I would make sure they both were contacted. I would probably send two letters.

Sharon

[Juan Zavala]

What do I ask for when calling the Probate office?

I called earlier, They said probate is everything that is in the will and is not itemized. So they can't tell me if there is a house in the probate.

What did I leave out?

[Rick H.]

Probate research is more hands-on than most other forms of real estate.

In my area, CA, despite being the tech capital, the court records are not necessarily available online to the extent that the info you want may not be accessible.

Figure that you will need to either hire someone to go to the courthouse or better, go yourself. Pull any or multiple files; they are public records.

Here, it is easy to determine if the estate contains real property by looking at the Petition for Probate, which also reveals the estimated mortgage balance. However, in our largest county, Los Angeles, only the essential court case status is available online.

Not everything in this world can easily be found online. Be thankful for this fact.

[Michaela G.]

@Rick H. , I agree, the more difficulties are involved in a deal, the fewer the competitors that want to do the work.