County Delinquent Tax Lists

[Kalif Alder]

I'm very new to wholesaling (literally two months into the game), I'm getting ready to start a direct mail campaign for motivated sellers. I've been reading Seth Williams' blog posts and he really seems to emphasize the importance of using your county delinquent tax lists. Has anyone had experience with these mailings? If so, what kind of response rate did it yield? Also, do the majority of residents on this list own their properties free in clear? If not, i dont really see why an end buyer would enjoy paying off an existing mortgage along with bringing the property current in taxes. I also read Sean Terrys blueprint Ebook and he talks alot about using the MLS to locate expired listings and sellers with little to no equity, so you can negotiate for seller financing. That method seems to be a little more complicated to me, however, i'm willing to give it a shot if that's what will reel in the best results. What do you guys think?