All Forum Posts by: David Dey

@Jackie Kat, if you are going to succeed at driving for dollars, you MUST have public records as one of your tools.  Using your local clerk of court/register of deeds is going to be your road map to finding out the story of what is going on with the house and more importantly the owner.

Since your profile says you're from Old Bridge, NJ., I assume that you are driving for dollars in Middlesex county.  Here are a few links to get you started.

You will use link number one, property tax assessor site to match the house address to the owner.  (If the site doesn't work like that, call your county tax assessor or collector's office and ask them for the owners name for the subject property.

Link number two is for you to do a name search for the owner.  This should show you what mortgages he/she has out on the property as well as what kind of court issues, including foreclosure, he/she is dealing with.

The third link should actually take you into the actual foreclosure civil case site.  I believe that NJ is a judicial state, which means that the bank has to go through an actual foreclosure process.  This means that you should be able to look at the documents and see exactly what is going on with the owner by looking at the complaint.  You can also have the bank do the hard work for you of finding the absentee owner, since the bank hires a process server to find the owner and serve them with the foreclosure papers.  (Where the processor found the owner and served him can be found in the case docket as well)  

You will even be able to see what the bank alleges is owed so you can see if it is worth your trouble.

(Again, if you can't see all that info online, you can always get that info straight from the nice people that work in that area.

Hope this helps.

http://www.njactb.org

https://mcrecords.co.middlesex.nj.us/records/index...

http://njcourts.judiciary.state.nj.us/web15z/ACMSP...

Here's the pitch I used when I did door knocking, it got me quite a few deals back in the day. (I mainly call these days)

"Hi, my name is David.  I do work in public records.  I was doing some research when I came across your name regarding a situation.  (Never call it a foreclosure, they know what you mean and that word is so embarrassing they many times will put their wall up if u use it)

We help people out in situations like this all the time.  Can we talk?"

If they ask how you can help, explain that each circumstance is different and you will need more info before making a specific plan to help, but that you have helped quite a few people in their situations.

Remember, the goal is simply to get inside the door not try to get the deal done or even a selling decision at the door.

As to leaving a note, I fully agree with @Troy Gravett.  The less info the better.

I use the person's name or nickname (Steven I call Steve) and call me with my number. (Not even my name)

I also use this technique by text.

When I call absentee owners and don't get a response, I will send a text with the persons name, nothing else.

(Remember, the only purpose of the note or the text is to get a "who's this?")

Just last week I had a first, when I did a deal entirely by text. (negotiated and agreed to)

Hope this helps.

first, I agree with @Wayne Brooks.  If it is property taxes, your stuck.  But if it is IRS or state taxes, they can be negotiated.  

In this situation, it is my recommendation that you work out your contract to be the one who benefits from the negotiation.  

The way I frame the offer and then the contract is to simply ask the owner, to forget the taxes, liens and encumbrances and just tell me what they need for themselves.

They key is that even though they are told not to consider the liens, they still do and thus are pretty economical with that number.

Then, write your contract as, "payoff of all liens plus blank to the seller."  

By doing this, you will be the one to benefit from the negotiations.

(Ex: without my way, 100k purchase price with 90k in liens.  If you negotiate the liens down to 45k, the price is still 100k... VS. payoff of liens plus 10k to seller: the 45k discount reduces the amount of money you have to put into the deal as the amount to seller remains the same)

Hope this helps

@Jared Sorrentino, @Lachonda King, I love your enthusiasm, and the fact that you are asking questions and looking to continue to learn shows you are on the right path.  

Lachonda, first I have no doubt that you are a person of charisma, and I'm sure you can carry a conversation quite well, however very likely the enthusiasm itself is causing you some difficulties.  Many of the investors out there can be quite jaded about all the people that "just listened to a get rich quick seminar," and are now wasting their time.  (Many times they forget they started out the same way)

The secret to impressing them is to stand out to them in some way.  

The best way that I have figured to impress them from the beginning is to be proactive and reach out to them.

Here is a step by step process on how to do that.

1) get a list of cash buyers in your county.  (You can do this by one of 3 ways)

A) Get a list from the realtor on your team (what, you have no realtor on your team??? Go back and listen to a number of presentations right here on BP on how to build your team)

B) buy a list of cash buyers from one of the many list services you have probably seen on here.  (What, you don't know about list services?  Look up the term list services right here on BP that will give you the names of a number of reputable services out there)

C) Go into your local clerk of courts/register of deeds and look up the deeds transferred in the last 30 days.  (What, you don't know how to do research in public records? Um.. Well you might find a lil bit here on BP but in this case, best call the local clerk of courts/ register of deeds in your county and ask them how to do that specific search on their online site.. Or you may have go in)

2) how ever you get your list, narrow down your list to businesses buying real estate, trustees of land trusts, IRA's purchasing and just plain repeat buyers. (i.e. The same guy buys 3 times in 30 days, he's not buying for himself)

3)  once you've picked out the investors from your list, look them up on google, on your Secretary of State site (corporation search) back in public records.  You'll find that many of them will be pretty easily found.  (They are often marketing for deals so you'll find websites, you'll see listings, you may even find them here on BP)

4) now that you have found their phone numbers, call them and introduce yourself.  Reference the deal that they bought in the last 30 days and let them know that you have many deals that are similar, then get their exact criteria.  The fact that you were proactive and resourceful enough to find them will usually impress them enough to give you the time of day.  

All that being said, I fully agree with @Chris M on this.  If at all possible, (and you could possibly use the same tools I just gave you to do this) you should first hook up with someone more experienced than you and shadow them to learn, and not just this aspect but all of it.  If you look at many of my posts you will see that I am a huge proponent of getting yourself a mentor.  The best way to not make a beginner's mistake is to learn from someone who already had made that mistake.  

I hope this helps!!

I have e heard that TLO is pretty good.  I personally like tracersinfo and idi

Our biz is made almost entirely of abandoned properties that we skip trace to track down.

These are phenomenal leads and can bring in some amazing deals.

Now understand, there is a lot more work involved than the mailers, as you need to have vetted your deal before skip tracing your seller.  

Also, calling them is the ideal scenario because that will get a much higher response than any mailer.

Here are the things to consider though.

1) more work, (I mentioned that above)

2) skip tracing will only get you so far.  First, not all skip tools are created equal.  There are plenty of basic tools out there that promise the world but most of their databases are antiquated.  Even the best ones (we had to be sponsored by our atty for the ones we use) are not 100% accurate.  In the end, you have to be part investor, part PI, part bloodhound, etc to find some people, but if you make 50k for finding them, more power to you.

3)  not everyone is cut out for cold calling, you have to create an elevator pitch, an outline of the questions you need answered.  you may get hung up on a few times (tough skin is a plus) again, you have to be all things to all people, part investor, part psychologist, part priest. (Believe me, they will tell you their life story) But again, if you are among the chosen few that can and are willing to do this, you will be handsomely rewarded.

Hope this helps

These are private lenders who have lent money in Indianapolis within the last 12 months.

A few rules of thumb, 

1) don't ask for money on the first call.  

There are 2 reasons for this, #1 the SEC discourages cold calling for money... Something about against the law etc...😜 The rule as I remember it is, You need to have at least 3 touches before asking for money.

The second reason is what I call "first-date-itus"  

How many first dates have you ruined by trying to get a homerun with your first swing?  This applies to money as well, if you set yourself up with the knowledge that you will NOT be scoring a homerun on your first date with the lender, you can calm down and build the relationship.

2)  ask questions, find out what their criteria is, how they valuate, what they prefer to lend on.   Don't assume your deal is perfect for them.  Rather find out what they like to lend on and then find it for them.

(Ex:  someone who is used to lending no more than 50k on a deal will be uninterested in a deal for 250k or vice versa someone who's comfort zone is 100k and hire is not going to want to look at a lower income home.)

With that said, here is a quick list. (I wasn't allowed to leave a phone number for each but if you need any further advice, gimme a msg

.

MICHAEL TAVEL

250 E 96th St

Ste 200

Indianapolis, IN 46240

Public records

------------------

Linda S Garriott

6235 Hythe,

Indianapolis, IN 46220

SOJOURNERS TITLE did the title for her loans see if she works through a broker

-------------------

Greg Peterson

Public records

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Longhorn III Investments, LLC

Lawrence Hopkins 

CIREIA vendor

------------------

ROBERT & CAROL MEISTER

120 N MILL CREEK RD

NOBLESVILLE IN 46062

Public records

------------------

Daniel Marr

Veritas Realty

Public records

This kind of deal is right down my alley.  My recommendation is to go back to the heir and ask him/her what they need for themselves.  Tell them to not worry about the mtg or any of the liens, that you will take care of those for them, as well as pay for and handle the probate, just figure out what you need for you.

You mentioned that the mtg was nothing big, by writing the contract as "payoff of all liens and encumbrances plus ----," (the dashes are what they need for themselves)

You will make the benefit of any negotiations you make on any liens.  (The amount of the liens may go down but the amount you pay them remains constant)  

Ex 1: 100k contract with a 50k mtg and 25k code enforcement lien.  If you negotiate the code lien down to 2500 and the mtg down to 40k, your price is still 100k.  You get no benefit for the negotiating you did. 

Ex 2:  payoff of all liens and encumbrances plus 25k to seller.  (Same negotiating reductions as above) you just reduced the money out of pocket by 32.5k new price to you 67,500 with the seller still getting exactly what they agreed on.

The second benefit of negotiating this way is that the heir tends to look at the benefit you are bringing him/her and thus gives an economical number for their portion.  (Especially if they haven't  done the probate in over 3 years) after all, this is found money to them.

Now that you have the agreed on terms, bring the deal to your probate atty and negotiating team and make your money.

Hope this helps.

@Jay Hinrichs I'll go ahead and give some education to my direct competition, since I've seen you give a house away to someone here :)

@Brandon Clark

The Problem with the MLS is that, as everyone has said, everyone is on there. The secret to finding actual deals in any market is to become a "professional problem solver," then put yourself into the place where problems are.

Try going to your local code enforcement office.  (The houses on that list are definitely people with problems)

Go "driving for dollars" and look for abandoned houses.  Do a little research on them to see what the mtg situation is, or as some golden nuggets are, you will find some to be estates. 

Check with your local probate court, and match the names of the decedent to the property appraisers office to see if they own real estate.  

See if any are delinquent on taxes or if the power is off.  These are great potential deals.  

Oh, make sure you get ahold of a great skip trace tool!!

I know this may not be the sexiest solution, but if it were easy, (like going to the MLS) everyone would be doing it.

Hope this helps.

of course there is the largest one equity trust company out of OH (can be expensive)

And Advanta (used to be entrust I believe)

Oh and my buddy Edwin Kelly's Ira "Specialized IRA services."

Tell him Dave Dey sent you!!