All Forum Posts by: Jerry Holt

@kevin griffin

I have seen this same letter before, and it was tweaked on also as you have done. It has a blend of condolences and offering services without any cheesy $$$ or star symbols. I'm not a fan of salesy probate letters. And I like that it seems to lean towards adding certain components of the probate records in it. Yes, it's long but overall I like it. Hope it works out for you.

I doubt it's your mailing pieces. It's important to obtain quality data. In my opinion fresher is better, especially with probates. Also, you should only obtain probate data where title was checked to insure the decedent or the heirs own it and not a third party. Otherwise you're just wasting your time. A lot of properties go through probate. Other cases do also. A lot of companies sell bulk, aged data to whoever will buy it, therefore resulting in all of you who purchased it competing with each other. You need to know what you're looking for.

Hi Georgina,

Keep in mind that if you bought a probate list that you probably will be competing with folks in your area that bought the same list. Don't go into this thinking that you are the exclusive, unless you hired independent researcher to source the data for you. 

Let's assume you have a decent list. Next you need to market it. Getting folks to open what they consider junk mail is hard to do. So, what makes folks open their mail? 

1, Handwritten envelopes, preferably with a handwritten letter. Don't forget to put an actual stamp on it. I know... time consuming. I have a client that uses a company that utilizes robots, holding an actual pen, that hand writes your envelopes and letter. Not as expensive as you might think.

2. Send it Federal Express. But, only if you have a list tailored to your specific game plan backed up with accurate and very fresh data. More expensive, but it definitely will not be considered as "junk mail" by the potentially motivated seller.

Good Luck!

As a general rule, all of the national sources have aged data as compared to you going to the local county offices and abstracting the fresh information yourself.  That is the only way you will ever get public record real estate data "hot off the press". 

Doing public record research. It's time consuming but it can pay off if you're looking for folks that recently inherited or stand to inherit property. Also good for finding folks in distressed situations that may be willing to sell. Some of the records I use to source prospective property sellers include:

* Probates
* Recent deed filings (Bargain/Sale, Quit Claim, Transfer on Death Deeds, Personal Rep Deeds, Survivorship Deeds and others)
* Lis Pendens (Pre-Foreclosure)
* Tax Liens (Attorneys, City, County, State, Federal, Utility and other types of liens)
* Recent Death Certificates (I match these with new deed filings to locate the heirs/new property owners)
* Affidavits (Claiming Successor, Heirship, Death of Trustee, Claiming Successor and others)
* Divorces

Good Luck!

Usually a property assessment is the value assigned to a home for the purpose of determining property tax payments. Property assessments are performed by county officials. Property assessments are not the same as than home appraisals. A home appraisal determines the market value of a home, while assessments are only used to calculate property tax amounts.

Sweet! Way to go!

Researching various deeds at the county recorders office will give you additional information. Most of the recorders offices I've researched in have computer terminals available to the public. Simply enter the property address and it will produce various public records related to it. Just look for the most recent deed filing. 

Mandy

I mainly target in on the estate probate filings. The document you need to focus on is the Petition for Probate. That will contain much of the information that you need. Many probate files also have the will attached so you can look at that for additional information.

I agree with Kyle above from Atlanta. (Coincidentally I’m headed there in a couple of weeks.) Anyways… once you have an address or you think you have it always run it through the assessor’s website. The most important thing is to obtain the actual property address of the estate. It’s not always listed in the petition or sometimes it may show as a legal description. You might find it in the will as well. If you do this correctly using the probate and assessors records you will have a wealth of info.

And Rick above was right on it also. You have to look at the docs. It will get easier and faster in time. 

Just like the folks above, I am not an attorney. But I can tell you that just because there is no will that doesn’t mean it will automatically need to go to probate. If you haven’t already you should go to your local county recorder’s office and look up the deed on the property. If he filed a deed such as a life estate deed, transfer upon death deed or even a bargain and sale deed the ownership may have already transferred to his children. People mistakenly assume that just because there is no will that probate will be automatic. Folks actually file these types of deeds to help their survivors avoid the hassle of probate court. The laws vary from state to state. Again, you will still need advice of an attorney but at least you may know if you actually need probate or not. Good luck!