All Forum Posts by: Matt Powell

@Michael Lehner

Is this a HUD home? You're purchasing it from the bank? I haven't heard of a seller not allowing hard money -- it's cash and it's your liability, not theirs. Maybe you could give more detail about that.

If the seller isn't accepting hard money, you either need all cash for the purchase, or conventional financing, unless I'm missing something. If you want a partner, I think the partner would need to get the financing in exchange for you doing all the legwork with the flip. After all, to qualify for a 80% LTV conventional loan, you'd need at least that 20% down in your checking account for 2 months prior to purchase.

What's the purchase price? Who's the seller, exactly? What are you looking to do with it? Flip or hold?

@James Ritter Wait.. you're going to hand-write up to 10,000 letters?! Dude. Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, kudos for the dedication, but that would be too many for me.

But to answer your question, yes, direct mail to folks that are behind on taxes seems like a good strategy to find folks that are in generally poor financial health. I would imagine a reasonable percentage of them (wild guess.. but maybe 25%) may also be in trouble with their mortgages. One thing to consider is whether the folks you're targeting even HAVE mortgages, though. Cross-referencing your original list with that group could mean a higher percentage of hits for your time, not to mention fewer hand cramps.

Out of curiosity, where did you go to get said information? I'd be interested in adapting this strategy for my own marketing model. Thanks!

UPDATE: Ok, maybe you mean behind on their property taxes. That makes much more sense. If that's the case, forget my comment about filtering by folks who have mortgages. If you're interested, this post was linked in the Related Discussions section of this thread: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/87/topics/68444-direct-mail-to-tax-delinquent-properties

Simplified it for me. Thanks @Brandon M.

@Eric H. I'm not familiar with bankruptcy procedures here, but I'll be following this topic to see what others say. In the meantime, could you clarify a couple things so it's more clear to me as I follow along?

• What is a contingency cash contract? Why would the seller want this?
• What is the seller's offer? If the seller owes $100k more than you would offer, it must be a very good offer for you to be considering it.

@David Fuller Go to meetup.com/BwiMeetup for more info. They do monthly meetups and monthly social mixers, both at the BWI Marriott. I'd recommend adding it to your list of must-do's if you're looking to get into investing in the area.

@Aj Bowman I'd recommend some creative marketing to help you generate more leads. I'll echo the questions from the others - where are you looking for your deals? Where is your agent finding his/her recommendations? If just the MLS, some independent marketing may open up your pipeline some.

@Aj Bowman I'd recommend some creative marketing to help you generate more leads. I'll echo the questions from the others - where are you looking for your deals? Where is your agent finding his/her recommendations? If just the MLS, some independent marketing may open up your pipeline some.

@Russell Brazil Thanks Russell, that's helpful.

@Josh Nix Thanks for the tips. Hadn't noticed that Zillow link before. For my house, it took me here:

http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/budfin/t...

I actually found that a couple days ago, but the searches on the website aren't working (it says "technical difficulties"), so I'm not able to explore it more. I'm anxious to know what's behind that door...

I'll also get in touch with local treasurer, per your suggestion. What type of information do they usually provide you?

@Gavin Welch Thanks for your response. A few follow-up questions:

• Where can I go to find my local property appraiser's website? Is that person in a municipal position, or a private position? Is it just one person, or does "local property appraiser" refer to more of an office of people?
• In reference to searching my "county civil records", I found this site for Maryland, but I'm not sure it's what you're recommending. http://sdat.resiusa.org/RealProperty/Pages/default...
• I don't see a section for second mortgages (or single) or encumbrances. Is there another site I should be looking for? A google search for "baltimore county civil records" turned up court records for crimes, but nothing on mortgages.

Thanks.