All Forum Posts by: Seth Williams

@David Flores - I've got a pretty detailed blog post that explains it, but I'm probably not allowed to post it here. Shoot me a PM and I'll send you all the details.

@David Flores - sending during the holiday season may cause a few days of delay in the delivery, and the responses may come in later than usual (because people may be traveling and not picking up their mail), but after all is said and done, I can't see it having a huge negative impact.

The more important thing is to make sure you're working with the right list (i.e. - data that is current, accurate and targeted appropriately) and sorting it correctly. If you've got these things nailed (which in some cases, is easier said than done), the rest should fall in line without too much trouble.

@David Flores - AP247 has some tax delinquent data, but that's not really the most ideal use for the service. I only use when I'm doing individual property research and/or pulling more general lists of property owners (i.e. - I use several of the list filtering options EXCEPT for the tax distressed option, because I've found that particular item isn't reliable in all areas).

When I need to get a delinquent tax list specifically, I always get it directly from the county. Working with some counties can definitely be more of a hassle, but the data is a lot more current and consistently reliable.

@David Flores - glad to help! When I've got everything dialed in just right, my response rate is usually around 5% - 10% (on some rare occasions it's been up around 18%, but that's more the exception than the rule) and the acceptance rate is usually in the range of .5% - 1% of the total number of mail units I've sent out.

@David Flores - The vast majority of properties I've bought and sold have been woodsy. I think it's actually a nice attribute for a property to have, because trees provide privacy and the owner can decide what areas they want to clear out to build their house (assuming that's even what they intend to do).

Some properties can offer even more hidden value if the trees are mature enough to be harvested as timber. This is rarely something I depend on, but sometimes there's potential for this if the stars align. :)

Glad to help @David Flores! Not every county list will give you the information you need to make this determination, but some of them will. One thing to look for is the property type (most counties have some type of use code they refer to)... you could even call the county and ask if there are any line items in the list you could use to decipher this.

You could also look at the address, like you said - though this isn't always perfectly reliable (because some vacant lots do have registered street addresses, and you don't necessarily want to remove those). If it starts with 0, or if there's no address or street number at all, that's usually a fair indication that it's vacant.

If you're working in a rural county, another option is to just send the mail to all the absentee owners on the list. You will get some leads on houses, but even so - you'll likely find that the vast majority of leads are still vacant lots. This happens because most home owners have mortgages with escrow accounts to keep their taxes current, which by default keeps those properties OFF the delinquent tax list in the first place.

Hi @David Flores - if you get the right list from the county, it should contain both the physical address of each property AND the corresponding mailing address of the owner. If a property is owner occupied, both addresses should match. If a property is absentee owned, then the addresses will be different (note: some counties may even have to generate two separate lists in order to give you both addresses for every property - but most counties should be able to include both addresses for every property within the same spreadsheet). 

In any event, if you've got the right list, you should have every owner's mailing address, which you can use to send them a letter or postcard to start the conversation.

If you have one specific property in mind and you don't want to go through the trouble of getting the county's list, you can always look up the owner's mailing address on the county website (or alternatively, if the county's website is difficult to work with, you can use a paid service like AgentPro247... that's usually what I do).

@Brannon Harrison - I've been at it for about a decade now. So far, there has been no shortage of opportunity where I'm at (I've actually done some work in Alabama too, for that matter). How long have you been at it?

Hey @Brannon Harrison - welcome to BP! I am also a fellow land investor. Happy to talk dirt with you any time. :)

Hi @Stefon Franklin - I hear you, it can be pretty tricky to nail down a reliable market value for vacant land. It's not an exact science, and it doesn't necessarily have to be either. To Mark's point, it's important to offer a small fraction of what you think the value is, so even if you end up overestimating on the front end, you'll also be giving yourself a huge, built-in margin of error to work with.

If you do decide to use assessed values, just make sure you understand what what "assessed value" means in the area where you're working. This number can be calculated very differently depending on what state the property is in (and it's generally based on the assessor's opinion, which may be a helpful starting point if you have nothing else to work with - but it's definitely not a conclusive, appraised value).

I can send you some more valuation ideas if you're interested. You could also do a Google search for "how to value land" and you'll find some helpful info near the top. :)