All Forum Posts by: Richard Balsam

I'm Richard Balsam, from Alpharetta, GA. I've been investing in real estate full time since 2004. My experience started back in the '90's as a franchise sales rep and working with commercial retail properties, then as a real estate agent, and then as Broker for my own company in Florida. In Georgia I decided to start investing in single family homes and never looked back! I love what Bigger Pockets has to offer, and continue to listen to Brandon and his many great podcasts, while reading as many posts from everybody as possible. Currently own lease option homes and I have quite a few clients that I owner finance their homes in my portfolio. Now- I am concentrating on fix and flips as a third element of my business. I'm looking forward to hearing from many of you and I'll be active as time permits in the forums. 

@Mark Beno - I think you mean Equity Depot ( not property Depot)!! I haven't used Listsource before, but I can tell you Equity Depot not only includes the information from the foreclosure ad, but also merges this data with tax data on the house. This way, when I import it, I can do a quick calculation in Excel for the hundreds of properties and find immediately if there is any equity worth exploring further. For example, knowing that tax assessed value is BELOW the actual market value ( it better be!), I just subtract the first mortgage amount in one column from the tax assessed value in another column. If the amount is positive, I select which rows I want to explore further to research actual market values to determine estimated equity per house. Then my analysis first begins! But - this only takes me a  a few minutes to remove properties that do not interest me. There is much more to the data  - and i usually wind up with 5-6 spreadsheets to arrive at my final selection.  I hope this helps.

@RushWall - Look up Equity Depot in Kennesaw. You can buy by the month, or 3-6-12 month subscriptions too. If you want to import the data, their pricing per "area" jumps from $49 per month to $79. A lot of investors stick with the lower cost by printing mailing labels only. I prefer the auctions, with the imported data even though many homes fall off the list. My method allows all liens to fall off the house except what I had mentioned above. Even the IRS and usually Georgia liens drop off after 90 days. Also- nice to tell the HOA that you will not be paying their past due fines that they increase annually on the home. Happened to me twice - was nervous, but not anymore. The IRS wants big fish - not a small house sold at a foreclosure sale.

Jacob:

Most of the homes I have purchased in the past have come from the foreclosure auction, near me in Atlanta. I don't know much about Texas law, but it should be somewhat similar. First- you have to decide where you want to concentrate, since all foreclosures are auctioned between set times, as defined by the state. At this point- it will be far easier if you can locate a third party company that lists all foreclosure homes for you. This will save you hours of dry work. Google multiple times until you find a company like this. We have one here in Atlanta that combines the house legal information with tax data, and I import it to my computer in .xls format. A major time saver! Message the data any way you want, and visit the homes that meet your criteria. I map multiple homes so I can see where they are located, and drive and see 25-30 homes per day. Take pictures, and research the mortgage date to make sure it's the 1st mortgage only. Also- see if any IRS or Texas liens ( or FIFA liens) are on the property. Again, here in Georgia, I have access to title and lien information from my desk - you may have it at the courthouse only). Not all homes will make it to the auction, and sometimes you will miss a certain house due to the large crowds and the Crier came and left without you knowing - it happens. Do not get caught up in a bidding frenzy. You will make more money in the long run the better educated in the home you are ( vs. your competition). The ones that overbid may not be back again! Know when to stop and watch the fireworks of stupidity happen with overbid homes. Many times, you will get a better deal offering 90% of MLS prices than what many people bid at the auction- just to win the house! It's crazy sometimes.

Hi David: Having invested in the Atlanta suburbs for over a decade now, I can give you my two cents worth, after years of experience. What the others have said here is correct. Please keep searching. I have found that there are more excuses for not paying bills than there are tenants. In fact, after 3-4 months, the excuses will start to pour in. First, its the collections that needed to be paid. Next month, it's some type of fine they had to pay before your rent. Next up, their car broke down, their son needed to be bailed from jail, etc, etc. Yes...all of these came from tenants I have had ( some had so many excuses that it still makes my head spin). I can list far more excuses- but you see the picture here. Think of it this way... If they come to you with multiple accounts in collections, they are coming from somewhere else. Why? Please keep searching. You will find a better candidate. If you can't look them in the face and tell them "no" - blame it on a fictitious partner that controls the funds - he/she said "no" - not you!