All Forum Posts by: Sean OToole

@Gerald Harris I'm with PropertyRadar, not Propstream. Not sure where they are, but we are not in those states yet. Working hard on it though, so stay tuned.

@Neil Aggarwal - Texas does have both notices, but the notice of default, called "Notice of Default and Intent to Accelerate" in Texas, is not available to the public as it is only sent to the owner via certified mail. As such you only see the notice of trustee sale, which in addition to being sent to the owner via certified mail is also posted at the courthouse, and recorded with the county.
We typically refer to properties that have the Notice of Sale filed as "Scheduled for Auction" or "Auction", to differentiate that stage from the earlier notice of default stage, which we refer to as "Preforeclosure" This means that in states where the notice of default is either not public, like Texas, or is combined into a single notice, like Oregon, we never show properties as "Preforeclosure". But we are a bit unusual on that front, as most vendors will still advertise these as "preforeclosures" primarily to attract people that just want a deal, and who have been told preforeclosures are good deals. 

@Vincent Meoli - while they don't track the auctions, and there are some other limitations, RealtyTrac is likely the best provider in your area at this time. The only real alternative today would be Corelogic's Listsource in my opinion. Hopefully that will change soon. ;-)

@Neil Aggarwal Pretty much all vendors in the industry use "Preforeclosure" to mean the period of time between the notice of default and notice of trustee sale in non-judicial foreclosure, or between the lis pendens and the notice of sale in judicial states (with some state to state variation thanks to things like combo notices).

For the period you mention, during which the owner is simply late on their payments, those are called "mortgage late" leads or 30/60/90 day late leads. These are actually available from the credit bureaus as marketing data, but they are "credit data" and therefore come with a lot of rules around how they can be legally used. Those rules include having to use a disclaimer that is a bit like the surgeon generals warning on cigarettes - and if you follow the rules and include the warning, most have found that they get almost zero response. Not following the rules, helps response, but creates legal risk. We've never sold them for that reason.

Another thing most people don't realize, is that owners are typically no where near being ready to sell, especially with any level of distress in the price, that early in the process. The most successful preforeclosure investors I've met largely focus on being there at the end, when the owner has exhausted all their options and is truly about to lose their home.

@Jaiden Olsen, yes, my support team is keeping a list, you can reach them at support at propertyradar dot com. Thanks for the interest. :-)

Thanks @Stratton B Brown. I'm hesitant to say, as I've been wrong a couple of times already. :-( I really thought we'd be there already as we've been working on it for more than year. Unlike other vendors who just resell records, our process is a lot more complex which is simply taking a lot of time. You can read more about what makes us different here: https://www.propertyradar.com/how-we-do-it). Bottom line, it will be done when it's done. Sorry.

Hi @Stratton B Brown, so sorry we are not there yet, we are working hard on it! Until then, the combination of Listsource and RealQuest (both from Corelogic) would be our recommendation, and the closest thing comparably. You just can't get anything comparable from just a single public records data source like the assessors office. 

Lists are a great tool, but they aren't a silver bullet. I recommend starting with a small list (limit geography) and do some testing. The message (whether delivered in person, on the phone, or via direct mail) is every bit as important as the list you deliver it to. I'd recommend that you get that right before spending anything near $3k on a list.

Separately learn the source of the list, and what it takes to get the list yourself before you spend that kind of money. Most of us who gather data and sell lists, sell the lists for less than you can gather it yourself for as we spread the costs across multiple customers. If you are spending $3k for a local list, you may be able to do it yourself for less.

@Mondrell Fields before you start doing so, please be sure to read CA Civil Code 1695. You need to be careful to follow the law when pursuing preforeclosures. Any property that was in preforeclosure and then sells below market value will automatically come under law enforcement scrutiny in many parts of the state. Doesn't mean you can't do those deals, just be sure to comply with the law when you do.

You can read it here: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=3.&title=5.&part=2.&chapter=2.5.&article= 

@Ori Skloot yes frightening. Or perhaps cautionary. ;-)