All Forum Posts by: Sean OToole

@Jeff Zimmerman, awesome to hear, thanks for using us. I bought a 6-plex in Kings Beach, CA using exactly the same method. Actually found 3 willing sellers during my search which took less than a week.

@Walter Holmes, I've purchased 160 foreclosures, my customers tens of thousands. A lot of what you say makes sense, but the problem is that a lot of these deals don't make sense. By far my best deals are the ones where the initial look at the data was a NO GO. As a result, we long ago decided not to do any decision making, or even buy recommendations of the type you outline. Not only do I believe it will lead folks to miss deals, but likewise it may lure them to buy a bad deal. Sure you can find out about the sale, get the taxes, the liens, estimate values, pull in code enforcement, etc. But in reality that isn't close to all the data you really need to buy at auction imho. And even if it is it never completely eliminates risk.

Another concern I have about your proposed idea is that there can be big liability differences between being an information service, and an advisor. If your goal is to provide an online service, think carefully before touting your expertise at being the later. Definitely something to spend a lot of time and money with attorneys on. The legal costs of starting information services aren't trivial, and being an advisor is far thornier, and may even require licensing.

As for machine learning, artificial intelligence and APIs, note that they do not fix GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). That is the core problem with all of these AI real estate plays. The reality is that opendoor, zillow, etc are making some pretty poor purchase decisions, that a seasoned trustee sale investor wouldn't. They continue to throw large sums of money at the problem, but outside of getting the nation to tackle a wholesale redo of the public records system, I'm skeptical they'll ever reach the nirvana they proclaim is possible.

The problem isn't the analysis, it's the availability of data, and the accuracy of the data. So regardless of API's, ML, AI, etc, no one is going to perfectly solve this. The big boys are throwing hundreds of millions at it, so if I'm wrong, we'll know pretty soon.

Finally, if you really could solve this you'd be a moron to offer it as a service. Instead you should keep it for yourself and just use it as competitive advantage to buy everything. ;-)

@Taylor Moore as @Jerryll Noorden mentioned it is one of the most common list types, and almost any source should be able to provide a decent list. The "engine" it comes from is the county assessors office. That said the county doesn't decide who is "absentee" and who isn't. Instead most list providers determine that based on the difference between the situs (property) address and the mailing address (where the tax bill is sent). Additionally many (but not all) will also take into account homeowner tax exemptions, which are legally only available to owner-occupants, in states where those apply. Note that neither is perfect - someone may live in the house but get their mail at a PO Box or their office. Someone may claim (unlawfully) the homeowner tax exemption and still rent the property. But like with ALL LISTS, the goal isn't to know the exact situation, it is to narrow down your target audience to those most likely to be interested in your specific offer. Absentee owners are a perfect list for property managers looking for new business, or investors looking for rentals with existing tenants. But as Jerryl mentioned, that criteria alone typically isn't a design of distress, so it - by itself - may not be the best place to look for discounted deals.

@May Emery it sounds like that FSS list is derived from credit data. If so wouldn't it be subject to the same rules as 30/60/90 lates? Including the proper disclosure on late pay marketing never gives worthwhile results. Sounds like this FSS list would have the same issue, right?

Awesome @Jay Hinrichs that is great to hear. I hear you on the topo's, living in the mountains I'd love that one myself. Noted!!

It has been illegal for title companies in CA to provide foreclosure lists after passage of SB 133 in 2008 (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=200720080SB133). You may still find a rep that will do it for you though. Your options are to pull notices yourself from the county recorder, or use a service. Your best bet is to find a service that not only can provide the foreclosure notices, but also tracks the auctions (postponements, cancellations, sales, opening bids, etc). 

Right, at least at a high level. I highly recommend reading the state statutes to better understand all the details. You should also read 1695 before buying property in foreclosure as you can find yourself in significant trouble if you don't follow the rules.

Date recorded is the date the document was recorded at the county recorders office. Default date is the date the bank determined the borrower first defaulted on the loan, and is abstracted from the document. While banks typically issue a NOD soon after the default event, they don't have to, it could be recorded much later after they decide to start formal foreclosure proceedings.

Yes, postponements don't occur until the auction is scheduled, and the auction is first scheduled with the filing of the notice of trustee sale. Note that a notice of trustee sale can't legally be recorded before 90 days have passed, but it can certainly be recorded later.

Hi @Will Fulton, thanks for using us. Lots to unpack above, and I have limited time today, so just a quick comment for now. You mentioned that you thought mailing at notice of trustee sale would be too late. I actually think you'll have the most success VERY late in the process. Many owners think they can work things out up until the very end - or choose to maximize "free rent" by staying as long as possible. As such they often aren't very motivated until late in the process. For example, one of the most motivated groups in foreclosures are those who have declared bankruptcy, and then found out the bank got a motion for relief from stay allowing them to complete the foreclosure - those owners are truly out of options. This doesn't mean you should start reaching out early, just don't cut yourself short by not continuing to communicate until the very end. Most trustee sales postpone multiple times, for as long as a year, and we track that so you can easily build lists to target even late in the process. Best, Sean.

Hi @Jake Knight, it’s not available in transfer search, use Discover instead. Lots of transfer filters in Discover as well. Discover is replacing all of our older search features and combining them into one. :-)