All Forum Posts by: Claudette Attride

Hello Daniel:

You can check the Pinellas county's website for all the applications for probates which are posted daily.

Claucette

Zuzana:

There is Homeunion that lists all properties with some great information.

I will send you the exact area of the site directly to you which deals with what you need; last time I put in a link in my reply I was flagged.

Claudette

Hello Cody:

South west or south east Florida and what county? 

Best bet off the top of my head, link with one of our many Real Estate Investors Associations... that's always your family out of state, think of the members as your cousins out of state.

Claudette

Hello Oscar:

Since you appear to be out of state, here’s my suggestion:

Was your contact appointed “Personal Representative” of the decedent by the court to dispose of the decedent’s assets???

Look at the county’s site to see for yourself what is filed (probate application) regarding the decedent/owner, and you can also look at the deed to see how the title was held - joint/ right of survivorship .. etc - . You see, sometimes family members think that all they have to do is to transfer the title and sell a property, but the courts are not sure if that is what the decedent would want- hence their ‘protected interference’. So, that being said, here is a site :

              http://www.ocpafl.org/searches/ParcelSearch.aspx

put in the property address and the search results will allow you to see the deed. Follow through to see sales analysis, then click instrument to see the deed. I always tell people, start at the beginning, then you can know if you want to pursue or say, 'that one was interesting, but, I’ll pass'. By the way, you can also check for yourself if an application has been filed for probate and you can also see any other heirs- loan balance on the property, liens etc.. always check for yourself to see behind the curtain.

Also, remember, its HER attorney-  Hope this helps, Good luck.

Claudette

@John Kent:  It’s just that I wasn’t impressed with their website, but I have seen their list and it does have information which is the same from the counties' websites or registry. You said you found it 'helpful' which is the key difference for a seasoned probate investor or a newbie.

In the query, he mentioned that he was new to probate and I like to encourage using free public available materials first and becoming familiar with how the systems work. The counties also offer great resources and help

FLORIDA COURT RESOURCES

In testing the waters (probate or other) going to and understanding the source is a great place to start, then you can seek out these lists that are out there. And remember, as someone also pointed out ..lists are not leads and if not understood, they can eat your pocket out in yellow letter postings!!

Here is one way to see recent probates in Orlando:

ORLANDO PROBATES

And you are right, the lists does save time! 

Hello Mayour:

I don't know of a 'Probates Daily' out of Florida, however, I think you may be talking about ProbatesDaily.com & Foreclosures.com. If you are, DO NOT USE IT!

Some of Florida’s probate information (by counties- there are 67 of them) for the most part are available online and/or published. As an example, for south Florida’s Broward county- you can search for recent probate filings in this link below. But, bear in mind that not all probate filings (even if you buy probate lists) have real estate associated with them-

BROWARD COUNTY DEEDS

Select SEARCH, then ACCEPT and then go to DOCUMENT TYPES, Select PRO for Probates and go from there. You will only be able to see the names of the Decedent- you’ll now have to check to see if the deceased owned any property. That’s at the Property Appraiser’s site.

BROWARD PROPERTY APPRAISER

.. It’s a bit of work, but can bring great results. If you are willing to do the work, you can check each county's recording deed websites and the system is pretty much the same.

Hope this helps.

Good luck

Hi Ramon:

I used it for about 6-months; it’s a real estate research tool for Florida. It comes with great help support and weekly webinars to assist users and of course tuition additionally available on YouTube. Reifax was suggested as the ‘go to’ site/software to access short-sales and pre-foreclosures which was the area of focus for our group.

I used it to create an Excel spreadsheet of selected pre-foreclosure properties for my ‘yellow-letter’ campaign. After weeks and weeks of letters with no reply I was fortunate to meet a homeowner to whom I had sent a letter. She informed me that her mortgage had been satisfied and had never been in arrears with any payments and was actually upset by my letter. So, I decided to re-check list with the court records and found several outdated information. Since then, I do my own due diligence and laboriously check the court records myself and create my own lists. It does take longer, but the error rate is MUCH lower. But, that’s just me!

It is good for a one spot click to find information that you’d have to research through the county records yourself- so that’s a plus. I do not know how often information in the system is updated, however, I think in our investment world, constant due diligence has to done as religiously as breathing. What I mean is that once you have a property – from acquiring the lead to completion, you have to check and check again the property’s status: that is- its liens- any new creditors; code violations- did the city see any un-cut lawns!! Check and re-check!!

Anyway, Reifax won’t do your due diligence for you, but it can give you a quick excel spreadsheet of properties broken down by zip areas to start you on you on your way and is good on comps using the standard formula: ( FixedUpFairMarketValue minus repair costs etc ). But really, every software or help tool is only applicable to your own needs.

Sorry, not a thumbs for me, maybe for others.

‘Do what is right, not what is EASY’

Let me start be looking at what you mean by ‘heading into foreclosure’

Foreclosure proceedings begin with the filing of a civil action complaint, the recording of a Lis Pendens in the public records and the issuance of a summons to each defendant in the case, including the homeowner. The homeowner (in Florida) I given 20 days from the date they are served to respond to that summons by filing an answer to the complaint. That begins the proceedings. How long before it is put on the auction block is the question. The clock is ticking and bear in mind that courts are now catching up on cases so the once upon a time extended stay in a ‘pre-foreclosure’ property no longer exists. Also, ALWAYS check your local Deeds Registry on any property you are considering if there are any other liens on the property – not just for the bank. You may need :

http://www.sumtercountysc.org/?q=department/regist...

Good luck

Claudette

Thank you for that reply/explanation because I was also mixing up probate leads and probate data.

I am currently preparing information on recent probate filings with information - eg property involved, petitioner/representative, address etc and I was calling my 'info' probate leads.  I now realize that it is 'data' and that its just a guide to help investors follow the paths.  Thank you. I am a newbie in Florida (Broward county) and was about to make a big 'boo-bo', so now I will call my information harvested from the courthouse simply- probate data.

Thanks.

Claudette A