All Forum Posts by: Kimberly Kesterke

@Nancy P. great points. Thank you for sharing. I think a lot of it has to do with the Landlord but I have to be honest- I screened poorly on some tenants and they completely trashed one of my properties. And then complained to me they had roaches and the place was run down. When we went to inspect the property- they had taken down all the blinds, holes were everywhere - seriously- everywhere. I can only imagine what had to happen to create all those holes in the walls- roaches in their cabinets- and not for lack of treatments but there were literally crumbs everywhere! I guess it was a major learning experience for me. When they moved in the place was nice and clean. My fault for not screening properly, but will be more aware on the next ones.  They have since moved out and I’m getting the place turned- to hopefully hand over to a tenant who will better take care of the place. 

@Joe P. Keep up the good work. I'm with you - taking action is key

@Larry Alexander Great response. Glad to hear your perspective. lol

Landlords have a noble mission. We provide safe and clean housing to our tenants, keep homes maintained and reasonably respond to our tenants requests. We provide housing options so that the government doesn’t have to. We build profitable portfolios that employ handyman, electricians, framers, dry wallers, plumbers, roofers, cleaning crews and real estate agents.

We take dilapidated homes and transform them into clean, safe, live-able spaces that create homes for people who either cannot afford a home or chooses to rent. This helps improve the landscape of the local neighborhood and increase property values for everyone who lives there.

We take on all the risk- we keep the water heaters running, HVAC repaired, plumbing working and toilets flowing. We set proper boundaries to our tenants with the expectation that rent is paid on-time- not only helping them make financially wise decisions, but when the proper programs are in place- you can help boost tenant’s credit scores with positive on-time payment reporting.

And yes, we deserve to make healthy profits in doing so.

So next time you hear some jacka@@ referring to landlords as slumlords- share this sentiment. Stand in your power knowing you are providing something that the government simply can’t do well. Know that you as a private citizen are adding tremendous value to your community.

And for goodness sake- please screen your tenant’s properly. You can’t be a slumlord if you don’t rent to unqualified tenants. Stick to your screening procedures and don’t second guess yourself.

Absentee owners are just that- absent owners. They could live a block away, or out of state- either way, they do not live in the property but still pay the tax bill.

Many times absentee owners are long-distance landlords, or people who inherited the property from an estate. A large percentage of absentee owners are “accidental landlords” or simply do not have the funds to properly fix up the property and get it sold on the retail market.   These owners can have a variety of reasons why they haven’t yet pulled the trigger on selling. Since everyone has their own unique situation, it is important that once you connect, to spend a lot of time listening to their story in order to find ways that you can help.

What are some free ways to find an absentee owner list?

Local tax records

If time is on your side and you know the property address you are looking for, you can find absentee owners pretty easily. Most counties have their tax records on-line (check out https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/) to see if your county is listed. Simply type in the property address and scroll down to the owner section. Here, you can see if the owner lives in the property or not.

Local county office

Did you realize your local county office can be an amazing resource? I once was looking for a list of all the 2-4 unit properties in my favorite zip codes. I called the local county tax records office and they directed me to a person that actually had that list. I only had to pay a small fee and got all of the county records of 2-4 unit properties. So maybe this tip isn’t free, but what I paid for the list felt like it should have been free- honestly, it wasn’t expensive at all. (Note: this county did not have an exportable list available online)

The only disadvantage to this, is that I received about 500 records that only had addresses- I did have to input those addresses on my own- it’s pretty labor intensive, but monetarily inexpensive.

Your local county may have different policies- you may need to go down to the office yourself, or there may be an online directory- either way- do your research and see what you can find.

County offices to check are the county assessor's office recorder of deeds and county appraisal office. They may have online options or not. I would always give them a call first before going down in person to the local office- many times the people you talk to on the phone can direct you to a more efficient way to obtain the information.

Title Companies

I personally have never called a title company for absentee owner leads, but I know that some real estate investors reach out to them. I would recommend starting the relationship with title companies that have a relationship with your local REIA, however it never hurts to pick up the phone and give them a call.

(If you have any tips about using Title Companies for obtaining Absentee owner lists, then please add to this forum thread- I would like to learn more about that..)

Networking

Networking with your local REIA or local wholesalers is another way to find absentee owner deals- but frankly- if they know about them, there has already been a markup added to the original price, so you are better off finding your own.

Family members, friends and co-workers may be another resource for you. If you don’t mind asking the question if they know anyone who has a rental property they want to off-load or a property they don’t live in to sell, you may find some good leads.

Asking everyone you come into contact with can be an aggressive but effective way to find absentee owners as well- just ask them- do you or know someone who has a property they want to off-load? It can be worth a shot. 

Paid Services that can find Absentee owners for you

If you would rather invest money instead of your time, there are paid services out there you can tap into. These services not only give you the addresses and owner address, but some services can find phone numbers, e-mails, and other identifying information.


Local Real Estate Agent- MLS Search

I put this under a paid service because it does take a professional’s time, and unless you have done other deals with the real estate agent, it would be a large ask for them to pull the records for you for free because again- it takes them time to do it. However, they have unlimited records available to them depending on their subscription level and can be a very affordable resource to you. Much more affordable than the standard list services.

All you have to do is simply let them know the zip codes you are targeting and they can run the search. Expect to pay about $125/ 1,000 (around .12.5/ lead) depending on how many results they find for you. The results can be filtered by Owner address, what the owner originally paid for the property, when they purchased the property and in some cases how much is still owed. Not a bad price to build your list very quickly and get some very valuable identifying information.

Paid Search Services

If you don’t have a relationship with an agent, and want to purchase absentee owner names, then Listsource.com and other paid website services are available to you.

To give you an idea of what leads will cost- I found an absentee owner list on Listsource with 1300 leads that was quoted at $210.00 or about .16/ lead.

Have a absentee owner strategy that isn't on this list? Please keep the forum thread going by adding in your two cents. 

I’ve been getting some great results using Zumper. Even more rental leads than Zillow.

@Mary Nickless- Thank you for your response. Try networking with your local real estate investment association as well. You can connect with wholesalers or investors who have a wider network to off-market properties. Having a good agent and a good wholesaler will certainly help you find some awesome deals. 

@Justin Polston- Very good points. Good luck on expanding your business- it seems like you offer a lot of value with it. 

For me- I got my real estate license because I just wasn't getting the service I wanted. Response times were too slow, I didn't feel my agent was keeping me in the loop of new duplexes that were hitting the market, and because the response times were so slow, I missed out on a really good duplex I had my eye on for months. Now we have worked past all that and this agent did bring me a really great triplex opportunity- which goes to show the value of using agents and brokerages in the first place. 

So- I don't know if my experience speaks for other investors but I would say RE agents can work with anyone- they just need to understand responsiveness is essential, sending out new properties that hit their investor's target range is essential- even if they are sharing it with other investors. A little competition never hurt anyone- I just think the greatest gap right now between agents and  investors is customer service and expectations of both parties. 

If you want a greater equity spread, and negotiate with the owner directly, then finding off-market properties is a better strategy for you. It wasn’t until I stepped into doing a few turnkey deals that I acquired an off -market property. However, I found I was able to realize better deals, negotiate directly with the seller and ultimately make more money. Here are some techniques I have used to find off-market deals.

Driving for Dollars

The only costs incurred when driving for dollars is your time and some gas money. Driving for dollars is much like what it sounds- you get in the car, drive and write down addresses. Once you arrive at home, you can pull up the tax records on your computer and find the owners of the property. This is the information you can use to either skip trace their information for a phone number or send a letter their way. A few factors to look for that make great investment opportunities:

Over grown lawns

Unkempt or overgrown lawns can be a good sign that the owner is not able to keep up with the maintenance of their property. They could be an absentee owner- living elsewhere while owning the house, or they could simply be getting older and unable to care for the home like they used to. It could also be tenant occupied and the tenants aren’t taking care of the home.

Run down

Check to see if the home looks tired- chipping paint, cracked windows, mold stains along the siding- you get the point. Look at the roof line and check for worn out shingles, rotted soffit and broken gutters.

Boarded up Windows

These properties are typically owned by other real estate investors or out of town owners who simply didn’t want to mess with the property. Both can be good prospects and can help sharpen your negotiation chops.

Notice of Condemnation 

Don’t get too concerned with condemnation letters. Yes, obviously there is a code violation that has not been addressed that you will need to rectify, but they are are a great sign that the owner either doesn’t want to deal with the issue to get the property up to a safe standard or doesn’t have the means to do so. You would be surprised how often these letters pop up. Just make sure to do the proper due diligence as to why the home was condemned in the first place. Caving roofs are manageable, old meth houses- well you decide if its worth the risk. These properties are also great wholesale opportunities to pass to a very experienced investor. 

Pro Tip # 1:

A wholesaler gave me a good tip once when driving for dollars. The problem is sometimes streets start looking the same overtime, and you can get caught in the trap of driving the same couple of streets  repeatedly. So, he would go to the local gas station, purchase an old fashioned street map of the city, and highlight the streets as he drove them. He said that he was able to find incredible deals, without spinning his wheels. He even found areas of his territory that were new to him, even though he already felt he had mastered his area.

Best Practices once you acquire your drive list:

Step 1: Set aside 1-2 hours

Step 2: Input addresses at the following web address- https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/

• Select State
• Select County
• Click on Search Records
• Search by Location Address
• Input address

Once you click submit, you will see a property record. Scroll down to owner- The address will be placed in this area. If the property is owned by an Estate, or LLC, then scroll down to Assessment notices. This will populate the most recent tax bill- along with the address where the tax bill was sent.

Pro Tip: If the property owner has other properties, then their name will be highlighted in blue- in the form of a hyperlink. You can click on that link and see their entire rental portfolio. This is a great way to identify portfolio deals and investors with large portfolios. 

Once you identify the owner- what do you do next? Well, this depends upon your strategy. Are you planning on calling them? Email? Sending a letter?

In order to find phone numbers and e-mail addresses, you will need to utilize a skip tracing service. There are plenty of services on-line (just do a google search for skip trace) which charge you a fee per search batch. The cheapest way I have found to reach out to owners are through letters and postcards. When I first started, I just used an old fashioned typed up, printed out letter. And I got results. I was able to get my costs down to about .55/ letter.

If you would like to see a copy of that letter, then please PM me your e-mail address and I will send it over to you. You are welcome to use the same verbiage or make it your own.

What else are some good tips for driving for dollars? What have you found worked? Anything you look for that is not yet on this list? 

@John Collins- yes creative financing is a great way to go. I took out few loans with low interest rates, but found that seller financing, using hard money on flips and wrap around (subject to) deal structures were more attractive ways to purchase property. Especially buy and holds.

As for marketing pre-renovation photos- I wouldn't post pre photos if you are planning on renovating. I only marketed units that were already move-in ready. Keep in mind, I paid around retail value for that property and the other ones I purchased off the MLS. It wasn't until I learned how to find and purchase off-market properties that I started acquiring really good deals.