I have purchased a few properties sight unseen in a time crunch but only with a telephone call to an appraiser who I knew and trusted.

Business cards, leaflets and telephone directories will only bring in limited business and are just a waste of money.

There is a cost per search but they give several telephone numbers and addresses where the owner of the property may presently be located.

But what do you guys use as the telephone number to contact?

As a full time business owner and part time investor it is hard to commit to 1.5 hrs to listening to a long distance telephone call.The $50 fee is a drop in the bucket and the long distance phone call irrelevant.

Bottom line, when the applications were run one of the parties had (and confirmed by telephone) NO SS# and I was advised that it is illegal to rent to anyone without a SS# or a green card.

My husband created a contraption to put them on telephone poles, it worked quite well once we got it down!!

SOME MORE QUESTIONS...The question is now, does anybody know how to find telephone numbers of absentee in state owners for free?

Saw a property in Chicago with no full address, but with a telephone # listed for "Rent to Own" and called in and got some Marketing company that was screening the calls.

An assistor will ask you for identifying information and provide the number to you over the telephone, as long as you are a person who is authorized to receive it.