In response...Good ideaNo... but affordable if you work with a HUD authorized Broker who knows what they are doingI have used it n the past to find deals, but wasn't doing the volume necessary to justify the cost when there are so many more affordable alternatives out there

Are you making money on volume? 

Drop in rates boosts weekly mortgage applications 3 percentA drop in interest rates drives homeowners and homebuyers to the mortgage market.Total mortgage application volume increased 3 percent last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.The mortgage market activity was buoyed by applications to refinance home loans, which increased 5 percent from last week.Emily Gaffney6 Hours AgoCNBC.com Getty ImagesA drop in interest rates drove homeowners and homebuyers to the mortgage market last week.Total mortgage application volume increased 3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week, but is down 25 percent from a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.The increased mortgage activity was buoyed by applications to refinance home loans, which increased 5 percent from last week but were down 44 percent from a year ago."

The volume here sounds more like a constantly running toiler or constant leak, though.Best of luck

I get a payoff and sometimes fund right back out same day.. or next day..but we are as you stated high volume shopnot uncommon to have 10 payoffs and new fundings per week..

When you look at volume (how many people are in the total population of people to interview) all it takes to run an article on 5 biggest mistakes for anything (real estate, relationships, swimming the English channel) all you need is a journalist that who may not even be able to spell the subject and people willing to quote a list of mistakes.  

Michelle - be sure to take Tony's advice - that is really key in this biz - you will be surprised how your volume will increase as you mail them the 2nd through 6th time.I do something a bit different and I do change the copy each time - meaning the message I send does get a bit more urgent - but they all look the same - that is very key - repetition.

You can also do this for free in some cities by pulling up public records often but it might take longer to get all the details.It's probably not worth the effort unless you do it in major volume like hit up 5k addresses a month or more.  

I'll probably end up testing it, but wondering from people doing a reasonable volume of letters what do you do- direct to voicemail or call answering service?

The call volume is a lot since we send out A LOT of letters.