Hi @Harvey LaCountTo find probates your best bet is to go down to your local county courthouse and ask them for the most recent probate lists.

Best bet is to get creative or look in tertiary markets (which are hit the hardest in recessions).Hope this helps a bit.

@Dalia Linden That's an easy one Dalia just key that into google; bet there is a bunch of them!

For online access I'd say LinkedIn is your best bet, there are a lot of distressed debt groups there.

I'll bet you could dobit yourself in a day:).  

Finishes in other countries are often kind of odd, I know the North American aesthetic well so I rehab the property according to those standards.  

I don't know how it would apply here, but its not good for the current owner. hes betting you will pay the note and not gonna get much if any appreciation from the property. 

I rent the Siesta Key place to snow birds for 4-5 months and then the brit/us 2 week holiday market and then after sept the german market, then i get the odd brit in nov for 2 weeks for a golf holiday and then rent it out for thanksgiving and then i use it at the beg of dec and then rent it for xmas. my net return is anything between 12-15% annually but to buy these properties now you are looking at 400k plus, and the majority have HOA.

I agree that the data exists, which is why I think it seems odd that there is not a convenient way to access it.  

You can do it if you want to be a nice guy, but odds are that you are not legally required to do it.