Finding Pre-Foreclosure Home Owners
When the appropriate document (Notice of Default or Lis Pendens) is recorded by the lender, the information about that default is public record which allows you to find and contact these owners of pre-foreclosures. It is important to realize the lender has no authority to sell or transfer ownership of the property at this point, and will not release information to anyone other than the owner or their representative.
Contact the Owner
There are three widely promoted methods to contact the owners of pre-foreclosures, the first is by mail, the second is by telephone, the third is by "door-knocking". Mailing is the easiest method to initiate, using the telephone will require some cross referencing to obtain phone numbers and will use more time, while door-knocking is extremely time-intensive and increases your expenses significantly.
PreForeclosure Contact Efficiency
Why not combine all three methods? Sending mail to a fairly wide geographic area doesn't cost any more than mailing locally. Repeat your mailings on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, keeping in mind that an effective mailing program will obtain the best results if you send at least 5 separate mailings. It's similar to the effectiveness of commercials on TV, the repeated exposure will eventually produce results. Since telephoning is going to be more time intensive, and assuming you have enough information about the owner and property to be able to find telephone numbers, phone the properties that you think have a higher probability of success. If you only want to deal with owners who have a lot of equity, select only those properties to do the additional work on. The same principal applies to door-knocking, only this selection is by area. Your time will be best spent driving to, and knocking on doors close to your work or home. Driving 45 minutes to an area, only to spend several hours driving from house to house will soon create burnout. Keep the door-knocking local, plan your route, and if possible, door-knock while you are on the way to do other things.
If you develop and constantly work a system for contacting pre-foreclosures, you'll eventually get to present an offer. What should you say? The next section covers offers on pre-foreclosures.
Foreclosure Lists |
Offers on Pre-Foreclosures |