When you are looking for lists of foreclosure and/or pre-foreclosure
homes, there are many
ways to go about it. Many people look for these
lists for different reasons. Some want
to buy properties, some want to offer services to the
owner, and others just want to
rip off and steal from foreclosure victims.
Depending on which of these you are, you would need to look in a
different place. If you are a foreclosure scammer, hopefully you end
up in prison before you get the chance to take anyone's
home or money. If you offer helpful
services, or want to buy a distressed
home, continue reading.
1st we'll start with
consumers who want to purchase foreclosure properties.
The quickest and most simple
method to find a foreclosure
home is through a local
Realtor. Many Realtors specialize in foreclosure properties and can
help you find a much better deal than you
might find on your own. The small
price you will pay can easily be justified by
having their experience and knowledge at your fingertips.
If you do not wish to use a Realtor, you should still
use the
tools they make available. Many
Realtor websites offer complete access to their MLS
software and searching the terms "foreclosure"
and "short sale" will give you a huge list of
results.
Another choice, when you do not want to
use a Realtor, is to use your local county
courthouse. Because foreclosures are a matter of public
record, you will have total access to every
home that has gone into foreclosure. With
some research, you can get the
assessed value of the
home, the current owner's name, and you can find
out what they paid for the home.
Most online
companies that offer "foreclosure
data" simply look up these same court
records.
If you are willing to pay for
this information, there are a
lot of online
services that access court records and credit reports for a
reasonable fee. By paying for this data, you can usually narrow your list down to the exact type of
property you are looking for. In just a few minutes, you could have
100's of properties that fit your ideal criteria.
For companies or individuals who want these records
for marketing purposes, they will generally need to get
"pre-foreclosure" data. This is when someone has missed payments, but
has not yet lost their home to foreclosure.
Pre-foreclosure records can also be obtained
from the courts, but for marketing purposes, it's much better to get
this data from credit reports. By
doing a simple search for people who have missed payments and are not
able to refinance, you can find as many pre-foreclosure records as you
need. Otherwise, you will need to search the court records for lis
pendens filings.
Lis Pendens lists are listed at every courthouse and this is the
data that is on every marketing list you see for sale on the web.
If you are facing foreclosure, this is why you are getting so many phone calls and junk mail pieces about foreclosure. These list brokers are
selling your name and info 100's of times a day!
In my opinion, this data should be private and foreclosure victims should be left alone. But since our courts are public, foreclosure
victims don't have a choice. There are many ways to keep this
information private, but generally, the steps to keep it private need
to be taken in advance. Once your info is public, there is no way to
hide it.
Good luck finding your lists, but please don't use this information to
send spam or abuse helpless foreclosure victims!
Nick writes for the ForeclosureFish website, which gives homeowners the information and resources they need to
avoid foreclosure by themselves and defend themselves against the bank's lawsuit. The site describes numerous options to save a home, including foreclosure refinancing, deed in lieu, loss mitigation, stopping a foreclosure auction, bankruptcy, and more. Visit the site on the web to read more about how you can avoid foreclosure and eviction, repair your credit, and establish a long term financial plan once a hardship is over: http://www.foreclosurefish.net/
