One of the most profitable deals in real estate investing is buying and selling probate leads, or buying houses from people that have inherited property.
This article guides you how to target your marketing and investing better to make money with inherited properties.
When most people inherit property, it usually comes with associated problems, such as an outstanding mortgage or repairs. These people are looking to sell the house fast especially if it has an outstanding mortgage.
If they needs to be fixed up, they cannot be sold on the open market even if they have no outstanding mortgage. These sellers are therefore very motivated.
Some of the most profitable deals you get are likely to be probate real estate.
How to target probate sellers.
1) Check county records for probates
Search in your local county records for new probate filings from time to time. I can access this information on the internet in my local area. This information is still available by visiting the courthouse.
For this, you need to look for the deceased, beneficiaries and the executor (trustee) of the probate.
The deceased might still have property listed in their names in the county records, or in the estate name, such as John Doe Estate.
The trustee handles the probate on behalf of the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are the inheritors and may be looking to sell the inherited property.
I always check the county court records to make sure they own real estate before sending them letters.
2) Send letters
People are emotionally delicate after losing loved ones. I usually express my sympathy in my letters and mention when the time comes when they are ready to sell real estate, I would be a willing buyer.
The probate process can take a few months to be completed, so I send them a series of letters for 6 months. I stop sending them follow-ups if they have not responded within 6 months.
Of course, my real estate investor website is always prominent; I also give them a phone number. The idea is to get them submit information from my website instead of give me a call so I receive fully pre-screened and pre-negotiated leads through my website.
There is a good real estate investor website recommended at the end of this article.
They are most likely to contact you through the website or call you when they are ready to sell. The rest is very easy.
3) Put the property under contract
Sign a real estate purchase contract when they are ready to sell. Deliver the contrast to your title company so they can start title work and prepare for closing.
The title company knows the closing process with probate properties. They will prepare and execute all the necessary affidavits and paperwork for you with the beneficiaries and executor so you will just need to go to closing.
If you wholesale property, then this might be a good time to get a wholesale buyer to flip your property to. This process is covered in other articles from the same author.
Find out how your real estate investing business can be made a lot easier by automating most aspects of your business with a real estate investor website.
Tags: probate, probate properties, real estate investing, real estate investor, real estate investor website