This post is actually a modified comment that I made on David Britt’s blog, http://activerain.com/blogs/dbritt.
You must read David’s blog post!
David’s post and Fred’s comment on the post addresses an important and disenchanting issue in the realm of pre-foreclosures, foreclosures, and REO property.
David’s post should be read by anyone considering becoming a member to any one of the many guru-esque foreclosure websites.
It is true, preforeclosures, foreclosures, and bank owned, is all the buzz right now and the consumer must exercise caution when putting down their credit card information.
I was regional director for www.jerseypreforeclosures.com and one of the toughest hurdles I have when marketing clients was to overcome the bad experiences many investors, mortgage brokers, and Realtors previously had with similar websites.
When shopping for a preforeclosure website membership please consider the following points:
1. What does “up to date” preforeclosure data really mean? Compare their data with what you can get for free at the local courthouse or on the county website. The data available on the preforeclosure website should be as fresh as what you would find in the local courthouse that very day. Request a trial membership that is really free, no commitments, no ridiculous cancellation policy, and no charges at all to your credit card.
2. Make sure to ask what types of lis pendens will be posted? You are not interested in irrelevant lis pendens files such as mechanics liens, dog bites, petty lawsuits, etc. Most sites do not make this distinction and what ends up happening is that the subscriber ends up wasting money and time on marketing to homeowners who are actually NOT in distress. 20% of lis pendens filed are not relevant to foreclosure proceedings.
3. Ask about forwarding addresses? Many homeowners in default move and leave their distressed home vacant other times the distressed home is a rental home. You want both the home address and the forwarding address so your marketing efforts will reach the homeowner.
4. Ask if you will be receiving the homeowners phone number? This info is readily available and should be offered by every preforeclosure data providing service. If they don’t offer it you have to wonder why not.
5. Is the data available to download into Excel? This is crucial to your direct mail program. If you have to waste your time extracting the data yourself you could be losing your marketing position.
6. Is the company locally based, will you ever actually meet a company representative? What happens when you need customer support? Make sure to find out this process ahead of time?
7. What are the costs? Some websites charge upfront fees, cancellation fee’s, and/or large annual membership fees. Also, some websites charge what appears to be a small amount of money per month but they only offer basic information; if you want more detailed information you must pay extra. Other websites charge upwards of $20 per county per month. In New Jersey we have 21 counties think about the cost if you wanted all 21.
I hope this information helps. Please feel free to contact me just to consult in general even if your from another state. In about 20 minutes I can explain to you what it took me about 5 years to learn.
Sincerely Yours,
Anthony
anthonyh@gardenstateinvestors.com
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