This Really Works!!!
SInce I am enjoying success from this I thought that I might share it with all of you. I recently obtained ~900 names of non-owner occupied properties from the assessors office. I sent a letter stating that I am new to real estate investment and I was looking to acquire property. Within 24 hours I have received 24 phone calls of owners wanting to sell. They have a total of 40 properties available.
For those getting started this may be an inexpensive way to find sellers.
Best of Luck to ALL! 
How did you go about finding owners of abandoned properties? How did you determine that the properties were abandoned, did you go and look at all those homes or was it strictly through the tax records?
Dee
I just went by tax records and not all of these properties are abandoned. Most of them have renters in them. So, if the deal goes through I will also get properties with renters. You have to be careful though because of the property is just land and you don't know it until you get there. I know 900 sounds like a lot and I lost a lot of sleep stuffing and folding, but so far it seems to be worth it.
Excellent idea, and it is exactly my strategy in 2004. I drove around neighborhoods looking for vacant houses, but realized if I simply get lists of people who have their tax bills mailed to an address different than the subject property, either they inherited, grew up there, bought it as investment property and are tired of being a landlord, etc.
All the vacant houses in the world would be included in that bunch, plus a whole lot more.
Please email me at **Please See My Profile** to let me know how things are going.
Did you direct market to them with letters/postcards, or call them all?
Let me know, best, Dave
Dave,
I direct marketed with letters. The letter was no more than 4 lines long and was to the point. The assessor office did not have the phone numbers, but the addresses did the trick.
When you went to the assessor's office, what did you ask for specifically? This is a great idea. Just mail out the letters, then sit back and let the calls roll in.
Great idea!
Quinn
Dear Homefront,
That is one of the most practical, smartest tips I have read on TCI. It makes the noggin' start working too - I can get a download with every house in my county for $100. Could then use the computer to print envelopes of post cards.
Great Idea!
Kevin
The tax bill is being sent to a different address than where the home is located.
-Matt
If the owner's mailing address is different than the property address, there's a high presumption that this is a non-owner occupant property.
You can also ask your title company( in some parts of the country) for the addresses of all out of county/out of state property owners.
My hat goes off to you, Homefront
Hi HomeFront~
Can you share with us the wording you used in your letter to the tax assessors office?
This really sounds like a great idea...Thanks for sharing it with us.
Peace & Blessings in your endevour.
Now thats what I call using your head for more than a hat rack...excellent idea, will definitely be incorporating it into use.
Benny
[addsig]
HomeFront - Did the assessor's office charge you for the list? Did you research this yourself or did the assessor's employees do it for you? The assessors office is different from the reg. of deeds, correct? That is an awsome why to find info. I did the same thing as someone else, I started driving around looking for vacant homes and got very frustrated. Thanks for the tip. I hope my assessors office will do this also.
Every assessors office is different, but if there is a fee it is going to be very minimal in the long run. You can usually do your searching online if the assessors office has that capability. A lot of the work is done by computers at the office and some of the offices allow you to use their computers, but others are not and it is a longer process. Just call them and ask and they will tell you their process.
Best of Luck!
Absentee Owners is one of the items you can search for Iprobe, dataquick, American Title Info. Some of the MLS's you can do the same.
Standard item used when trolling for listings. Seems landlords get very annoyed as time goes by. It is hard to set up really good rental management on single family homes. You just can't have a residential manager on site. Not enough room in the garage.
My suggestion in the letter, straight buy letter. Hi, my name is Lucius, I saw your house would you like to sell it? My dog knows the neighbors dog. When can I move in. Etc. etc. etc.
Lucius.
Cheers Lucius
there are vendors that search for a minimal fee. ggod luck. kenmax