Foreclosure Alert System: Estimated Values

Does anyone else use this system who could help me?

The FA System compiles public records. The values and delinquency amounts are whatever has been provided by the lenders upon filing the foreclosure process. They are good ballpark numbers but not necessarily accurate FMV numbers. Always use comps from a RE agent to determine FMV of the property. View owners listed in the foreclosure records as potentially motivated sellers and attempt to contact them.

Hello to all,

We received Dean's "Be a Real Estate Millionaire" a few days ago and have almost finished reading it. I'm so excited that I'm just itching to get started. My wife is not quite as enthusiastic as me but she’s not a nay sayer either. Once we do our first deal I’m betting she’ll even be more excited about the opportunity this presents than me. Our biggest obstacle is just taking action. We’ve read other REI books over the years but never did anything with the information. This time we're determined not to be looking back after another ten years from the same place with nothing to show for it so I’m taking our first action by making this post. We purchased a trial membership to FAL. We’re both completely new to REI, other than reading books on it, and we’re not sure what to make of all the info provided by the FAL system. Can anyone explain how we would use the info in the FAL system to determine if a property is worth investigating? Or do we need to contact the owner that is listed in the FAL in order to determine that?

Tony

Here's the scoop... FAL will list distressed properties in the country records.

It shows you the default amount, the amount that the person owed the bank. That gives you an idea of how much the bank can afford to lose (or in some rare cases how little they are willing to profit).

Here is what I would do... this is totally dependent on your local market and such, but I base this on my own methodology.

I would focus on a area you are comfortable with. This means you know what it's like economically (jobs, city budget, rental ability, quality of living, etc).

Once you have a focus, pull all the foreclosures (and preforelcosures if you like). Prioritize them based estimated value - default amount. The higher the number the better.

NOTE: sometimes it only lists 2nd mortgage because it was delinquent first before the primary mortgage is. You will know this if you see a house worth $500k with a delinquent (or default) amount of $30k. No one loses $470k in equity with only $30k left to pay off. Obviously in this situation the owner could have sold it at 80% off FV and still made a profit. Keep that in mind, common sense will tell you which is which.

Now research the properties. Do they need a little rehab? Can they be flipped? Think over each one and try your best to figure out "What is the price that NO reasonable person looking for house could refuse for this one, right now, on the spot?"

Now take 20% or more off that price. If the foreclosure is listed for sale by the bank at a specific price, you are likely around 35% - 50% below the price the bank is trying to sell it for.

Now make your offers (whether doing reassignment, rent, buy/hold, whatever). Play the numbers game. Make laughable low ball offers until you get a nibble. Eventually you should get a taker or a counter offer that is still great.

Here's the hard part... deciding what you want to do... do you want to do assignments, rehabs, lease-options, rentals... figuring that out is the hard part. Once you decide what you want to do, the rest is remarkably easy in this point in history.

Listen to the last conference call for more ideas: http://www.deangraziosi.com/content/reminder-conference-call-tomorrow-ni...

Hey guys.
The foreclosure alert doesnt show the default amount. It shows the est value. The rest of your post, I understand. I'm not following on the default amount part, unless I'm missing something. Please help