Foreclosure Listing and Report Services

Posted on January 13th, 2009 by saman

A huge number of consumers are amazed by the onslaught of foreclosure reporting, listing or information services. Some are confused about the various kinds of information that available or even the type of information they need. Also, some industry professionals aren’t sure what to make of many of these services.

Unluckily, many people get misguided to wrong information regarding lists of foreclosed properties, whether bank owned or government owned, pre-foreclosure or post-foreclosure, state-wide, nationwide or local.

History:

The primary listing service originated from those who did literal courthouse research for attorneys, title or search companies. Accurate and dependable information/data was obtained. After all, it was extracted by industry professionals. Acknowledging the need for such information, many firms spread out their services by making the data available to consumers, specifically those who wanted the data most: investors.

There are various top-grade organizations, in today’s era, that endeavour to deliver correct information to their customers, whether they are home buyers or investors. They understand the foreclosure processes, the opportunities that are available and the type of data their customers need.

However, there are way too many organizations that do negligible research, devote little attention to the details, and make claims and/or present useless information with the promise to make you rich by purchasing their materials. The question here is whether you can become financially independent investing in real estate or not? Absolutely! Many investors are doing it everyday. But not in the way suggested by some of these services’ telemarketers.

Some Realities

The industry is not same as it was a few years ago. Economy has changed significantly. Stock-takers of bank owned and government owned properties are down. The banks don’t give the properties away unlike before. Yes it is true; bank owned opportunities were plenty in the past as compared to present. Today, many lenders enjoy the benefit of selling their properties at market price. For those who take the time to learn and understand the process, many opportunities will be available for them, always.

Why should we pay for a list of properties, isn’t this public information?

The answer which may sound confusing is both yes and no. The transfer of real property is always preserved in the county courthouse where the property is situated and then it becomes public information then.

You can, if you wish to, tour your county courthouse, then go through all the deed and mortgage books and find one property at a time. Find only those that have been transferred to the lender. An alternative would be to visit every single auction available, in every county you have an interest in, and check which properties go back to the lenders. So while buying a list, what you’re paying for is content and convenience. It would take many work hours and a lot of money to compile the data you need, by yourself.