Private Money411 Magazine - The Source for Real Estate Finance PRIVATE MONEY411 - BAMF | Page 15
Key Do’s and Don’ts of Probate Leads:
How to Find
Motivated Sellers
By Kristine Gentry,
VP of Innovation, US Probate Leads
A
s the real estate
market continues
to tighten,
successful
investors are
diversifying their lead streams and
trying new sources. One of the
most underutilized sources of
leads are probate leads. Why are
they underutilized? Primarily
because people do not understand
the opportunities that are available
or how to quickly and easily
obtain probate leads. In addition,
some investors do not know what
to do with probate leads once they
have them. If you are considering
using probate leads to increase
your opportunities, or if you
already have probate leads, below
are some tips for helping you make
the most of your leads.
What Are Probate Leads?
Probates leads include information
on property that is part of a legal
filing after the death of a loved
15
one. These cases include many
types of property owned by
someone who has passed away
including homes, vacation homes,
cars, RVs, businesses, commercial
property, rental property, artwork,
and other personal property. These
cases are listed in each county after
the death of a loved one where a
probate needs to be filed and are
controlled by the local court.
Oftentimes, this property has to
be sold in order to pay for medical,
tax, legal, and funeral expenses.
The court will assign an Executor
to handle the sale of the property
so that these obligations can be
met and the heirs can receive any
remaining funds.
As part of an overall investment
strategy, probate leads are valuable
because they come with very
motivated sellers. Executors need
to deal with the property that is in
the probate filing in order to meet
the court requirements. Many
times, they need cash in order to
pay bills that have been left after
the passing of their loved one.