BTI,
Does the name ‘Daily Default Infoservice’ ring a bell with you? Over 10 years ago I subscribed to it with a business partner. We would get the NOD’s in the form of multiple page printouts by mail from them that included both Contra Costa County and Alameda. We know of a couple who used that service to purchase their first home and then a rental home. I do not think that company exists under the same name any longer. Let me know if you have a link to them if they still exist because so far my search results seem to stop at 1993. The owner was Tim McGee, perhaps Alexis McGee’s husband? If so, they are http://www.foreclosures.com totally reputable in my opinion. Thanks!
Which foreclosure/preforeclosure listing services are the best? Have you subscribed to any and how do they compare? What features do you like or dislike? Does the fee give acces to the info you need in terms of accessing the liens against a property or is that an area you need to go elsewhere or pay for as an ‘extra’ if you want it online?
Various news columnists give www.foreclosures.com and http://www.realtytrac.com high marks. Of the two, foreclosures.com is the oldest by a year, it began in 1995 but I think it may have originally been the old Daily Default Info Service which was originally out of Oakland California before being renamed. Also, it seems from the archives CRE online members gave poor marks for realtytrac.com up to 2005 citing their info. is 3 weeks behind. Thanks for your input because I think such a service would help me save gas for researching within Contra Costa County and other parts of California.
Define ‘best’. Most people mean the most timely but…
Best is the recorder’s office where the NOD is filed if we are defining best as the freshest.
If you want the least hassle and you do not mind getting the info later than someone checking the recorder’s office then there are a few that offer online access for a fee.
A compromise that works in some areas is for a you to hire someone to go the recorder’s office. Either a fellow investor or maybe a title company employee that is already there. Someone who can go every day. Or form a team that can divide the work and then share the results. Some REIAs have people that are at the office every day or can team up to do so.
Think of any professional service this way. They have to get the information from the county records. Then they have to enter the data into a computer and scrub for mistakes. Hence there will be some sort of lag during processing.
In some locations the title company will have the records but they will be a gap between when the item is recorded and when the title company’s computers are updated. At a resent presentation by a senior title officer she confirmed that for her firm the lag is 5 days. If you are at the recorder’s offices each day you have a 5 day jump on records from the title company at a minimum.
So, decide what ‘best’ means to you. Then understand why it matters. I mean materially matters in the final outcome. Maybe ‘best’ is less important to the results you want to achieve. For example…
Many borrowers in default they are in denial so no letter will work until they are ready to listen. In one city people who have a NOD receive an average of 120 letters from investors. Unique or just a grand total I do not know. Maybe the best thing to do is find a way to stand out from the noise and being the first to mail might not be that way.
I attended a local REI meeting a few days ago. There were two guest speakers from americanforeclosures.com. After the meeting, I tried searching the board to see if there had been any feedback about this company, but I didnt see anything.
I have never used their service, so I cannot give you any personal experience with the site. There fees are $29.95 per month.(I am a newbie to all of this and not ready to make that kind of investment right now.) They said that the site is updated every 4 hours.
What part of Contra Costa are you interested in and what part do you live in? West/ Richmond. Central/ WC. East/ Brentwood. I might have a few suggestions.
Thanks, you are correct about going direct to county offices/recorder’s/courts. I was just trying to find a more immediate alternative by subscribing to one of those services. Interestingly, realtytrac.com and foreclosures.com seem to have the most comprehensive coverage of the Bay Area of California in addition to state by state listings. Other services such as realtystore.com and realtrans.com appear to have coverage of Northerly parts of California that realtytrac.com and foreclosures.com lag on. Absolutely, the most timely, comprehensive and concise is what I am after and it would be nice to have it ‘at my fingertips’ no matter where I have my laptop thus saving lots of gas to do the research!
The areas we are interested in are throughout CC with a focus on the central Contra Costa corridor/680 freeway. Subject property must be no less than 3 bedroom and have a 2 car garage, we are willing to ‘wait it out’ to get the right ‘one’ for our first project.I am most concerned with the information being current and being able to workup my own good ‘backgrounder’/preliminary title report on whichever properties are of most interest without having to get it from a real estate agent or title company. Thanks for any constructive suggestions you have.
Lets see what others have to say. Most of the time people report the services that provide you the info at your fingertips will be delivering data that is 1-4 weeks late.
Some individuals have great luck with their local title company. Note that many title companies get the info from a service and it could be around 5 days late compared to the recorder’s office.
I used to use a service for that area, but right now I’m drawing a blank. So I suggest you take a trip to
Martinez and start checking out NODs at the recorders office and at the same time ask if they know of someone tracking them daily (I don’t think they are online yet) and you may find a source. In the meantime follow a few trustee sales in the paper and show up at a few on the Martinez courthouse steps and
network the crowd, ask if they use a service, several will be. Also several sales are often held at the Walnut Creek City Hall and you can do the same there.
And if I can remember the name of that service I will let you know.