Investing in Real Estate and Public Records

A great number of people are looking to make money investing in real estate. They recognize that they can make a substantial amount of money if they get the right piece of property, and when you collect multiple properties, you can make even more. But there's a difference between the investors who make it and those who don't. And, let's face it, the world is full of would-be real estate investors who never manage to get very far. Those who make it know how to go a step further than they need to, while those who don't aren't able to, or are unknowledgeable about, going that step further. And using free public records is one way to make sure that your investments pay off.

Finding Investment Material

The first thing you need to do when you want to invest in real estate is to find a worthy place to buy. The average beginning investor will spend hours scouring the internet and their local newspaper looking for people who are selling their homes cheaply. This doesn't happen often and is known as a unicorn in the real estate business. Instead of looking for homes that are already for sale, true real estate experts know that it's better to look, instead, for properties that have absentee landlords who are looking to sell, or, even better, to find real estate that hasn't had its taxes paid on it in awhile and to contact the owner.

In this venture, state public records can be a huge help. The tax assessor's office is the place to go when you're looking for information like this, as you can learn all about the properties that are currently delinquent on payments. Once you find that list, you can then narrow down which ones will be good investment opportunities and which ones are not likely to be great options. Look first for rental units by looking up the address of the tax bill. What you'll find is that rental properties will have tax bills that go to a different address than the current address of the property that you're researching.

Once you know this information, you can then use free public records to figure out more about the property, and about the owner of the property. You can learn if they have any liens against them, and if they're in trouble legally or financially. You can even find out what their address is, as some owners will have a property management team taking care of the bills. Sending mail to the property management team won't likely get you very far, whereas sending mail directly to the owner will likely have better results. If you want to get involved in real estate investing, the first thing to do is to familiarize yourself with the tax assessor's office, and even probate court, where you can learn which pieces of real estate are going to be ripe for the plucking and which ones may make you a financial success.