How to Find Probate Leads in Real Estate Investing

How to Find Probate Leads in Real Estate Investing By Dave Dinkel

Probates are court actions to resolve the distribution and ownership issues of a person or persons who have died. If the decedent had a simple will, the will must be submitted to the court by an attorney and creditors of the decedent must be notified so they can make claims against the estate. Probates represent the largest profit margins for investors doing wholesale flips or rehabbing if the properties are bought at distressed values.

Very often, an elderly individual is living alone when he/she dies. The beneficiaries to this estate often live in some other part of the country so the probate must be administered long distance. Beneficiaries usually are eager to sell the property and take the money, especially if there are two or more people involved who will receive cash from the sale of the property.

All of these ingredients bode well for a motivated seller who will additionally need to settle the estate in a timely fashion. This is especially true if the estate is large and the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) is due estate taxes. Knowing that these sellers are motivated, then how does an investor find these individuals?
Because of the documentation required for the court action, that includes the assets of the decedent, these documents are published or recorded in the public records and are accessible to anyone requesting them and paying a small copy fee.

The court system requires the publication of this probate in a legal format in a local newspaper or legal publication or both. This information is then readily available to investors. Just because a probate is started doesn't mean that the decedent owned a home. The investor, or a service he contracts to do it, must check the public records to determine the decedent owned a property or properties and if they had mortgages and other title information.

In some areas of the country, the Clerk of the Court has records online that can be accessed by the public. If a sorting function is allowed, you should try sorting for the letters EST. This is the abbreviation for the word Estate which should be on all properties that are in probate once they get into the court system. In a few cases, the letters EST will be on a life estate property which is not in probate as this special deed bypasses probate.
The tried and time-tested way to find probates is to watch the daily obituaries, cross-reference the decedents with property ownership and put them in a follow-up system after an appropriate grieving period.

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