I have gone down to the court house like 5 times, called title companies, and looked all over the net. Is there a way to find out when people have been in default for a month or two? From what the county recorders office said, the public will not know if someone is in default till 60 days prior to the auctioning of a home on the court house steps. Does anyone have any advice or can anyone give me valuable info.

Every state's process is different, but there are ways to get the answer to your question.

The easiest way is to call a title company and ask them if they'll close a private loan (or seller carry back) for you. If they say no, try another title company (or call a real estate attorney).

Once you have a yes, tell them that you have a few questions before you decide whether to do it. Ask them to briefly describe the foreclosure process in the event that your borrower defaults. They will probably be happy to answer your questions. Take good notes.

They should be able to give you an overview of the process: how long it takes; what notifications have to be given to the borrower, public, etc.; what the costs are likely to be; where and when the auction will be held; and so forth.

As for short sales, that's really a different subject. If you're just starting out looking for pre-foreclosures, wait on the short sales until you have a few deals under your belt. If all you're finding are over-leveraged properties, you may need to jump into short sales sooner.

PM or post here if you have other questions. Good luck!

Apparently, Georgia only gives the short sale or preforeclosure invester 4 weeks to work their magic. I have called banks, realators, brokers, everybody to get the NOD lists. Nobody offers them. By the way Georgia does not have mortgage title companies, so if you are reading this dont bother looking for them. I have search for hours on the net to find a title company, and all it took was a simple question to a realator company, "Does georgia have mortagage title companies". The answer is that they do everything thru a closing attorneys office.

You have the same issues as New Hampshire. The first and only public notice here is a legal notice in the newspaper, approximately 3-4 weeks prior to the auction.

Because of that, I've been forced to come up with ways to do last-minute deals, and to market in ways that get homeowners to come to me.

Title company, closing attorney, same thing. Our title companies tend to be law firms, so you just need to know what to call them in your own state (which it seems you've figured out).

States will use either the NOD )Notice of Default) or Les Pendens(public notice of action pending) when a lender or lien holder initiates foreclosure proceedings. Time tables from that point vary not only by state but by plaintiff's own time line which could be slower.

These notices are available at the court house for free to the public. Many how have free public access web sites where most information can be viewed by anyone... after all the reason for the notice is to place th public on notice that an action is underway.

Many of us who work this niche of the real estate market have far better methods of identifying properties in foreclosure and even in pre-foreclosure well prior to any public notice being filed. Some of us have developed processes and client contacts that allow us to know when many area people are only 45 days late in making a payment and can often track these individuals through each stage of the process up to the sheriffs sale and into REO... we often are the ones that receive the REO.

You best bet is to identify one of these agents and develop a working relationship with them. It would take an agent several years to develop a functioning system from scratch and it would be near impossible for a non agent to develop one except by wide range marketing directly to public. Many non-agents at temp this direct marketing in wide range areas but very few actually succeed due to lack of funds to back up the actual acquisition of multiple properties or keep the marketing effort going for long periods.

Find an work with an agent knowledgeable in the area... you will generally find only a very few, but many who pretend to be or just wantabee.

What part of Ga are you in?
Investing is all i focus on.

Ga is a non-redemption state meaning once it's auctioned at the courthouse steps there is no redemption for the homeowner,it's gone forever.This is why Ga is so popular among investors.

You can get a list from a company that runs a few hundred a month i believe it's called equisystems,the problem is every other investor has that list by then.Basically all they do is pull the info for the nod at the courthouse in the lien index.

Depending on the lender from the time they are behind one payment usually most start the foreclosure action at 90 to 120 days behind because if they did it sooner they would be accused of predatory lending by the government rugulatory agencies.

It also depends on the type of loan,a high risk lender that only loans out on houses that are 65% ltv will foreclose really fast because they have alot of junk and per diem fees and know it will sell fast at auction.Conversely a 100 percent loan the lender will try everything to keep the homeowner in the house because the likelihood of sever loss is high if it has to be sold.

In ga some counties have it online and others don't even have a county website it depends on where it is.The default list a high number of these people DO NOT want to sell.About 80 percent reinstate,do a loan workout,or refi the equity to bail them out.

This is why you see we buy houses ads in the classifieds because the people that call have already raised there hand and said i want to sell.

If you buy at auction in ga at the steps it is an ALL CASH sale.No loans,assignments,or anything else of that nature.Yes it's true the default foreclosing attorney handling the file for the lender advertises in the local legal paper for 3 to 4 weeks and the courthouse auction is usually the first Tuesday of every month.The lender will extend the sale date if they have a good contract on the house to purchase.

I do short sales but the process is lengthy and my fingers are getting tired.

If you need a realtor who will help you with this process just e-mail me.

Im in Griffin, about 45 minutes south of Atlanta. I am not looking to buy foreclosed houses, I want buy short sales.

Do you plan on doing the short sale... or buy as an investor from someone that does that activity?

If the first is correct then you need to look at properties being foreclosed but have not gone to sheriff's sale... and those that have not been served yet if you have access to that information.

If you only want to buy... then you need to locate an agent/ broker that deals in that type real estate and develop a working relationship with them. It would be far simpler than setting up your own marketing activity and far faster.

Is it true that title companies will give you a list of all the homes (mortgages) in default? If it is true, what would you say to a closing attornies office or title company to get a list of NOD's.

No it is not... but some may when you have an established relationship.

Go to the source... by the time it appears on any list other than from the source... it is old news. Those investors with real interest will have several days head start on you.

When you say "Go to the source", what do you mean? What is the source, the homeowner?

read my first post.... you need to read and understand... no one will hold your hand in short sales nor should they.

jeez...thats why i am on here, to learn.

"Does Georgia Real Estate Short Sale Investing Exist?" Man does it ever!!! http://atlanta.craigslist.org/rts/247113235.html

"North Georgia Real Estate Investors Association

Contact: Bill and Kim Cook
Telephone: (770) 815-8727
When: 3rd Tuesday of each month, 7:00pm
Where: Holiday Inn (exit 293 off I-75), Cartersville"

If I were you I would invest an evening on the 3rd Tuesday of next month and drive up to this event.

These guys are the real deal, everyday real estate investors just like you and me who give great information and are willing to help anyone including newcomers.

I believe the price of admission for a meeting is about 11 bucks or so for nonmembers and is a bargain at 4 times that amount.

I don't belong to this group but I've driven about 180 miles one way, a few times to sit in on their meetings; very informative and well worth your time.