It is a well established fact that it takes luck, education and no small amount of creativity to be a lucrative real estate professional in today’s market. What I mean by that is that you must sometimes be willing to seek and acquire properties in “non-conventional ways.” Specifically, I’m referring to using probate listings as a way to scoop up good real estate deals. This is what I have done in order to increase my real estate listings. Allow me to explain how this works.

Probate Property: An Untapped Real Estate Resource

What is probate property? Probate property is property that was owned by someone who is now deceased. That property must eventually be transferred to someone. When the owner of house dies it is usually under two circumstances: (1) There is no will or heir, (2) It is handed down to the heirs of the deceased. The probate process is the legal mechanism set up to determine what happens to the property. In the first instance where there is no heir, the property often sells below its market value. This makes it more lucrative than other kinds of properties. In the case where a home is inherited by survivors, the opportunity to buy low still exists. Often, survivors wish to sell the property quickly to avoid taxes, insurance, maintenance costs, etc.

How I Increased my Listings

According to some estimates, 2.5 million Americans in the 25 to 75 year old age group who die each year. This means that there are approximately 50,000 probate homes available per state. I learned these general statistics and developed several strategies for growing my real estate listings via probate property. One can easily keep track of probate court filings in the area in which one is interested. I learned to do so by newspaper notices and through county records as well. This gave me information about available properties as well as the area’s median home price, etc. 

In short, after using the traditional methods of lead generation over and over, I eventually realized that I could grow my listings by learning all there is to know about the probate marketing process. In fact, I learned that these methods are overlooked by other professionals who are either unaware of or simply don’t know how use them.