The Foreclosure Hunt
With the foreclosure rates constantly increasing around the country, I decided to try out some of the online foreclosure listing sites. The 3 companies I selected were Foreclosuresdaily.com, Foreclosure.com, and Realtytrac.com. Realtytrac.com and Foreclosures.com offered a 7 day free trial where as Foreclosures Daily only offered me a video tutorial. The associate gave me a quick live demonstration via “GoToMeeting.com” in which I was able to view their computer screen in a new window.
The first one on my list is Realtytrac.com upon signing up for the 7 day free trial I had to input my credit card number. This means if I was not satisfied with them I would have to make sure I canceled my membership status or they would charge me 49.95 per month.
Reatlytrac does make it pretty easy to locate foreclosures in your area. A simple zip code will give you all the listings you need. They integrate with Microsoft Virtual Earth to supply satellite mapping of each property in the system. One thing I didn’t like was the loading time of the web site, it made navigation through the web site a bit time consuming.
The company seems to be pretty involved with realtors. The company offers a Real Estate Agent Network, and enables realtors to claim zip codes and list properties.
Pros:
- Rich in features
- Satellite mapping
-MLS comparisons
-Realtor Friendly
-Does provide some Lien and loan history
Cons:
- Load time was a bit long. (maybe it was my modem)
- I did not see any Commercial properties.
Prices:
7 Day Free Trial
49.95 (Monthly)
I was introduced to foreclosures daily about 9 months ago. In fact it helped me to purchase my first investment property here in Florida. I found the listing on the web site. I then went to the house and was able to secure a contract and take over the payments by warranty deed. The net profit from that house was $24,000 dollars. The downside to Foreclosures Daily web site is it does not offer a free trial period anymore. According to the representative I spoke with over the phone, the higher powers put a stop to the free trial subscription due to the fact of some “dishonest” people.
Foreclosures Daily is not available nationwide. You must check with them first to see if your county and state is available. The reason behind this is the company places an individual in every county court house that records the lis pendence and brings you the information the day of filing. This was a very big advantage during my foreclosure chasing days. I was able to be the first investor to knock on the door. Sometimes I would even beat the sheriff that serves the homeowners foreclosure papers.
Pros:
-The web site has actually proven to make me money!
-Company Offers free foreclosure seminars to attend.
-First one to receive the foreclosure information the day it is filed.
-Residential and Commercial properties.
-Most Information provided on the homeowner and house.
Cons:
-No more Free Trial Subscriptions.
-Foreclosure services not available in every state.
-Web site is not as high tech as the other web sites.
Prices:
$1299.00 - Annually ($108.25/mo.)
$799.00 - Bi-Annually ($133.17/mo.)
$479.00 - 3-month ($159.67/mo.)
I have to say in my honest opinion the best interface award goes to foreclosure.com. The company has a fast and clean web site that allows me to find the information I need in a timely manner. The web site uses Google maps to give property location but does not give the satellite imagery of the property. From what I can tell the company does not offer Lien or Loan History as well. This is disappointing because knowing the balance of the first and second mortgage is a big advantage.
The web site provides a blog and a newly developed forum that allows you to ask questions and chat with other members. The company also gives interactive online webinars and product assistance.
The site offers a 7 day free trial, but they ask for your credit card in advance. Therefore don’t forget to end your free subscription if you do not like the services.
Pros:
-Very competitive prices for subscriptions.
-Fast and easy to navigate.
-Google maps
-7 Day Free Trial
Cons:
-No Lien or Loan History.
-No satellite images of property.
Prices:
7day Free Trial
39.80/mo (1 Month)
24.90/mo for (12 Months)
29.99/mo for (6 Months)
33.32/mo for (3 Months)
If I had to choose one of the foreclosure listing sites above I would have go with foreclosuresdaily.com. I say this because the foreclosure information is provided to you the day of filing. The site is the most expensive so I guess you get what you pay for.
I suggest you try each one yourself and give your own opinions about each one. Please let me know. Write a comment below and give your opinions!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
[…] code violations, permits, photographs, and maps. You can even search which properties are in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure. This is a great tool for […]
At ForeclosuresDaily.com, we were gratified by your conclusion that of the three companies you reviewed, ForeclosuresDaily.com was the best. We were hardly surprised, though, because our clients have nothing but glowing statements about our service. ForeclosuresDaily gives its investors an almost unfair advantage over their competitors with the most accurate, timely and complete pre-foreclosure leads in the industry.
Long ago, though, the company decided to further enable our clients to succeed in the foreclosure market by introducing the ForeclosuresDaily Investing System, a cutting edge investing tool that almost totally automates the investing process. Continuing to innovate, ForeclosuresDaily now offers its Professional Services division, an automated short sale submission, review, and negotiation tool.
ForeclosuresDaily welcomes the views and insights of its investors as well as other interested parties. We thank you for your comments and will continue to strive to be the leader in foreclosure investing information, training, and resources.
Good analysis. The main problem I had with Realtytrac was that much of the data did not match the data I was getting from local counties. I don’t know where they were getting the information from (the banks or foreclosing attorneys?) but it didn’t reflect that actual status of the properties. It had a lot more data than was listed on the county sites, and some counties didn’t have lists of foreclosures, so Realtytrac was useful for those, but I always tended to doubt the information after finding so many inaccuracies in the counties I cross-referenced.
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Eric Hundin