Official Carleton H. Sheets^® Website

Welcome, Chad! Happy to hear that you are ready to get started! Best of luck to you and please keep us posted on how you are doing.

Hi Charlie,

Great job! Use the search term "Indiana" and perhaps you can find someone who is in your area to partner with.

It sounds like you are pretty good at finding properties. Don't worry about closing all of them. Pick and choose the best ones. Sounds like there are quite a few good ones in your area. If the deal is good enough, you should have no problem closing them because you will make it a win-win situation for everyone! And if the deals are really good, you won't have too many problems finding private money.

Good luck and let us know how things go!

Just introducing myself... I've been in and out of Carlton's program for the last 15 years. I have learned a lot about the Real Estate Game from reading and rereading his books, tapes and now internet presentations. I'm in Lewiston, Idaho, own three income properties (two residential and one a commercial). I sense a great opportunity now with the number of foreclosures and short sales that are available. But I need a little more education on how to get to the decision maker when making an offer on these types of properties. So I decided to get back into the forms, interchange and counseling for which Carlton's group is famous. I've always found his advice to be down-to-earth useable and current with the market.

The question I'm dealing with right now is:

I have a list of properties that have progressed to the point of being scheduled for a Trustee's sale. I also have a list of property owners who have started Bankruptcy proceedings. I also have knowledge of three empty homes in my neighborhood that have a lock box on the door but no for sale sign out front indicating they are at some point in the foreclosure or short sale process.

The question is who do I go to to make an offer on these "distressed" properties?

Hi John,

I would take some time and research the properties at your recorders office. For those properties that are in some sort of foreclosure, the recorders office will have the name of the trustee, whom you can contact directly. Without the owners permission, I don't think they can share any personal information with you, but things that are on public record they could probably talk about. You may have to find the owner (if the _title_ is still in their name) to negotiate a short sale, so sharpen your detective skills.

I don't know a lot about bankruptcy, but I believe that bankruptcies are also recorded at the recorders office. Once a person files for bankruptcy protection, I believe that everything is frozen. That means that the bank can't foreclose, but the owner can't sell the property either, without approval from the bankruptcy court. You might want to check into the bankruptcy laws, or with a qualified licensed expert -- something I am not.

You will be able to find a lot of the answers at your county's recorder's office. You may have to cross-reference some information between the assessor's office and the treasurer's office as well. Check www.netronline.com to see if your public records are online.

Good luck!

Hello everyone, I hope there alot of serious people out there because I need alot of help and encouragement. This is all new to me and I am excited about what I am learning. I haven't purchased anything yet, I need to know where to start. I live here in the Bronx, New York and there are alot of foreclosures around and Iwant to start there. My questions are many so I would appreciate some feedback.......