13 Best Ways How to Find Foreclosures to Get a List of Bank-Owned Properties in Arizona (Free & Paid Methods)
In this guide, you will find a list of effective methods of identifying foreclosure homes to buy.
There are ways for everyone: tech-savvy investors and adepts of old school strategies such as networking.
I’m Bob Vieira, the founder of Universal Short Sales. It is the nation’s premier short sale processing company.
Join me as we dive into finding lucrative opportunities.
PropTech Platforms
Real Estate Bees
Real Estate Bees (REB) is an online platform designed for industry professionals looking to take their real estate business to the next level. It provides access to robust tech stack, statistical data, comprehensive informational resources, and much more.
This includes pre-foreclosure and REO leads for real estate agents, investors, and wholesalers. All the leads are strictly generated via inbound marketing channels unlike data scraping, aggregation, and other outbound methods used by most other platforms.
Delinquent property owners from all over the US utilize the REB platform to find reputable companies that buy houses for cash fast in Arizona who’d be interested in acquiring their distressed property — so they are highly motivated.
As a user of the platform, you can get access to these distressed properties, submitted by other industry professionals, absolutely FREE! You simply need to sign up to DealAlert, which is an advanced, yet free, property matching engine developed by Real Estate Bees.
In addition, you can also access distressed properties, submitted directly by property owners, by purchasing motivated seller leads through our advanced Lead Marketplace.
Other Platforms
Apart from Real Estate Bees, the industry boasts a diverse array of property investment software, real estate wholesaling tools, and real estate investing lead generation software.
Multiple platforms offer opportunities to discover information about distressed properties — both REO and those with a notice of default.
Many of these apps effortlessly integrate with a wide range of CRMs for real estate investors.
Among these tools for finding different motivated seller types are PropStream, Propelio, PiN, MyHouseDeals, Privy, InvestorLift, PropertyRadar, and REIPro. They offer both repossessed and pre-foreclosure deals.
Other tools — FreedomSoft, 8020REI, NeedtoSellMyHouseFast, iSpeedToLead, Motivated Leads, and BatchLeads — can be utilized to track down pre-foreclosure properties.
Each [of these services] provides a unique view or dataset that can be used to locate and negotiate property suitable for an investor.
Foreclosure.com
Foreclosure.com is one of the most popular REO search engines. Investors can use it to find foreclosed properties and pre-foreclosure deals.
At about $40 a month, you can find great investment opportunities on a regular basis to grow your portfolio.
What sets it apart? Firstly, it prides itself on an exceptionally intuitive interface. Even for those less tech-savvy, like myself, navigation is a breeze.
The second noteworthy feature is the map of foreclosures for sale. This handy tool allows you to search foreclosures by address in any state.
The website’s intuitive and well-structured layout makes it a preferred choice for any user interested in finding foreclosures online.
Where else to find cheap foreclosed homes for sale? Let’s delve into another online marketplace!
Auction.com
Another one of the best places to find foreclosures is Auction.com, claiming the title of the nation’s largest real estate auction platform.
It features a wide range of short sale properties, REO, and pre-foreclosure real estate for sale.
What makes Auction.com stand out as one of the best websites to find foreclosures is that members are not charged a monthly membership fee.
Instead, you bid on a property, and if you emerge as the winning bidder, you pay a buyer’s premium to Auction.com.
Keep in mind that newbies, especially those with small cash reserves, aren’t advised to buy houses at an auction.
Auctions rarely give you an opportunity to properly inspect a house while completing the property investment due diligence checklist is especially important when you can’t allow yourself to lose money.
Zillow
Probably the most obvious answer to ”how to look up foreclosures?” is Zillow. You’ve probably thought about it yourself. But in case you haven’t, we’ll mention it on this list, too.
While Zillow is widely used for finding Arizona property listings for personal residence, it shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to finding houses to wholesale or getting a foreclosed home to flip.
Here is how to find foreclosures in Arizona on Zillow: log in, specify the city or county of interest, and choose “foreclosures” in the filters. Auctioned deals are also available.
Then, select other features you are looking for: size, number of bathrooms and bedrooms, and more.
Arizona Multiple Listing Services (MLS)
The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) emerges as a valuable avenue to use to get REO listings.
Accessing the MLS necessitates holding a real estate license, but if you lack one, employing a real estate agent is an option. They can locate foreclosures on the MLS for you, albeit for a fee.
Every MLS in Arizona displays its distinctiveness through varying interfaces and operational approaches.
Despite these differences, the overarching similarity lies in the ability to refine your search and discover local foreclosures and pre-foreclosure listings, regardless of the specific multiple listing service in use.
To find foreclosures on MLS, log in and navigate to the “My Search” tab. Clicking on this tab leads to a dropdown menu with various choices.
Opt for choices like pre-foreclosures, foreclosures, or short sales offered by the provided menu. Regardless of your criteria, ensure you narrow down your search to focus on specific details.
If you need Arizona single family homes larger or smaller than a specific square footage, specify this by adjusting the appropriate filter. The same goes for other criteria.
They are very easy to access and use, as well as are a great source for doing additional research on each property.
Arizona Real Estate Wholesalers
Many property investors in Arizona look for foreclosed homes through Arizona property wholesalers.
Finding wholesale properties may seem expensive at a first glance, but the benefits are worth the price.
Wholesalers shoulder the burdensome tasks of scouring and negotiating deals to take this part of the investing process off your schedule.
Upon securing properties under contract, a wholesaler assigns the contract to an investor for a fee so that it’s the investor who ends up buying the house instead of the wholesaler.
Imagine a scenario where a wholesaler secures a property for $100,000 and identifies the potential to sell it to an end buyer, an investor, for $120,000.
The wholesaler then signs a contract with the distressed seller for $100,000 and transfers their rights, or equitable interest, to you as the buyer for $120,000.
In this arrangement, you assume the role in the deal at the $100,000 contract price and pay an assignment fee of $20,000 to the wholesaler.
If you are a beginner in real estate investing, you may consider starting with wholesaling real estate yourself.
Explore the resources on how to wholesale real estate contracts and familiarize yourself with the regulations of wholesaling houses in Arizona.
To help you find property to flip, wholesalers can get you a list of foreclosures in your area as they consistently get motivated sellers on autopilot.
As you embark on flipping houses as a career or building a rental portfolio, establish professional connections with wholesalers.
Wholesalers provide the best method for the average real estate investor to find heavily discounted properties since they are often negotiating directly with the seller.
Arizona Real Estate Agents
Leveraging the expertise of REO agents proves to be an excellent strategy for you to get a foreclosed homes list.
REO, or Real Estate-Owned, signifies the status of a property that is already foreclosed on. Once it is, the bank is highly interested in selling it ASAP.
Following foreclosure, the bank transfers the property to a listing agent — their REO agent.
Realtors in Arizona who work for banks and other lenders often have a set of REO properties to offer you. They also list them on their sites that may have a REO property search tool.
Investors emerge as the primary clientele for these opportunities, so REO agents are glad to connect with them.
Establishing a connection with an REO investor-friendly real estate agent in Arizona can be an invaluable step for you to find REO properties and unlock lucrative investment opportunities.
Real estate agents are a great source for foreclosure deals as they not only have access to properties listed in the MLS, but also utilize tax records for upcoming foreclosures, receive lists from many different wholesalers, and are connected to other professionals in the industry.
Arizona Foreclosure Attorneys
Foreclosure lawyers in Arizona specialize in processing and avoiding lawsuits between lenders and homeowners.
Whether a lawyer primarily works for real estate lenders in Arizona or homeowners, you can connect with them and inquire about the possibility to find repossessed houses for sale by getting leads from the attorney.
Obviously, you will need to offer something in return. Think of something an attorney would be interested in. For example, can you offer them leads, too?
You can also suggest a referral fee, but do it carefully: short sale attorneys in Arizona may not be allowed by law to accept it in some cases.
Or, you may get lucky, and an attorney will refer their client to you just because selling a house with back mortgage payments fast and for cash will resolve the situation they were hired to settle.
Arizona Short Sale Processors
Short sale processors in Arizona are a good source of pre-foreclosure deals.
A short sale processor (or negotiator) assumes the responsibility of overseeing the intricate short selling process comprehensively. A short sale is a long and complex procedure that can fail if done incorrectly.
Legally, a short sale processor usually represents the homeowner. You can read about what a short sale negotiator does for the seller to understand it better.
Oftentimes, the processor doesn’t charge the homeowner for the service. This means that they get compensated by the buyer. But it’s well worth it.
First of all, when purchasing a short sale house, you’ll benefit from having a professional oversee everything for you and the seller.
Second, once they have a new client — distressed seller — they will offer this lead to you.
Third, because of their complexity, short sales aren’t too popular with real estate investors. Taking on one means you won’t have to compete with many local investors over the same property.
Arizona Real Estate Lenders
Wondering how to get REO listings from banks directly? Why not just call them? In the worst-case scenario, they will say they have no foreclosed homes to sell. Yet you can give them your phone to get notified when they do.
Engage with various banks, by introducing yourself and asking where to find distressed properties. Specify you are going to buy them for cash and fast — this is what many banks look for, just like motivated sellers.
Lenders are in the mortgage business and not in real estate. They are motivated to sell fast, even if it’s cheaper.
Inquire about their inventory of repossessed properties. They will likely show you a list to choose from.
With smaller banks, it’s easier to get to the right person who can help you with repo homes — say, a credit union manager. In a large bank, it may take you more effort.
Working with a lender is a great way to get direct access to foreclosures as they will know what properties are performing or non-performing in the list of clients.
They know the active and inactive loans, and know all the details of the property and the loan.
Arizona Courthouses
You can find foreclosed houses at the local county courthouse or whatever it’s called in your county.
This is not one of the preferred ways among most investors, but that’s where you can find foreclosures in your area for free.
To get wholesale real estate leads, you must either visit the courthouse in person or utilize its site, provided it features search functionality.
To get a foreclosed homes list for free, look for lis pendens. This legal judgment acts as a notification to all involved parties that the homeowner is falling behind on payments.
In this case, Arizona note servicing companies assert the primary claim to the house and hold the first lien.
Additionally, employing similar methods allows you to look up properties with tax liens in your area. They are also meant to be sold at an auction often called a sheriff sale.
Once you get a list of foreclosures from the courthouse, you may find that you can’t reach the owners because the phone numbers just aren’t up to date.
Real estate skip tracing is how you fix this. The best skip tracing services for real estate investors can efficiently help you find motivated sellers.
With their help, you will be able to uncover homeowners’ contact details, including phone numbers, emails, and social media profiles.
In order to access public records on a property in Arizona you would need to contact the county in which the property is located.
Some counties require you to make a request either in person or by mail, while others offer online access to making requests.
Arizona is a disclosure state, so it is easy to find tax data. Many services and websites that are open to the public provide it.
If you are in Phoenix, the listings are also posted on a pegboard at the auction house.
Bank Websites
Another notable avenue to find out about foreclosures online is simply a visit to the official website of a bank.
Some banks offer a free search option designed for investors like you who need bank-owned repossessed homes for sale.
Check Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and other large companies first — smaller banks have fewer repo properties to offer and may not have the search option allowing you to find bank-owned properties for free.
A search will show you bank foreclosures in Arizona or another state, depending on your choice, as well as offer filters to refine your search results.
To sum up, below is my final advice regarding how you can find foreclosed homes.
HUD Foreclosures
The official HUD site is a good resource for finding foreclosed homes for sale for free, which is a significant benefit when you are only starting a house flipping business without much cash in your reserve.
A noteworthy portion of foreclosed properties in our country consists of those with government-backed mortgages obtained through HUD.
To find homes that went into a HUD foreclosure, simply navigate to hudhomestore.gov.
Scroll down, and you will find a section where you can search HUD foreclosures — an easy way to find motivated seller leads for free.
The foreclosed home search is adjustable by zip code, city, state, county, size, and more. This is how you find HUD foreclosed homes, which is the last method on this list.
While the ways I’ve just described already allow you to find foreclosed real estate, I have more value to offer. Read below!
Survey of Industry Experts
Which of the following resources do you use to find foreclosed and pre-foreclosed properties in Arizona?
Which of the following real estate professionals can be the best source of foreclosure deals for an investor in Arizona?
Get Expert Training to Find Upcoming Foreclosures Like a Pro
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This resource is a complimentary gesture, my way of sharing valuable knowledge with you. Enjoy the enriching learning journey!
What Is the Primary Pitfall to Watch Out for When Investing in Foreclosures in Arizona?
Arizona is primarily a non-judicial foreclosure state, meaning someone in the foreclosure process has a 90-day redemption period where they can avoid foreclosure.
We also have some judicial foreclosures that allow a 6-month redemption period after the foreclosure.
Knowing the difference is important. And if an investor is planning to wholesale the property, Arizona has some newer laws in place specifically for wholesalers.
If you are purchasing at the auction, be sure you are bidding on a primary lien, and not a secondary.
Clean titles. It’s extremely important to have a clean title in order to be able to properly invest in a property.
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About the author
Bob Vieira is the Founder and Managing Partner of Universal Short Sales, LLC. While serving clients as a licensed Realtor, he realized there was a need for a knowledgeable company, specializing in the short sale sector. Bob is an industry expert with a passion for guiding homeowners through the short sale process.