13 Best Ways How to Find Foreclosures to Get a List of Bank-Owned Properties in Kentucky (Free & Paid Methods)
This guide will enlighten you on discovering pre-foreclosure and foreclosure property opportunities for real estate investors.
We will delve into creating personal networks to unearth these prospects and shed light on the readily available resources, spanning both offline and online domains.
I am Bob Vieira, the innovator and owner behind Universal Short Sales. It is a swiftly growing company that specializes in short sale processing across the United States.
Without further ado, let’s get started.
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 Kentucky 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
Many more real estate investor lead sources and property investing apps also offer their services to help you invest in affordable houses.
Several of these software solutions provide valuable insights regarding distressed properties in pre-foreclosure status. Additionally, they cover homes repossessed by lenders.
Most of these apps effortlessly mesh with widely used real estate investor lead management software.
At Real Estate Bees, their inner editorial crew meticulously assessed the best apps for wholesale real estate, facilitating the decision-making process.
The subsequent tools excel in identifying foreclosed properties, pre-foreclosures, and various other types of motivated sellers:
The tools listed below are dedicated to uncovering pre-foreclosure properties:
Foreclosure.com
Within the realm of REO search engines that investors can use to find foreclosed properties and pre-foreclosures, Foreclosure.com is a highly recognized tool.
Its widespread popularity makes it a familiar name, likely already familiar to you as well.
The site offers diverse membership choices, with the usual subscription cost standing at approximately $40 per month.
Foreclosure.com boasts two standout features that I particularly appreciate.
Firstly, its exceptional user-friendliness simplifies the process for members to acquire leads upon signing up for the membership.
Even for someone like me, not particularly adept with technology, the platform’s ease of navigation stands out.
Secondly, the site’s map functionality offers an effortless way to search foreclosures by address. By choosing a particular state, you see extensive information on foreclosures in that area.
For anyone finding foreclosures online, this well-organized and user-friendly layout positions it as an ideal platform.
Let us delve into an alternative online marketplace that focuses on where to find cheap foreclosed homes for sale.
Auction.com
Auction.com proudly stands as the nation’s premier real estate auction platform, solidifying its status among the best places to find foreclosures.
Its colossal scale alone contributes to it being a go-to platform for foreclosure searches. Users can explore diverse asset types, including short sale deals and even movable property.
Auction.com doesn’t charge monthly membership fees. That is a noteworthy aspect that elevates it among the best websites to find foreclosures.
Instead, the platform operates on a bidding system. Upon securing a successful bid, you are obligated to remit a buyer’s premium to Auction.com. This constitutes the platform’s revenue model.
It’s crucial to exercise prudence when participating in property auctions. Completing your real estate investment due diligence checklist is more complicated, and sometimes impossible, when buying a house at an auction sale.
Zillow
Zillow takes the spotlight as we explore how to look up foreclosures.
It has gained worldwide recognition and extensive usage among investors knowing where to find properties to wholesale.
While Zillow is extensively employed by the general public for discovering Kentucky properties for sale, it shouldn’t be underestimated in its ability when it comes to getting a foreclosed home as an investment.
Zillow’s attractiveness lies in its intuitive interface. If you are wondering how to find foreclosures in Kentucky on Zillow, the process is simple: log in, enter the preferred city or county, and apply filters.
When navigating through Zillow’s interface, easily opt for the “foreclosures” category from the dropdown menu. You can also delve into the range of pre-foreclosure opportunities available.
The platform even accommodates searches specifically tailored for auctions, offering a range of options for foreclosure seekers.
Kentucky Multiple Listing Services (MLS)
Leveraging a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) provides a fantastic opportunity for you to get REO listings. Yet, it mandates having an active real estate license.
If you don’t hold a license, you can enlist the services of a real estate agent to locate foreclosures on the MLS, although this comes with associated fees.
Due to its distinct interface design and operational methodologies, each Kentucky multiple listing service stands apart.
Nevertheless, the common thread tying all MLS platforms together is their ability to refine searches and unveil local foreclosure and pre-foreclosure listings.
While interfaces vary, the general procedure involves logging into the MLS platform and navigating to the designated “My Search” tab.
This initiates a dropdown menu with several options, allowing users to refine their searches based on preferences.
Users can choose from categories like pre-foreclosures and foreclosures, or short sales in the dropdown menu to be able to find foreclosures on MLS.
Whatever the preference, it’s essential to tailor the search criteria accurately.
For example, if you’re looking for single family houses in Kentucky with certain amenities or of a certain square footage, you need to refine the search to match those specifics, ensuring a detailed and targeted search.
They allow investors to find properties or information regarding foreclosures.
Kentucky Real Estate Wholesalers
Collaborating with real estate wholesalers in Kentucky is an effective method that can be used to look for foreclosed homes.
They are basically the middlemen between real estate investors in Kentucky and motivated sellers. But they are different from real estate agents.
The reason why many investors prefer to find wholesale real estate deals is due to wholesalers’ expertise in managing the entire search and negotiation process, taking it all off your shoulders.
Wholesalers secure properties under contract, gaining what’s termed as equitable interest.
This legal status empowers them to transfer their stake in the property to an investor for a predetermined fee, without having to personally buy the house in the wholesaler’s name.
Here is how it happens. A wholesaler secures a property under contract at $100,000, confident they can market it to an end buyer for $120,000.
After sealing the deal with the distressed home seller for $100k, they transfer their rights to purchase the property to an investor for $120k.
In this model, the investor assumes the wholesaler’s role in the contract for $100k, compensating them with an assignment fee of $20k.
Consequently, the total payment for the property amounts to $120k, allowing the wholesaler to earn a $20k margin through the assignment fee.
Wholesalers prove to be essential partners for those venturing into house flipping as a career and seeking to build professional networks.
They possess the ability to proactively get a list of foreclosures in your area, generate motivated seller leads consistently, and efficiently manage multiple properties. This aids returning clients who are seeking to find a house to flip.
The process involves initiating contact with the seller, securing pre-foreclosure properties under contract, and subsequently assigning the deal to an investor.
By front-loading much of the workload, wholesalers streamline the process, facilitating the eventual acquisition of pre-foreclosure properties for investors.
Explore this approach further by delving into the guide on how to get into wholesaling real estate and then acquainting yourself with the regulations governing wholesaling houses in Kentucky.
Kentucky Real Estate Agents
To be able to get a foreclosed homes list, working with REO agents presents an excellent opportunity.
REO, short for Real Estate-Owned, signifies properties that banks have repossessed through the foreclosure process.
It’s important to recognize that banks predominantly focus on managing loan agreements rather than engaging in real estate transactions.
Once a property undergoes foreclosure, the bank takes possession and delegates its sale to a listing agent, also known as an REO agent.
Kentucky realtors often manage multiple listings acquired from banks post-foreclosure.
These listings, which cater to investors seeking REO properties, are placed in REO property search on the local MLS and property listing websites.
For anyone seeking to find REO properties, establishing a connection with an investor-friendly real estate agent in Kentucky who specializes in REO properties is a valuable move.
They typically have an inside scoop on upcoming foreclosure properties.
Many times the bank will ask a realtor to see if there’s any market interest in the deal before the foreclosure process.
Kentucky Foreclosure Attorneys
Foreclosure attorneys in Kentucky are legal professionals serving banks and homeowners, depending on who hires them.
Whether a foreclosure lawyer serves real estate lending companies in Kentucky or homeowners, they are in frequent contact with distressed sellers. Therefore, you can get those leads from them.
To create mutually beneficial relationships, explore avenues where you can contribute to their endeavors.
For example, purchasing a house fast to help a homeowner avoid foreclosure is already a solution for both the homeowner and lender. Or, perhaps, you also have leads to forward to the lawyers?
Establishing partnerships with Kentucky short sale lawyers and foreclosure attorneys can significantly aid your pursuit as you strive to find repossessed houses for sale.
Kentucky Short Sale Processors
Not widely known as a type of service provider in the real estate realm, short sale processing companies in Kentucky are, nevertheless, an important part of the real estate investment industry.
The role of a short sale processor encompasses completing and facilitating all short sale steps, managing the intricate process entirely, and speeding it up.
The process of purchasing a short sale house can last for more than a year or fail entirely if done unprofessionally.
This transaction requires much paperwork and the participating parties must meet certain conditions to qualify for it.
Forming a solid relationship with a reliable short sale processor significantly benefits investors. Not only in speeding the deal up but also in finding short sale investment opportunities.
Processors often serve as the initial point of contact between the bank and distressed homeowners. And if you know one of them, they can bring those homeowners to you.
The processor will charge you a fee, but it’s often well worth the opportunity to invest in a cheap house before it gets repossessed and becomes available to everyone else at an auction, driving the price up.
For deeper insights, here’s a breakdown of what a short sale negotiator does for the seller.
Kentucky Real Estate Lenders
Getting foreclosure listings directly from banks is a highly effective yet underused strategy.
Here are some insights on how to get foreclosure listings from banks without intermediaries. But in a nutshell, you just collect phone numbers of several local lenders and banks and call them to ask for repossessed houses they need to dispose of.
Tell them you are on the mission of finding distressed properties to buy really quickly with a clean offer (meaning for cash) and want them to send you a list of their repo homes.
Banks, once they foreclose on a property, are keen to swiftly dispose of it. This motivation drives their willingness to sell houses for lower prices than their market value.
Smaller community-based banks often prove more accessible, allowing direct communication with people you need to talk to, such as the manager of the credit union.
Initiating outreach efforts with these localized banks can lead to obtaining a list of repossessed properties available for sale.
Kentucky Courthouses
Exploring distressed properties at the local county courthouse remains a lesser-known yet potentially rewarding strategy for investors to find foreclosed houses.
Hence, here is your opportunity to secure deals with limited competition.
To be able to find leads for wholesale real estate, you must either physically visit the courthouse or utilize the search functionality on its website (if it offers one).
A courthouse may be called something else in your county. Whatever the courthouse is officially called, you can get a foreclosed homes list for free.
Visiting the county recording office allows access to lis pendens records. These documents signify instances where homeowners have fallen behind on mortgage payments, prompting lenders to file judgments against the property title.
This legal judgment acts as a notification to all involved parties, indicating that the homeowner is encountering difficulties with payments.
The Kentucky mortgage loan servicing companies hold the foremost claim to the property, securing a priority position in the lien.
You can also get a list of foreclosures from the courthouse if you are looking for tax lien property. To find properties with back taxes, look for houses scheduled for a sheriff sale.
However, it’s important to note that sometimes the owner’s contact details might be outdated in these records, necessitating additional research. This procedure is commonly referred to as skip tracing in real estate.
Some of the best skip tracing software for real estate investors can aid in quickly finding motivated sellers and providing current contact details.
Now, here is another simple way to find foreclosures in your area for free.
Bank Websites
A valuable method you can utilize to find out about foreclosures online involves visiting the official websites of banks.
Not every bank provides comprehensive websites facilitating convenient access to a multitude of bank foreclosures in Kentucky.
But some of them have an option of a free search of bank-owned repossessed homes for sale.
Typically, the larger mortgage servicers like Bank of America or Wells Fargo have well-structured websites — that is where you will easily find bank-owned properties for free.
Lastly, here’s my final tip on this matter concerning how to find foreclosed homes.
HUD Foreclosures
Here’s an alternative method of finding foreclosed homes for sale for free without hefty marketing expenses, which is particularly beneficial when starting your own house flipping business.
Many home loan defaults are mortgages backed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). And you can just visit HUD’s website directly at hudhomestore.gov.
Upon accessing the address above, on the same page, find an option to search HUD foreclosures. What an excellent method to get free motivated seller leads!
The website will enable you to conduct a foreclosed home search based on various criteria such as county, zip code, city, state, and other specific preferences like the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
This serves as a fantastic cost-free method to identify motivated sellers and find HUD foreclosed homes suitable for your house-flipping endeavors.
Get Expert Training to Find Upcoming Foreclosures Like a Pro
I’m Bob Vieira, the creator and proprietor of Universal Short Sales. It is a rapidly expanding short sale processing company acknowledged nationwide for its proficiency.
I’ve bundled my wealth of knowledge on short sales and pre-foreclosures into a valuable resource, available in my latest initiative — the Pre-Foreclosure Fast Lane course. Best of all, it’s completely free.
This comprehensive course covers three key phases:
- Short Sale and Pre-foreclosure Fundamentals
- Lead Generation, and
- How to Monetize Pre-Foreclosures and Short Sales.
Moreover, I’m sharing our company’s refined 12-step system, offering an in-depth guide through our successful short sale process.
Consider it a gift from me to you, with no cost involved. Dive in and benefit from this valuable resource!
What Is the Primary Pitfall to Watch Out for When Investing in Foreclosures in Kentucky?
It can get challenging and confusing dealing with the seller, bank, and lender on a foreclosure deal.
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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.