13 Best Ways How to Find Foreclosures to Get a List of Bank-Owned Properties in Missouri (Free & Paid Methods)
Within this article, you’ll learn the steps to uncovering foreclosure and pre-foreclosure opportunities for real estate investors, wholesalers, and agents.
We will explore how to do it in many ways — online and offline.
My name is Bob Vieira. I am the founder and owner of Universal Short Sales, which stands as the nation’s most rapidly expanding company specializing in short sale processing.
Now, let’s begin.
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 “we buy houses” companies in Missouri 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 pay per lead real estate marketplace.
Other Platforms
You can also use one of many other real estate tools for investors and real estate investing lead generation software.
These platforms focus on providing information about pre-foreclosures and homes that have been repossessed, as well as other types of distressed properties..
The majority of these services seamlessly integrate with real estate investor lead management software (CRM) and other wholesale real estate apps that you probably use.
The tools highlighted below demonstrate outstanding functionality for identifying foreclosed homes, pre-foreclosures, and various types of motivated sellers:
For individuals specifically seeking pre-foreclosure properties, several standout tools include:
Foreclosure.com
Among the array of REO search engines designed to help you find foreclosed properties, Foreclosure.com stands out as one of the leaders.
Widely acknowledged for its effectiveness, this tool is well-known for searching both REO properties and pre-foreclosures.
It offers its services on a subscription basis, and the most popular package is priced around $40.
The site is easy to use, and getting a list of leads is quick. People who can’t brag about being advanced internet users won’t run into major difficulties using the interface.
The main feature of Foreclosure.com is the site’s map functionality. This distinctive tool facilitates easy foreclosure search by address.
By choosing a particular state, you can receive in-depth information on all foreclosures occurring within that specific area.
The organized and user-friendly interface positions Foreclosure.com as an ideal platform for those interested in finding foreclosures online.
Now, let’s delve into another digital marketplace designed for those wondering where to find cheap foreclosed homes for sale.
Auction.com
Auction.com proudly stands out as the nation’s premier real estate auction platform.
It sets itself apart through its impressive scale and secures a prominent position among the best places to find foreclosures.
Auction.com goes beyond foreclosures and property short sales. This online auction site also features other types of assets.
Auction.com’s distinctive pricing structure adds to its allure as one of the best websites to find foreclosures. Particularly notable is the absence of a monthly subscription fee.
Like on any online auction platform, you bid on properties, competing with other buyers.
Successful bids in this dynamic setting involve the payment of a buyer’s premium directly to Auction.com. This distinctive approach forms the basis of their revenue generation.
However, exercising caution is crucial in participating in auctions, as not all of them provide ample opportunities to examine the property according to your real estate due diligence checklist.
Zillow
Another standout player in our discourse on how to look up foreclosures is Zillow, a well-known property marketplace.
Zillow has evolved into a preferred choice for numerous investors exploring where to find houses to wholesale or looking for property flipping opportunities.
Zillow is commonly used to find real estate to buy in Missouri as a residence. However, it should not be overlooked by investors when it comes to getting a foreclosed home.
Discovering how to find foreclosures in Missouri on Zillow is a simple process: you just log in, input the city or county of interest, and apply the relevant filters.
You can smoothly opt for “foreclosures” from the dropdown menu or delve into pre-foreclosures. Zillow goes a step further by presenting the option to specifically search through auctions.
Missouri Multiple Listing Services (MLS)
MLS opens up another excellent avenue for you to get REO listings.
Accessing the MLS requires a real estate license as a prerequisite. In the absence of one, you can alternatively seek the assistance of a real estate agent. They can locate foreclosures on the MLS for a fee.
Multiple listing services in Missouri can have interfaces that don’t look exactly the same.
However, a shared element brings them together: the ability to search foreclosures in a specified location and to fine-tune your results.
First, head to the “My Search” tab. Selecting the tab triggers a dropdown menu with a range of options.
By choosing from options such as pre-foreclosures, foreclosures, or short sales, you can effectively find foreclosures on MLS.
Irrespective of the MLS you’re using, the crucial step is to refine your results by choosing criteria that align with your preferences.
Suppose, for instance, you’re seeking Missouri homes with three bedrooms or more—tailor your search accordingly.
Missouri Real Estate Wholesalers
Property wholesalers in Missouri look for foreclosed homes for their clients — investors, and you can become one of them.
Having connections with these professionals is a valuable asset for real estate investors in Missouri. Wholesalers specialize in securing exclusive off-market deals for home flippers and landlords looking for cheap properties.
Finding wholesale real estate deals spares you time and effort spent on negotiating with distressed homeowners.
The process unfolds as follows: a wholesaler secures a property under contract, like if they were going to buy it for themselves.
This legal standing empowers them to assign the contract, transferring their stake in the property to you, the investor, for a predetermined fee.
At closing, you end up buying the property instead of the wholesaler.
Imagine this scenario: upon securing a motivated home seller’s property under contract at $100k, the wholesaler advertises it to an end buyer at $120k.
The end buyer comes to see the property, and if they agree to buy it, the closing date is scheduled.
At closing, the end buyer assumes the wholesaler’s position in the deal and buys the house for $100k. As compensation to the wholesaler, you provide what is termed an assignment fee, totaling $20k.
As the end buyer, your overall payment for the property sums up to $120k. This enables the wholesaler to earn their margin through the assignment fee of $20k in this particular instance.
Explore this strategy further by delving into the beginner’s guide on getting started in wholesaling real estate. You can also review the intricacies of wholesaling houses in Missouri specifically.
Wholesalers possess the capability to actively get a list of foreclosures in your area for you. They excel at motivated seller lead generation and often have multiple properties under contracts.
Their business model enables them to effectively cater to clients who need to find cheap houses to flip on a regular basis.
By frontloading a significant portion of the work, wholesalers streamline the process, ultimately facilitating your acquisition of the pre-foreclosure property and helping you jump start your landlord or house flipping career.
Missouri Real Estate Agents
Forging connections with REO agents presents a valuable strategy for you to get a foreclosed homes list. Within the real estate sector, the term REO stands for Real Estate-Owned.
It indicates the point at which a lender completes the foreclosure process, officially obtaining ownership of the property from the homeowner.
Post-foreclosure, banks entrust the property to a listing agent, commonly known as an REO agent, whose job is selling it.
Missouri real estate agents frequently oversee portfolios of listings obtained from banks after foreclosure.
These homes are put on the market and become available in REO property search on various websites and MLS.
But if you have such an agent among your network, they can forward you a deal before it becomes available for others.
Establishing relationships with Missouri investor-friendly real estate agents can greatly enhance your capability to find REO properties.
They are the boots on the ground. Oftentimes, they are having these conversations with the clients they have relationships with.
When agents have investors in their pocket then they can oftentimes avoid the hassle of trying to get properties ready to list when they are in a distressed condition.
Missouri Foreclosure Attorneys
There are foreclosure attorneys in Missouri who specialize in legal aspects related to foreclosures and short sales.
Their primary role involves safeguarding lenders from lawsuits and potential legal losses. They also serve homeowners who sue real estate lenders in Missouri.
Think of how you, as a real estate professional, can contribute value to their practice and streamline their operations.
Maybe you could forward them leads or help their clients avoid foreclosure by quickly disposing of properties they can’t afford?
Ultimately, the goal is to cultivate mutually beneficial connections with foreclosure and short sale attorneys in Missouri and get leads from them.
These relationships can serve as a valuable resource in your effort to find repossessed houses for sale.
Missouri Short Sale Processors
Establishing a robust relationship with short sale processing companies in Missouri is highly beneficial. A short sale processor handles and facilitates the entire short sale procedure.
They oversee the preparation of all documentation and follow up with the bank and other parties involved to prevent the process from being stuck.
Purchasing a short sale house is an extensively lengthy and complex process normally spanning several months.
Investors significantly benefit from a dependable relationship with a go-to short sale processor, who also offers access to potential deals—a dual advantage.
Legally, short sale processors serve homeowners, providing them their services for free and being compensated by buyers.
Therefore, they advertise to distressed homeowners who contact them for processing a short sale for them. Read about what short sale negotiators do for the seller.
Once a processor gets hired, they have a deal to offer to an interested buyer. The main category interested in distressed properties is investors.
If you have a short sale processor in your network, they can forward their deals to you and process your short sales.
This relationship gives you a competitive edge over other local investors who avoid short sales because of their complexity.
Missouri Real Estate Lenders
Reaching out directly to lenders proves to be a highly effective but often overlooked strategy for investors seeking information on how to get REO listings from banks.
Initiating contact carries no inherent risk. Think about it: the worst-case scenario is that they will say they don’t have REO properties to sell you.
Call a lender and introduce yourself. Tell them you are researching where to find distressed properties to acquire fast and for cash. Request a list of repo homes.
Once a bank completes the foreclosure process on a house, their motivation intensifies to sell it off. They aim to sell this property swiftly to clear it from their books. If they have foreclosed homes to sell, they will be glad you called.
Small banks, particularly localized ones in your community, are excellent targets to contact and inquire about repossessed properties.
These banks often offer more straightforward communication with personnel responsible for REO sales.
You might find yourself just a call or two away from speaking directly with a credit union manager.
Missouri Courthouses
Few investors opt for the local county courthouse to find foreclosed houses. If you include this lead acquisition channel, you will get access to low competition leads.
In comparison to other approaches, this method is considered to be more time-consuming to find leads for wholesale real estate investing or flipping. However, it’s a way to get a foreclosed homes list for free.
In your county, a courthouse may have a different name, but in essence, you need to find a recording office, where public records can be accessed.
Look for lis pendens notes. A lis pendens occurs when an individual falls behind on mortgage payments. When a bank notices this, they file a lis pendens judgment against the property title.
This legal action notifies others that the homeowner is delinquent on payments and that the loan servicers in Missouri hold the primary right to the property.
Similarly, you can find homes that owe back taxes and are about to undergo sheriff auction sales. Those homeowners owe their county rather than a lender, but the result is similar.
Once you get a list of foreclosures from the courthouse, you might run into inactive phone numbers. Skip tracing in real estate is the process of finding property owners, and there are tools that can help you do it fast.
The best skip tracing software for real estate investors will help you in finding motivated sellers’ contact information based on their property address.
These tools will show you contact details such as phone numbers, emails, and even social media profiles.
Next, we’ll talk about another way to find foreclosures in your area for free.
You can go to county records and look up foreclosures. You can also find the trustees in the area. Oftentimes they have websites with the sale dates.
Bank Websites
One effective method to find out about foreclosures online involves visiting a bank’s website directly.
Many of them offer free search for bank-owned repossessed homes for sale. However, small banks tend to have a quite narrow selection of properties.
Generally, it’s advisable to concentrate on prominent mortgage servicers like Bank of America and Wells Fargo — those maintain highly organized websites and hold more REO assets.
This makes it more likely for you to find bank-owned properties for free in your location.
Their search functionality is similar to sites like Zillow, with filters where you can choose a location — bank foreclosures in Missouri, for example, property size, and other features.
Lastly, here’s my final tip on how to find and buy foreclosed homes.
HUD Foreclosures
For those who aim to minimize initial marketing expenses when starting a house flipping business, here’s another free approach to finding foreclosed homes for sale for free.
A noteworthy portion of the online listings of foreclosed properties often pertains to homes with government-backed mortgages, specifically under HUD.
The fantastic news is that you have the option to directly access HUD’s website, allowing you to search for specific property types effortlessly. Simply visit hudhomestore.gov.
Scroll down a little bit, and you will see a section offering you to search HUD foreclosures.
It’s an excellent method you can use to find motivated sellers for free! You can refine your foreclosed home search by county, zip code, city, or state.
Additionally, there’s a separate tab that enables you to find HUD foreclosed homes based on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, adding precision to your search.
Get Expert Training to Find Upcoming Foreclosures Like a Pro
I’m Bob Vieira, the founder and proprietor of Universal Short Sales, the nation’s most rapidly expanding short sale processing company.
I’ve gathered all the information and expertise I have on finding and profiting from short sales and pre-foreclosures.
I’ve exclusively assembled it for you in my latest offering—the Pre-Foreclosure Fast Lane course—and it’s completely free.
This course is structured into three comprehensive phases:
- Short Sale and Pre-foreclosure Fundamentals
- Lead Generation
- How to Monetize Pre-Foreclosures and Short Sales
Furthermore, I generously share my company’s 12-step system of buying short sales, walking you through the process in detail.
This course comes at absolutely no cost. It’s my present to you. Enjoy the knowledge and insights shared within.
What Is the Primary Pitfall to Watch Out for When Investing in Foreclosures in Missouri?
The primary pitfall to watch out for is making sure that you can adequately judge what rehab is going to be for the properties.
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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.