Upcoming Foreclosures

Where can I find a list of foreclosures without paying some website?

I am looking to find lists of bank owned foreclosures in California, but I do not want to pay some website $50 to do a search for me. I know B of A has a search, but there are only a couple of listings. Does anyone know how I can get a list of foreclosures in California without having to pay anything? Thanks in advance!

Public Comments

1. There's a reason why the website will charge you $50. They are doing the legwork for you. If you don't want to pay, you can do the legwork yourself by contacting the various county courts to look up foreclosure filings.
2. You can look up VA foreclosures and some bank foreclosures on ocwen.com. Other than that you have to do alot of searching and piece all of the info together to make a list.
3. Get a good Realtor who works in the foreclosure business. He'll know before anyone else.
4. Ask a Realtor to do the search for you. Shouldn't cost you anything, plus he/she can help you when you purchase, at no cost to you.
5. Call a title company in your area that does foreclosures or HUD deals they can get information before the houses go into foreclosure most of the time on the house that are going up for bid first. Here is a site that you can look at also http://www.foreclosure.com/state/ca.html Find the property that you want and then you can find the rest of the information on tax site for that county, go to google and type the county name then CAD this will give a wealth of information on the property.
6. Your first answerer is right. Paying $50 for a current list is probably well worth it. Otherwise, YOU need to go down to the county courthouse to the Clerk-Recorder's office, look up the information on their system, transfer that information to paper or a laptop that you bring (or pay for printouts at up to $9 for the first page and $2 for each additional page), and then use that information for yourself. BTW, this ONLY works for pre-foreclosures (Notices of Default [ND] and Notices of Trustee Sale [NT or NTS]). If you're looking for REOs, that's more difficult. Banks almost ALWAYS use real estate agents to dispose of their REOs--talking to them (when you can find out who REALLY holds the property) usually is a waste of time. I know--tried it a LOT. In CA, banks still thinks is a Boom Time, and want to still make a good profit by selling it for more than they owe on the open market. They aren't willing to discount anything off what they think they can get by selling it through a real estate agent. The stuff that so-called "gurus" spout doesn't really work in CA (expecially the Bay Area). My first question to "gurus" is, "Do you do deals in the Bay Area?" If they say, "I do deals all over CA." I ask what specific deals they've done on the Peninsula or Sillicon Valley or Marin County. If nothing, they can't teach me anything, and they're bullsh*tting people. It's been my experience that RE agents who deal in REOs are lazy and liars. After putting in two offers in on an REO, I called the bank who held the mortgage, and they said they hadn't received anything from their RE agent. When I called the RE agent, they said that there had been no offers put in on the property. Make up your own opinion about that. Re-evaluate why you want an REO. Is it a good deal on a house to live in? To make money by flipping the property? It'll be a long, hard slog either way you look at it. Be prepared for frustration, long waits, lies, and deceit.