OfflineSo...I found a vacant house about 10 months ago. No "For Sale" sign of any kind. In a great part of town, looked to be an "easy fixer". Before I could talk to who owned it, a Century21 sign popped up in the yard 2 days later. I lost all interest when I found out the "house" was LISTED and was an old mobile home with room additions. These things are junk. The property was way over priced, even if it was a "real house" it was still over priced, but I kept it "on my radar" to watch for changes. I was NOT interested in this property for any reason except curiosity ( and a huge price-drop 
WHO would buy this junk? And WHY?? I HAD to know!!
What I Did: The County Tax Assessor is 2-3 months behind on posting owner name changes to their computer system. I already knew who the seller was because they ignored my letter 8)so every time I went to the courthouse to search other properties I would check this one for a name change. When the name changed, the new owner was "(capital letter) & (capital letter)Properties" I yellowpages,dot,com searched them, got a phone# and called. This guy is a long-time buy and hold investor. When I asked what price range he is looking for he *giggled* and said "I am very liquid and buy anything in Northern NM that will make me money." Score one for the Buyers List!
What I learned:
If I courthouse-keyword-search : "(capital letter) & (capital letter)" or "LLC" or "Properties" I am finding BUYERS! Maybe they just started an LLC/business name for their one and only investment property, or for tax purposes on grandmas house, etc. but these are NOT your average Joe D. Homeowner types, and ARE worth a phone call.
"The harder you work, the luckier you get." -Gary Player
Good hearing from you again. long time no see. I have to go down to the courthouse myself, we are not on the computer either. congratulations man......
WALT
That's a good tip, I'll have to remember that
Jean Maestre
The Maestre Property Group, LLC
"Our deepest fear is NOT that we are inadequate, Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure"
"Do or do not, there is no try"
"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache, carries with it the seeds of an equal or greater benefit"
We are on the computer here, just not on the internet. Perfect! It cuts out every "National Buyer with internet access and enough money to mail letters to every address on the planet" Niche-marketing ??
"The harder you work, the luckier you get." -Gary Player
It was one of those fumbling-forward moments. Made complete obvious sense...when it hit me in the face.
"The harder you work, the luckier you get." -Gary Player
I've gotten a couple questions about this, so to clear any confusion:
Don't search "capital letter & capital letter". It depends how your courthouse computer system works, but if they are following the rules of alphabetization (?pretty sure thats a word?) then "A" will show up before anything else. Find where to search by Owner Name, enter "A & A". The list that pops up will be "A & (another capital letter)" Then search "B & A".
Then "C & A" etc. etc. all the way to "Z & A" if you want. Look for the word "Properties" in the owner names or "LLC" Example: " A & A Properties LLC" MIGHT be somebody looking to buy more properties...or maybe they have properties for sale.
Once you have a list of corporate property owners: Search those names to find the properties they own, or have bought or sold. Look for the names that shw up more than once. Every courthouse is different, so I can't say exactly how you should do that. ASK! a courthouse clerk, it's their job to help you. If you are lucky enough to get all this info online? Great!...or go to the courthouse and ask.
This IS NOT necessarily a "Buyers List", it is a Players List. A way to find players in your county. They could be buying, they could be selling,...or none of the above. Look for the names that show up multiple times. These are people "in the game" FIND 'EM !
"The harder you work, the luckier you get." -Gary Player