Blog - DealMachine for Real Estate Investing

Uncover Public Records for Rental Property Research

Written by Samantha Ankney | Oct 14, 2024 12:45:00 PM

In the world of real estate investing, finding potential opportunities can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. However, for savvy real estate investors, one tool provides a wealth of information that others often overlook: public records on a house.

Exploring these records can uncover vital data about rental properties. This public information can give you a significant edge over your competition. Let's take an in-depth look at how you can leverage this vast repository of data.

Understanding Public Records

First, it's crucial to understand what public records are and how they can be beneficial in your real estate ventures. Public records encompass a range of documents and files held by government agencies. When it comes to real estate, these often include property tax information, mortgage deeds, details on previous owners, and property value changes- data that can be invaluable in identifying potential rental properties.

Accessing Public Records

Becoming familiar with how to access these public records is your next step. Thankfully, today's digital world allows for easily accessing such data. Numerous platforms provide comprehensive property data taken from public records.

Whether you want to take the traditional route and go to the county office to find records or look on the county website to find them that's one place to look.

Alternatively, you can access property data on real estate software like DealMachine. But with DealMachine, you won't just have the property records. You'll have the ability to do so much more. If you're looking to build your leads list of potential rental properties, guess what? You can do it in the software. Or if you are looking to reach out to leads you can send mail marketing or call them too.

Interpreting Public Records as a Real Estate Investor

With the necessary data in hand, how do we make sense of it? Interpreting these records is the pivot point where data becomes actionable intelligence in real estate investing. This is where understanding the BRRRR strategy or BRRRR method comes into play. Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat allows you to utilize your resourcefulness in acquiring and leveraging a property.

Let's say public records indicate that a property’s taxes have not been paid for a couple of years. This could be a telltale sign that the owner might be interested in selling the property to avoid tax penalties or foreclosure. This situation provides an opportunity for a savvy real estate investor to buy and rehab the property, perform due diligence on selecting suitable tenants, and rent it out – successfully implementing the BRRRR strategy.

Bringing It All Together: A Practical Case Study

Let's consider a practical case study. A real estate investor, using an online platform, found public records for a property that had a sudden decrease in value.

The records revealed that the property had been transferred to a new owner through foreclosure. The investor reached out to the new owner, who had inherited the property and had no interest in managing it. Combining the public records data with his knowledge of the BRRRR method, the investor bought the house, made necessary improvements, and turned it into a profitable rental property.

Conclusion: The Value of Public Records in Real Estate Investing

By understanding and making use of public records, you can unlock countless opportunities in the rental properties market. Anyone can become a successful real estate investor with the right tools and a keen eye for information hidden in plain sight. Your due diligence would be key in selecting reliable real estate software platforms, offering comprehensive property data, and employing strategies like the BRRRR method to maximize returns on your rental property investment.