Do I have to pay for a subscription or access to a website to get lists of foreclosure homes?

Actually, no.  Entrepreneurs who cull the existing inventory from various locations own many of these sites selling and advertising a subscription-based list of foreclosed homes to the public for purchase. It’s a little like paying for those lists of government grants that you could get from a visit to your local library for free.

These website service owners repackage the information and resell the data as one-time only lists or on-going subscriptions.  Unfortunately, many of these lists provided by these services may contain inaccurate or seriously out of date information.  Real estate is not static and continually changes status. 

While there is nothing wrong with a little entrepreneurship, much of the information is available through your real estate agent and familiar with foreclosures. A real estate agent can also help you make sense of the data on the lists and usually at no cost to you.  

I recently had a call on one of my listings because it was on a monthly subscription list purchased by this individual.  Not only was the listing NOT a foreclosure, the listed price was wrong and it had been sold 3 months earlier.  This individual had been paying for a monthly subscription to lists and getting nowhere with them.  He had already paid close to $500 in subscription fees for lists that were worthless.  He was frustrated.

When he came in to meet with me, we reviewed his lists and found that a lot of the properties on that list were inaccurate, very old, or even rentals.  I really couldn’t make any sense out of how that information was compiled.  I suggested that he contact the company and cancel his subscription. 

When he tried to cancel the subscription, the company offered him opportunities to upgrade to another service and adding products for additional costs.  But, when he was firm in terminating the subscription, they continued to bill his credit card stating that it would be at least 60 days for his subscription to be cancelled.

My advice is to seek out a licensed real estate agent and discuss your objectives and expectations regarding the purchase of a foreclosure.  Most real estate agents are very willing to set you up on a notification basis of properties that meet your needs.  And, when something pops up that interests you, you’ll actually have an experienced advocate to help you navigate the foreclosure purchase process, assess the property valuation and answer questions.

If I can help, give me a call, text or email. Meanwhile, save your money and beware of scams.