Introduction and pre-foreclosure question

[cocoadawn]

Hello all.... I have been reading this forum and touring the site for a week and am very happy to have found them. I have been helping a friend flip houses for about six months, mostly rehabs. She is doing very well, and we plan to do future deals together as well as seperately. I am more interested in pre-foreclosures than anything and I have a question for you vets: How do you find these owners heading for auction? I'm using RealtyTrac and the paper to find the pre-foreclosures, but have had difficulty finding phone numbers for the owners. I get a lot of disconnected #s. I have a sales background and am very comfortable with cold calling owners. I also like John Michael's letter and think it would be effective. I prefer these two methods for trying to find deals, but as a last resort I think I have a decent ad for the paper. I don't want to take that shotgun approach unless I have to, though. Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance and I look forward to the learning and friendships I'll find here.

[Dan Auito]

Helloooo Cocoa!
I use
www.pretrieve.com (http://www.pretrieve.com)
www.zabasearch.com (http://www.zabasearch.com)
www.theultimates.com (http://www.theultimates.com)

And the local county property appraisers websites to track folks down. Other than that it is a pay for info proposition.

[cocoadawn]

I'll look up the county appraiser's site as well as the others you posted. I'm hoping to have my first pre-foreclosure by August. (When I head home to FL for my annual vacation to Cocoa Beach-hence the name cocoadawn) I plan on coming to you guys quite a bit for help, so I'll try not to be annoying. :)