Visit Divorce Court
For Property Bargains

Here's a place real-estate investors may not have thought about to find properties: the courts.

Though it may seem a bit vulture-like to benefit from others' misfortunes, financial advisers and real-estate investors say courts are an often-overlooked way to find investment properties. The idea is to contact individuals in cases that may involve property and disclose that you are willing to take the property off their hands before they even consider putting it on the market -- and hopefully at a discount. Codes court, housing court, environmental court, divorce court, estate and probate court are among the places where investors can look.

It's a delicate job, however. People involved in cases in these courts are often in some kind of distress. And there are risks. In some cases -- especially those in codes, housing and environmental courts -- the properties likely are in bad shape or have serious issues that the new owner will be responsible for fixing and clearing up. Also, a judge may need to approve a transaction, so a deal isn't always guaranteed.

Investors can start by finding out the names of individuals in proceedings. Court records are usually public and, in some cases, can be accessed online. So investors can find the names of the parties involved and run the names through lists of local or state offices that record property transactions and holdings such as a tax assessor's office. Investors often can go to the office, or online, and type in the person's name to get a list of property holdings. Cities, counties and municipalities should have offices that keep building records that will give information about the properties, like square footage and age.

After that, investors can take down the addresses and take a look at the properties from the outside to see the location and condition they're in. If they're interested, investors can try contacting the owners directly or through their lawyers.

Divorce court is a good option for such an approach since divorce records are public -- allowing investors to look up case files and usually see what a couple owns. "Many [couples] have a home that they must sell and are often willing to take a discount just to settle the assets to get out of the marriage quickly," says Robert Shemin, a Miami-based real-estate investor and author of books on real-estate investing.

In housing court, investors may find potential buyers in landlords involved in drawn-out rent, eviction and other disputes. The theory is that these individuals may be willing to sell at a discount to put an end to their troubles. If a dispute "has to go to a housing court and it hasn't been able to be settled before," says Jim Lumley, a real-estate agent in Amherst, Mass., "it means typically there's some problem with management and/or substandard physical aspects of the building. That is an opportunity to get a building at a lower price."

One of the advantages to contacting building owners in this fashion is that "there's not much competition," since the properties aren't officially on the market, says Thomas J. Lucier, chief executive officer of Home Equities Corp., a Tampa, Fla., real-estate firm.

But Mr. Lucier warns that negotiating these deals can be tough. "You're dealing with people in extremely stressful situations," he says. His advice: "You don't want to come off as too much of an opportunist. You have to approach it from [the idea that] you're there to help them solve their problem."

He and others recommend sending the parties letters first, rather than phoning. "The letters can basically say that you are aware of their circumstances and that you're in the business of helping people in situations like this," he says.

Martin Stone, a real-estate broker in El Segundo, Calif., says investors also should think of establishing relationships with lawyers specializing in these kinds of cases to get a heads-up about properties. They should "come up with a system for contacting lawyers directly," he says. "I think you'd get a quicker shot at what was coming up" for sale.

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