ForeclosureS.com Lists Tutorial

Foreclosure Basics

Foreclosure Stages
There are 3 stages in the foreclosure process. Alexis' Newsletter Links below will help you find opportunities in each foreclosure stage as listed.

Preforeclosures
Weeding Your Preforeclosure Leads
Auctions
Read more about Auction Buying
REO/Bank Owned
Read more about REO Property Investing
Learn how to Weed Your REO Leads for Profit

State Laws
Each state has its own unique laws covering foreclosures. It is your responsibility to know your state laws. Every page of your Foreclosure Lists has a Foreclosure Laws link in the left column. Click "State Laws" and learn what you need to know.
Click here to go directly to State Laws

Searching the Lists

Search By Location

From anywhere on the ForeclosureS.com website you can search for foreclosure lists by State and County or by Zip Code. At the green bar toward the top of the page, simply select a state and county or type in a zip code and click "Go."

NOTE: You must use the State/County drop-down menus on the Advanced Search page if you need to preserve your search criteria when you change counties.

NOTE: Whenever you begin a new search, the website will show you the most recently published lists for the area you are searching. By default, you will see either 180 days of data. Read more about The Best Way to Buy a Foreclosure

Quick Search

You will find a Quick Search form on any page within the Lists portion of ForeclosureS.com. This form will allow you to search by location and filter your results by the following parameters:

Equity Percent
Property Type

Saved Searches Menu

Quick Search

You can quickly access your saved searches from the Saved Searches Menu on any page within the Lists portion of ForeclosureS.com. Simply select your search from the drop-down list and click "Run", "Edit", or "Export"*. To perform other actions on your saved searches, click the "My Saved Searches" link.

You can export individual properties from within the Preforeclosures, Auctions or REOs tabs.
You can export properties in multiple stages and counties from within My Picks.

* Available with FULL Access only

Advanced Search

The advanced search page allows you to filter your property listings in many different ways, including:

Street Name - Search by specific streets.
NOTE: Use full or partial street names. Make sure to leave out address numbers.
Location - Search specific cities and/or zip codes.
Dates - Search specific dates, including publish date, loan date, auction date or repossession date. *
Details - Search property-specific information such as loan amount, market value and year built.
Property Type - Search specific property types, such as residential, industrial, or retail.

To perform an advanced search, click Advanced Search from the Links menu in the left column of every Foreclosure Lists page.

When you are satisfied with your search parameters, click the "Continue Search" button on the bottom or top of the page. A list matching your choices will load. If you need to start over click the "Clear Selections" button.

Advanced Search header

Location

The Location tab allows you to select the state and counties of your search, and to filter by Cities and/or Zip Codes.

Choose your county from the State/County drop-down menus. To refresh the list of cities and zip codes, click "Refresh Cities/Zips".
Choose as many cities and/or zip codes as you want from the left side and click the ">>" button to add them to your filter.
NOTE: If a city is selected, do not select zip codes within that city.
To remove a city or zip code from your filter, select it from the right side and click the "<<" button.

NOTE: If you need to preserve your search criteria when you change counties, use the State/County drop-down menus on this page.

Dates

The Dates tab allows you to search by various Start Dates and/or Through Dates for the Publish Date, Loan Date, Auction Date or Repossession Date.

Set up your date filter using the fields above.
To exclude listings that do not include the date you are searching for, click the "Must have Value" checkbox.

Publish Date is when we first listed the new foreclosure property on ForeclosureS.com. This a great way to make sure you only access our newest leads. ForeclosureS.com Subscribers have access to all of our past listings from October 1, 2004 to present.

DISCLAIMER: Past data varies by county and as we acquire the information.
*By default if no publish dates are specified you search results will include listings in the last 180 days.

PLEASE READ - IMPORTANT:
Once a Foreclosure Notice has been made public record, the owner in foreclosure has many options to stop the Foreclosure. If they have found a way to bring their loan in default current, a Cancelled Notice of Default, Recission, Release of Lis Pendens, Release of Final Judgements, Discontinuance of Trustees Sale, Cancelled Notice of Default document will be recorded at the County. This information is not available through ForeclosureS.com. You will need to check public county records to verify the current status of any past Foreclosure Notice, before assuming the property is still in Foreclosure.

Loan Date is the date the loan in default was originated. This is a great way to search for “old loans” with a potential for a lot of equity (older loans have more principal paid down).

Auction Date is the original Trustee Sale (Final Judgment or Sheriff Sale) date set by the foreclosing lender (or it’s Trustee/Attorney). The date is recorded once as public record. Auctions are often postponed by mutual consent to an unpublished future date. To learn about the current scheduled Auction, you must call the Trustee/Attorney handling the file or attend the sale (as listed on your lead). The Trustee/Attorney will tell you if the Auction was

Postponed and its new date and time
Cancelled - the seller paid up or sold the house
Taken Off Calendar - the owner has filed Bankruptcy, which has not stopped the foreclosure, but just “stayed” all creditors from taking further action.

Read more about Auction Buying

Repossession Date is the date when the new owner took title to the property. ForeclosureS.com REO lists are not like any other Foreclosure Site. We do NOT call the banks to find what they have available (like many on our Sites to Avoid forum). Instead, ForeclosureS.com publishes the results of all recently completed Foreclosure Auctions, whether a third-party investor submitted the winning bid, or the foreclosing lender was the winning bidder by default. The property may or may not be on the market for sale yet, or could already be sold by the lender/investor. But now you have the inside edge to houses that will not be found on other Foreclosure websites!

Details

The Details tab allows you to search most of the property details we offer! Plus we give you Minimum and Maximum range options, so you can really filter down to the PERFECT LIST! Here’s how:

Set up your filter using the fields above.
To exclude listings that do not include the fields you are searching for, click the "Must have Value" checkbox.

Market Value is ForeclosureS.com's approximate market value for every property (as available).Now you can search by Market Value right on ForeclosureS.com! And if you are a Sharkbait User, you can import your Market Value information from ForeclosureS.com at no charge. You will no longer need to buy and import additional data sources to make Sharkbait work. This is a HUGE MONEY SAVER for you!

Read more about Sharkbait Software for Foreclosure Investors

Equity Amount is an estimated amount of Potential Equity based on the Market Value less the Loan Amount (or Trustee Sale Amount) that is in Default. There may be (and usually are) more loans and liens, but this is a great way to get a quick idea of your profit potential.

Read more about “Doing the Math Quickly and Easily”

Equity Percent is my FAVORITE TOOL! Put away your calculator. ForeclosureS.com Subscribers get the division done for them! (Market Value / Equity Amount = Equity Percent.) If you follow my teachings and seek 30% or more equity in every lead, now it’s EASY to FIND! (You’re welcome...)

Read more about “Weeding Your Leads for Foreclosure Deals”

Loan Amount is the Original Loan balance of the loan in Default. There is usually some principal pay down if it is an older loan (which is not available through public record). Newer loans (especially all those Creative Option Loans) may have higher loan balances than the Original Loan Amount.

Minimum Bid is the starting bid for the Trustee Sale (or Sheriff’s) Auction, on the ONE loan in Default. There may be additional loans and liens on the property. Minimum Bid is also the balance owed on the loan in default. This bid grows daily due to interest and penalties. You must call the Trustee/Attorney handling the file (listed on your lead) to find out the Current Minimum Bid before you attend any Auctions.

Read more about Trustee Sale Auction Investing

Repo Amount is the results of the Trustee Sale Auction, when the property reverted back to the Foreclosing Lender. It could be more or less than the Minimum Bid. It is considered to be the “book value” of the property by the REO Lender. This is NOT the asking price for the REO Lender. They will determine current value and price it according to market conditions and prices. Sometimes REO Lenders make a profit, sometimes they take a loss.

Living Square Footage is the size of the house. If you follow Alexis’ teachings and only work “entry level housing” this is a great way to narrow down your search!

Year Built: You can now search by age of the property. If you follow Alexis’ teachings and want to stay away from new construction and stick with “older homes in established neighborhoods” this is a great way to narrow down your search!

Beds and Baths: Great if you are a homebuyer and particular about number of Bedrooms and Bathrooms.

Property Type

The Property Type tab allows you to filter by specific property types. Now you can search for any property type. Not just houses (Residential 1-4 units) are available to ForeclosureS.com Subscribers. Now you can search Apartments, Retail, Office, Industrial, and Land, it's all there.

Check the property types you want to filter by.
To exclude listings that do not indicate a property type, check the "Only Include Known Types" checkbox.

Line-Item View (Search Results)

If your search yielded a large number of results, we recommend narrowing your search through the Advanced Search page.
If the Publish Date is marked red, the listing has been updated with new details. In the detail view, the updated details will also be colored red. Following is an example:
Read more about any of the fields shown in your search results, such as Type, or Equity, by holding your mouse over the field header.
Sort your results by clicking the header of the field you wish to sort by. For example, to sort by Property Address, click the "Property Address" field header.
NOTE: You may change the default sort settings in My Preferences.
When available, Additional Results in this County are displayed below your search results. Additional results include properties that didn't quite match your search criteria, but still may be helpful to you.
Click See Nearby Areas for a list of neighboring cities and counties.

Understanding the Icons

Zestimate - When no market value is available for the property, the Zestimate icon gives you an estimated property value based on comparable homes in the area. Zestimate is available courtesy of Zillow.com.

Related Listings - The Related Listings icon appears when there are Related Notices or Additional APNs linked to a property. Click this icon to view the related listings.
Learn more about Related Notices and Additional APNs

Selections

To select a listing, click the green check mark on the left side of the listing. Click "Select All" to select all the listings on the page. Click "Clear Selections" to unselect all the listings on the page.

The following actions can be taken with your selected listings:

	Add the selected listings to My Picks Learn more about My Picks
	Print the selected listings View the selected listings in a printer-friendly format. NOTE: If any of your selections have related listings, you will be asked whether to print related listings.
	Export the selected listings * Save the selected listings to a file Learn more about File Formats
	Email selections * Send a copy of the selected listings to your registered email address

* Available with FULL Access only

NOTE: To include different counties and stages in your export add your selections to My Picks and export from My Picks tab.

Save Search

You can save the current search for quick access later by clicking "Save This Search" and following these instructions:

To Save a New Search, click "Save as a new search" and enter a name for your search
To Replace an Existing Search, click "Replace an existing search" and pick the search to replace from the drop-down menu.
Click Save to continue

Save This Search

Export Results *

Export Results will display a summary of your search and a count of results. *

To view more or less results, enter a new Start Date and click "Refresh."
There is a limit of 100 records per print, export or email. (Related notices do not count toward your record limit.)
You may print, export or email a maximum of 1,000 records per day.
Select which foreclosure stages to include in your export.
When you are ready, click one of the following buttons:

	Add the search results to My Picks Learn more about My Picks
	Remove the search results from My Picks
	Print the results View the search results in a printer-friendly format. NOTE: If any of your search results have related listings, you will be asked whether to print related listings.
	Export the results * Save the search results to a file Learn more about File Formats
	Email selections * Send a copy of the search results to your registered email address

NOTE: A maximum of 100 listings can be exported at one time.

NOTE: For help exporting individual properties, click here.

* Available with FULL Access only

Working With Saved Searches

My Saved Searches allows you to manage all the searches you have saved.
Save This Search

Name/Location shows the name of your search, along with the county and state to be searched. Click Show Details to view a detailed report (the Location, Dates, Details and Property Types) of your search criteria, as well as the following information:

Export Start Date - when you export your search results, this will be the default publish date to begin your results (See Export Results)
Latest Data in this County - most recent date listings were published in this county
Last Change to this Search - most recent date this search was modified
Last Web Run - Most recent date this search was run on ForeclosureS.com

Saved Search Options
Check the "Email New Results" box if you want your daily listings email to include updated listings from this search. With the "Email New Results" box checked, select the types of notices to be included in your email.

Click Edit to change the Where, What and When of your search criteria. NOTE: Once you've finished changing your search criteria, select "Continue search" and then click "Save This Search" or "Replace Existing Search" from the following page.
Learn More about Advanced Searching
Click Run to run the search and view the results.
Click Export Results to print, export or email the results of the search. You will be shown a summary of the number of results, at which point you can:
· Adjust the "Results since" date and click "Refresh" to view the new results;
· Click on any of the results found to view just those results;
· Select Add my picks, Print, Export or Email listings
· Link to Export Results Help
Click Delete to remove the search from My Saved Searches.

Saved Search Email Delivery
Included in your subscription you can have 25 of your saved searches emailed to you daily!

You can create as many saved searches as you’d like and 25 can be selected for automatic email delivery.
• Your daily emails will include all results from the previous business day.
Do you need more saved searches emailed to you? Just Click Here.
You can also Log on to the site and manually export, print, email each of your saved searches at no additional charge.

* We encourage you to have your data delivered by our automated email delivery service, so that you receive all listings posted for the day.

Configuring Daily Email Options
Configure Daily Email Options

Check Enable Daily Emails to receive daily email updates of new listings.
Optionally select Only Email when there are New Results. If this option is selected, you will only receive emails when new results are available for your saved searches. If not, you will receive an email even when there are no new results.
Select Include Related Notices to include Related Notices and Additional APNs in your search results. This option is only available for HTML and PDF export formats.
Learn more about Related Notices and Additional APNs.
Select the Listings Format to use when exporting or emailing lists
Learn more about File Formats

Click the "Save Options" button when you are finished with your changes.

Working With the Lists

Detail View (Popup Window)

Listing Details
Detailed information about the property

Read more about “What’s the Best Way to Buy a Foreclosure?”

NOTE: To understand How to Read Your Listing Detail Page, Click Here.

Related Notices
Shows a history of related foreclosure notices filed on the same property. Foreclosure Notices can be the same loan in and out of default, or it can be a different loan on the same property in default. Please refer to the Loan Doc # and Loan Date for more information. Both the current information and the default history are linked together.

Additional APNs
Additional APNs exist when there are multiple properties filed on the same loan.

Zestimate
Up to date market values and comparables, courtesy of Zillow.com

HomeGain
When Zestimate is not available, the HomeGain tab displays up to date market values and comparables, courtesy of HomeGain.com.

Map
Displays an interactive map or satellite aerial view of the property, courtesy of Yahoo Maps! Pan, Zoom, or Change the view using the tools shown on the map.

Print
Displays complete listing information in a printer-friendly format.

My Picks

My Picks is a personalized page where you can save listings for further research. It provides quick and easy access to the foreclosure leads that are important to you.

Your picks are grouped by stage.
Add listings to My Picks from the Search Results or Export Results pages.
NOTE: Make sure you select the listings you want to add , and then click the "Add to My Picks" button
Keep track of up to 500 records at a time from any state or county
By default, picks from all counties are shown.
To filter by county, select a county from the "Filter by County" drop-down menu.

My Preferences

Display Preferences

Choose how many listings to display on each page of your search results
Choose the default field and order to use when sorting your search results
Do not show popup of My Picks help
If this is un-checked, you will see a popup explaining My Picks and how to use it.
Do not show popup of Selections help
If this is un-checked, you will see a popup explaining how to work with selections when viewing My Picks or Search Results.

Email Preferences

Check Enable Daily Emails to receive daily email updates of new listings.
Optionally select Email even if there are no New Results. If this option is selected, you will receive emails whether or not new results are available for your saved searches.
Select Include Related Notices to include Related Notices and Additional APNs in your search results. This option is only available for HTML and PDF export formats.
Learn more about Related Notices and Additional APNs.
Select the Listings Format to use when exporting or emailing lists
Learn more about File Formats

Export Preferences
Export Preferences

Select the default format to use when exporting or emailing lists
Learn more about File Formats

Cancelling Your Membership
You may cancel your membership at any time by clicking the "Cancel List" link located at the bottom of every page on ForeclosureS.com.