How to Find Homeowners Who Have Missed a Mortgage Payment

If you’re trying to learn how to find homeowners who have missed a mortgage payment or a few, you’re likely on the lookout for motivated sellers. With the current mortgage forbearance program, this list might be quite large today. This creates a lot of opportunities for real estate investors who are looking for motivated sellers.

Homeowners have a lot of equity now, but that doesn’t mean they’re able to keep up with their mortgage payments. This is where you can convince homeowners to make a deal with you when you present them with the numbers. Using a tool, like a net equity sheet, can really help motivate sellers to make a deal with you. It’s all about leveraging your knowledge and sharing helpful strategies with homeowners. 

List Providers of Homeowners Who Are Late on Their Mortgage

Creating this list is going to be something that will take more effort than what it is worth. Instead, I recommend using a list provider. List providers can generate lists for you based on several different criteria.

You can generate a list based on homeowners who are 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, or even 120 days late on their mortgage payment. Some homeowners might be able to catch up after 30 days and they may not be as motivated to make a deal. However, people who are 90 days or 120 days might be more motivated to make a deal. They want to avoid foreclosure and save their credit. Banks want to avoid homeowners entering foreclosure, so it’s in everyone’s interest that payments resume.

List Providers of Homeowners Who Are in Foreclosure

However, when homes go into foreclosure, list providers can generate this list as well. Once a bank decides it is going to foreclose, this becomes public knowledge. The bank will go on record for what its intentions are. So if you’re looking for homes that are foreclosed and want to reach out to these homeowners, this is also a great strategy.  

When considering a list provider, I recommend using a local list provider. They’re going to know the area better, they’re going to provide a better list, and you’ll enjoy the experience overall. But if your only option is to use a national list provider, that’s also fine. Just know, if the option for local is available, go for it.  

Avoid Second Mortgages

One consideration you need to think about are homeowners who have a second mortgage. You only want to work with sellers who are late on their first mortgage. If the homeowner has a second mortgage and is late on that too, then this is a deal killer. The second mortgage tends to have a higher interest rate and there will be a lien on the home until it’s paid off. So if you’re running a search and you can filter out homes with a second mortgage, absolutely do that. Otherwise, it’s going to cost you more money to make this deal work and there might not be enough profits for this deal to work. 

If paying back a mortgage to get it back to current is too big of an investment for you, I invite you to download my Investor Kit.