How to Work a Pre-Foreclosure List in 7 Days

Every owner on a pre-foreclosure list has a foreclosure filing on record and no sale yet. Some will catch up on the loan. Some will refinance. Some will want out. You can’t tell which from a spreadsheet, so you reach them early, say plainly who you are, and step aside fast when the answer is no.

Here’s the week.

Before Day 1

• The CSV, saved twice: a master you never touch and a working copy.
• A spreadsheet app. Anything that sorts and filters is enough.
• A printer and stamps, or an account with a mail house.
• A tracking sheet. You’ll build it on Day 5.

1. Day1

   Clean the file

   Open the working copy and freeze the header row. Then cut everything you can’t or won’t work.

   • Delete rows with a blank mail_address. No address, no letter.
   • Sort by mail_address and remove duplicates. One owner with several filings gets one letter.
   • Filter property_type to what you actually buy. Cut the rest now, before you pay postage on it.

2. Day2

   Sort by what you can work

   Sort by equity_pct, high to low. An owner with equity has choices: sell, refinance, pay the lender back. An owner with little or none has fewer, and a cash offer may not cover what they owe. Be honest with yourself about that.

   Then read the signals column. Pre-foreclosure plus absentee means the owner doesn’t live there. Pre-foreclosure plus vacant means nobody does. Tag every row:

   • A: solid equity and at least one other signal.
   • B: solid equity, no other signal.
   • C: everything else.

3. Day3

   Write one letter

   One page. Plain language. Your real name, company, phone and return address. It should say:

   • You buy houses in their area and saw the filing in public records.
   • Selling is one option. Talking to their lender or a HUD-approved housing counselor are others.
   • If they want to talk, here’s how. If they don’t, one reply takes them off your list.

   Don't

   No envelopes that look like they came from a bank, a court or a government office. No “final notice” or “urgent action required.” Never promise to stop a foreclosure.

4. Day4

   Mail tiers A and B

   Print, proof five letters by hand, then mail. Send first-class so undeliverable mail comes back to you and you can cut bad addresses. If the budget allows, mail tier C too. If not, hold it for the second round.

5. Day5

   Build the tracking sheet

   One row per property. These columns:

   • apn and county_fips to identify the property
   • owner_name, tier, date mailed, touch number
   • Reply date, what they said, next step
   • Do not contact (yes / no)

   Log every reply the day it arrives. Anyone who asks you to stop gets a yes in the last column, for good.

6. Day6

   Follow up on tier A

   Lists come with names and mailing addresses, not phone numbers. If you want to call, skip trace tier A only and spend the rest of the budget on mail.

   On the call: say who you are and why you’re calling, then ask one question. “Is selling something you’d consider, or are you working it out with the lender?” If they say no, thank them and mark the row.

   Compliance

   Calls and texts must follow federal and state rules, such as the TCPA and the Do Not Call registry.

7. Day7

   Review and set touch two

   Count what went out, what came back undeliverable and who replied. Delete the bad addresses. Put the second letter on the calendar for every owner who didn’t reply and didn’t opt out.

After week one

Pre-foreclosure moves. New filings land, and some owners resolve theirs. When the next monthly drop comes in, pull the list again and match on apn plus county_fips:

• New rows get letter one.
• Rows that dropped off get no more mail. The loan may be current again, or the property may have sold.
• Rows still there get the next touch, unless they opted out.