Inherited property leads without an obituary scrape
By Josh MillerUpdated 4 min readInherited houses show up in the county deed records, not just in obituaries: a transfer-on-death deed taking effect, an affidavit of death removing a joint owner, or an affidavit of heirship naming the heirs all get recorded. Search the county records for those document types each week and write to the new owners at their own address, since most heirs don't live in the house.
The usual way investors find inherited houses is to scrape obituaries and match the names to property records. It's slow, it's error-prone, and it puts a letter in front of a family the week of a funeral. There's a better record, and it's already at the county.
Most inherited houses leave a paper trail at the county
When an owner dies, the house has to move to someone, and in most cases that move gets recorded:
- Transfer-on-death deed: more than half the states let an owner name who gets the house at death without probate. The beneficiary usually records an affidavit of death to take title.
- Joint ownership with survivorship: the surviving owner records a death certificate or affidavit to remove the deceased owner.
- Affidavit of heirship: in some states, Texas among them, heirs record an affidavit naming who inherited when there's no will or no probate.
- Deed from an estate or trust: the executor or trustee deeds the house to the heirs, or sells it.
- Probate: a court case opens and a personal representative is appointed. How to work probate leads.
Search your county's recorded documents each week by document type, not by name. The new owner, the heir, is your addressee.
Who the heirs are
Heirs usually didn't choose the house. They often live in another city, the house may be dated or empty, and if there are several of them, they have to agree. That's the opening: a buyer who takes the house as-is, handles the cleanout, and pays everyone at one closing solves the problem they actually have.
What the data says about inherited houses
The licensed data most investors buy carries probate and inheritance records too thinly to count county by county. From a different source, in one client's market in Tennessee, with the market and the years held the same for every list, probate houses ranked below a foreclosure filing and a tax sale, and above obituary-matched houses, divorce and owners living elsewhere. The obituary scrape was the weaker way to reach the same families.
How to work the list
- Wait a few weeks after the record. A letter in the first days reads badly.
- Write to the heir's own address, not the inherited house.
- Write more than once. Heirs often decide after the first property tax bill or insurance renewal on a house they don't use.
- Stack it. An inherited house that's also vacant or behind on taxes is a stronger lead than either alone.
Read your county free to see which lists sold best there.
Questions investors ask
How do I find inherited properties?
Search the county deed records for documents that record an inheritance: affidavits of death, affidavits of heirship, transfer-on-death deeds taking effect, and deeds from an estate. Probate court filings cover the rest.
Do inherited houses have to go through probate?
No. Houses with a transfer-on-death deed, joint owners with survivorship, or a living trust usually pass outside probate. That's why probate lists miss many inherited houses.
Do heirs sell inherited houses to investors?
Often, when they live elsewhere, the house needs work, or several heirs have to agree. In one client's market, ranked on the same years, probate houses sold more often than obituary-matched houses, divorce and owners living elsewhere.
Is scraping obituaries a good way to find leads?
It's a weak one. Matching a name in an obituary to the right house is error-prone, and the family is often at its worst moment. In one client's ranked market, obituary matches sold less often than probate.