How to Find a Zombie Property [Real Estate Guide]

Whether you’re looking for your first or next real estate deal, you’ll come across several types of properties, ranging from pre-foreclosures, foreclosures, and vacant properties. You’ll also come across zombie properties. 

What are zombie properties, and are they the right fit for your real estate portfolio? 

In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about a zombie property so that your next investment can be your most profitable one yet. 

What is a Zombie Property? 

A zombie property is a property that has been abandoned by its owner after a lender/bank has started the foreclosure process. 

Ownership hasn’t been lost yet to the bank, so the bank isn’t able to sell it. 

The property remains in this state indefinitely.

Like any real estate investment, investing in a zombie property comes with it’s fair share of advantages and disadvantages, both of which we’ll explore next. 

Advantages of Investing in a Zombie Property 

Investing in a zombie property can be lucrative because the sale price is typically below market value. 

For that reason, they make great fix-and-flip deals. 

If you can get it cheap enough in a neighborhood where similar properties are selling for significantly more, you can fix it up and likely turn a profit.

Disadvantages of Investing in a Zombie Property 

Simply put, zombie properties can be money pits if they’ve been abandoned for a long time. 

With years and years of lack of upkeep, there can be many problems that arise and will cost a lot to fix, such as:

• rot, bug infestation 
• leaky roofs
• overgrown yards
• mold
• and more

By the time everything is repaired enough to resell, you may have lost your profit margin — the biggest disadvantage of investing in a zombie property.

How to Find A Zombie Property

If you’re looking to add a zombie property to your real estate investing portfolio, here are a few real estate lead strategies to find one. 

Propwire

Propwire offers one of the easiest ways to find a zombie property.

By selecting a location and setting filters, you can generate a list of zombie properties with an estimate of the property value as well as a history in seconds.

By using Propwire’s industry leading skip trace feature, you can find the property owner’s name, address and contact information for just 10 cents. 

HUD Home USA

HUD Home USA is a .org website that allows you to search for zombie properties by zip code, preforeclosure, foreclosure, and auction. 

For just a $1 registration fee, you can find the zombie properties in your selected areas.

Zillow or RedFin

Both Zillow and RedFin have filters to help you find zombie properties in any area.

Keep in mind that you may have to dig more with these sites to find out if the properties are indeed abandoned.

Foreclosures.com

Foreclosures.com can generate a list of properties in pre-foreclosure and foreclosure, but you need to do more research to find out if the property is indeed a zombie property.

Classifieds

Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace has real estate listings of all kinds, including zombie properties. 

These listings are updated every day, all day, with new listings appearing at the top.

Local Tax Office

A visit to your local tax off can yield a list of zombie properties in your area.

You can also search tax offices online in cities that you are not able to get to.

Real Estate Agents

Real Estate agents know about most properties that are coming to the market, going into foreclosure, or that are vacant. 

They are a good place to start your search.

Bird Dogs

Bird Dogs are people you hire to go out and drive the streets looking for abandoned homes for a cost, and they can help you acquire a solid list of addresses. 

How to Buy a Zombie Property

Once you find a zombie property, the first thing they should do is do a title search which will show if there are any liens on the property or the property owner. 

While some liens are easily removed, it can be tougher with state or federal liens. 

After that, contact the property owner to purchase the property and have the deed put in your name.

This can be done through a quit claim subject to the liens which ensures that the owner is still liable for any delinquent mortgages or liens. 

After taking over the title to the property, you will file a quiet title action against the recorded lien holders, which in a best-case scenario, is a bank. 

This requires the parties to state their interest in the zombie property within 28 days or lose their rights. 

Most of these cases are won by default. 

This being said, always do your due diligence and make sure the property doesn’t have any major structural damage.

The Bottom Line: Zombie Property 

Investing in zombie properties can be very lucrative, because you can buy one for pennies on the dollar and then sell for market or above market price. 

While there are some risks related to the amount of time a property has been abandoned, in most cases the price to purchase plus rehab costs will still add up to far less than market value. 

There are easy ways to find these properties and they exist in most markets in the country. 

When a homeowner abandons a property it’s usually out of desperation and by finding these properties, you may just be helping someone get out of hot water while making yourself a profit. 

It’s a win-win for everyone.

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