The 37 property signals SCOUTRE can display on a property
SCOUTRE supports 37 unique display-chip types across ownership and occupancy, financial and mortgage, distress and listing, legal and deed, and property and tax data. Signal availability varies by property, county and source.
Signals sit on properties you open. When In-state absentee or Out-of-state owner appears, generic Absentee owner is suppressed. Preforeclosure and Foreclosure remain separate signals.
What is a property signal?
A property signal is a display chip summarizing an ownership, mortgage, distress, listing, legal, deed, property or tax condition on a property record. SCOUTRE supports 37 unique display types. Signal availability varies by property, county and source.
Not every signal means distress. High equity, Free & clear, Cash buyer, Pool and Homestead describe financial, ownership or property conditions. Signals summarize source data; they do not prove seller intent.
The data behind each signal
Signals come from recorded deeds and mortgages, ownership and occupancy data, calculated equity and down-payment values, foreclosure and lien records, tax and exemption data, property characteristics and participating listing sources. Several source conditions can map to one display label.
Signals are derived, not seller-intent predictions. A missing signal is not proof of the opposite. Coverage and refresh timing vary by property, county and source.
All 37 property signal displays
Only display labels are listed. Percentage down at last sale uses the property’s actual calculated percentage.
Ownership and occupancy
- Absentee owner
- In-state absentee
- Out-of-state owner
- Lives here
- Vacant
- Corporate owned
- Investor buyer
- Cash buyer
Financial and mortgage
- Free & clear
- High equity
- 40%+ equity
- Adjustable-rate mortgage
- Assumable mortgage
- Private lender
- 20% down at last sale
Distress and listing
- Preforeclosure
- Foreclosure
- Auction
- Bank owned
- Expired listing
Legal and deed
- Tax lien
- Lien
- Judgment
- Death
- Death transfer
- Spousal death
- Inherited
- Quit claim
- Sheriff’s deed
- Deed in lieu
- Trustee sale
Property and tax
- Mobile home
- Flood zone
- Pool
- Homestead
- No homestead exemption
- Tax delinquent
The five signals that most often mark a motivated seller
Five of the 37 property signals carry most of the weight: preforeclosure, inherited, tax lien, vacant, and absentee or out-of-state ownership. Each names a circumstance that can make speed worth more to an owner than price. High equity and free & clear matter for a different reason: they show room to transact. Availability varies by property, county and source.
Can you get a foreclosure list for your area?
No. Preforeclosure, auction, bank owned and tax lien are flags on a property you have already opened, not a query you run across a market. You add the property first, standing in front of it, typing its address, or from a list you already have, and the flag is either there or it is not.
Use Property Discovery to search supported criteria before choosing individual properties. Count matches for free, then research the matching records you choose. Search statewide across all 50 states, or narrow to a county or up to 20 cities in Florida. Up to 1,000 matches per order; refine larger searches.
These flags arrive attached to houses you already chose, alongside what a property record contains.
How do you know a signal is current?
Records are. SCOUTRE shows what the record says on the day you open the property, so a county that files a default on Monday might publish it on Friday. Coverage varies by county.
Your own eyes are the second source, and the better one for condition. Standing at the house, with Property in Front holding the parcel open, you rate distress from 1 to 5, add photos and a voice note, and tag peeling paint, boarded windows or accumulated mail.
Can you find distressed properties for free?
Yes, and the notices are public. County recorders and registers of deeds publish defaults, lis pendens filings and liens. County tax offices publish delinquency lists. Probate filings sit with the clerk of court. Trustee and sheriff sale notices run in a legal newspaper. All free to read, one county at a time.
Massachusetts publishes recorded documents county by county at masslandrecords.com, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sets out the foreclosure timeline at consumerfinance.gov. Budget a few dollars per document and a weekly visit.
If you need to check one property once, you do not need software. Read the county index. Free routes to an owner are in how to find out who owns a property.
When does a distress signal mislead you?
Often enough to matter. Signal availability varies by property, county and source, and a missing flag is not proof of the opposite. SCOUTRE reports what its sources published: a preforeclosure cured last week can still show, and one filed yesterday may not show yet. Expired-listing coverage depends on participating boards, so it can be silent elsewhere.
Equity and mortgage figures are estimates derived from recorded loan history and assessed values. They are not statements of account balance. No foreclosure auction calendar, trustee sale date or court docket detail is published here, and deeds and lien flags are not a title search.
Two product limits belong here too: CSV export is available, but CSV import is not available today, and each account is a single user. More in the SCOUTRE FAQ.
From a flag to a saved lead and an 11-stage pipeline
A signal is a reason to make contact, not a script. Save the property and the flags stay on the lead with your photos, notes and distress rating. Then work an 11-stage pipeline: New, Queued, Called, Texted, Contacted, Analyzing, Offer Sent, Negotiating, Under Contract, Closed, Dead. You set each stage by hand.
Filter every property you have saved, 30+ ways, including by signal, so the preforeclosures in your pipeline surface together. Getting to the owner is next, through real estate skip tracing, and mail carrying the house photo goes out under direct mail postcards and letters.
The full loop is in what SCOUTRE does.
County index, windscreen, or a flagged record
Three honest routes exist. Reading county indexes and legal notices is free, authoritative, slow and one county at a time. Driving and looking catches condition no record holds, and misses everything financial. Flags on a saved property combine the recorded position with what you saw.
| Route | Cost | Time | What it returns | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| County indexes and legal notices | A few dollars | Weekly, ongoing | Defaults, liens, probate, tax delinquency | One county at a time, no condition data |
| Driving and looking | Fuel and time | Hours per neighbourhood | Vacancy, neglect, roof damage | Nothing financial |
| 37 signals on a saved property | $79/month, included within plan limits | Seconds per property | 37 display types, photos, tags, 1–5 rating | Property Discovery: targeted research; coverage varies |
What do the distress signals cost?
SCOUTRE costs $79 a month on one plan, billed at checkout. All 37 property signal display types are included, and leads, captures, one-by-one skip traces, re-traces, photos, voice notes and follow-ups are included within plan limits. Property Discovery costs $0.15 per new record, and physical mail is priced separately: postcards from $0.59 and handwritten letters from $0.83, print and postage included.
Terms are on SCOUTRE pricing; SCOUTRE for wholesalers shows these flags inside a deal.
Frequently asked questions
How many property signals can SCOUTRE display?
Thirty-seven unique display types across ownership and occupancy, financial and mortgage, distress and listing, legal and deed, and property and tax data. When a state-specific absentee signal exists, generic Absentee owner is suppressed. Availability varies by property, county and source.
Can you search a city for preforeclosures?
Use Property Discovery to search supported criteria before choosing individual properties. Count matches for free, then research the matching records you choose. Search statewide across all 50 states, or narrow to a county or up to 20 cities in Florida. Up to 1,000 matches per order; refine larger searches.
Where does the preforeclosure signal come from?
Default notices and lis pendens filings recorded at the county produce the preforeclosure flag. Those documents are public, and a filing made on Monday may not appear until later in the week. Coverage varies by county.
What is the difference between preforeclosure, auction and bank owned?
Three stages of the same process. Preforeclosure means the lender has started and the owner still holds title. Auction means the property is heading to, or has reached, a foreclosure or tax sale. Bank owned means the auction did not sell it and the lender holds title, so no homeowner is left to negotiate with.
Does a vacant flag mean the house is definitely empty?
No. Vacancy comes from postal and public-record indicators, which lag reality and sometimes disagree with it. Treat the flag as a reason to drive by rather than a fact, and confirm it with your own eyes at the house.
Is high equity the same as free and clear?
No. Free and clear means no open mortgage is recorded against the property. High equity means the estimated equity is large relative to estimated value, with a loan still outstanding. Equity and mortgage figures are estimates derived from recorded loan history and assessed values. They are not statements of account balance.
How do you find motivated sellers using distress signals?
One property at a time. You add a house, from the kerb with Property in Front or by address with Nationwide Property Search, and SCOUTRE displays whichever of the 37 property signals its sources support. Preforeclosure, inherited, tax lien, vacancy and absentee ownership can mark an owner with a reason to sell. Availability varies by property, county and source.
See the signals before you knock
Billed at checkout: $79 per month. 37 property signal display types, one-by-one skip tracing within plan limits, and a photo postcard from the lead. Cancel anytime.
Get startedNEW · PROPERTY DISCOVERY
No address in mind yet?
Property Discovery starts with an area and a strategy. Preview matches, then research new records and import the properties you choose into CRM.
See how Discovery works →Free match counts. Research the properties that fit your strategy. Each result bundles property details, available mortgage and equity information, plus available owner phones and emails. SCOUTRE pulls Discovery results from a live dataset after purchase—not a recycled list. Most fields update daily as new feeds arrive; MLS updates intraday, while ownership changes depend on county deed publication and can take days to weeks. Single-address research is included within plan limits.