What They Don't Tell You About Excess Proceeds
When I first entered the excess proceeds business, I thought the biggest challenge would be finding the owners.
I was wrong.
The first surprise came when I called someone who was entitled to receive excess proceeds. They simply didn't want the money. Whether they didn't believe me or just didn't trust the process, I don't know. But hearing someone say, "No, I don't want it," after telling them they had money waiting was something I never expected.
Then I discovered redemption periods.
Some homeowners weren't interested in claiming the excess funds because they wanted to redeem their property instead. That's when I learned an important lesson: if they accepted the excess proceeds and later exercised their right of redemption, they would generally have to repay those funds, along with the redemption amount and applicable interest. That completely changed how I approached those conversations.
Then came the bulls.
One owner had more than $130,000 in excess proceeds coming, but he refused to hire an attorney because he didn't want to pay a contingency fee. I had to think differently. Instead of walking away, I structured the deal around a flat fee. It solved his concern and got the claim moving.
That single case changed my pricing model.
I realized that whatever I paid an attorney, I needed enough margin to cover unexpected work. My flat fee started around $9,000. Later I learned that attorneys don't always charge the same amount. Some estates require far more work than others.
And there's a reason for that.
Heirs.
If there's one thing this business has taught me, it's that money has a remarkable ability to turn siblings into strangers. Parents spend decades building a home hoping it stays in the family, only for the children to end up fighting each other over the proceeds after they're gone. I've seen families stop speaking over amounts that could have been divided peacefully if everyone had simply worked together.
Probate isn't just paperwork.
It's family psychology.
At the same time, the market became flooded with YouTube influencers promising easy money. They package publicly available information into expensive courses and convince beginners they've discovered some hidden government loophole.
The reality is much less glamorous.
Every county I've worked with provides instructions on how to claim excess proceeds. There isn't some secret process hidden behind a paywall. What many of these courses really teach is how to position yourself as a middleman so you can take a percentage of someone else's claim.
In my opinion, that's not expertise.
That's marketing.
The real work begins after you find the money.
Clients don't come to you because you know how to search a foreclosure list. They come because they expect you to know who legally owns the money, who has priority to claim it, what happens when someone dies, whether probate is required, whether assignments are enforceable, and how estate law affects every dollar.
That means learning estate law.
It means understanding probate.
It means understanding heirship.
And it means becoming better at genealogy than skip tracing.
After all, there's no point spending hours finding someone if you've found the wrong heir.
Then I witnessed something I never imagined.
Months after a foreclosure sale had already been completed, I watched the foreclosure itself become challenged. In another matter, a claimant assigned away part of their ownership interest in the property but later attempted to pursue the excess proceeds anyway. Suddenly the case became far more complicated, prior transactions mattered, and everyone involved found themselves answering questions they never expected to answer.
Those experiences taught me something that no training course ever could.
This business isn't about finding money.
Finding the money is the easy part.
The difficult part is understanding the law, managing people, solving problems no one anticipated, and adapting when every case seems determined to create a new exception.
I've been surprised more times than I can count.
And I have a feeling I'm just getting started.
This...
This is what they don't tell you about excess proceeds.
An Invitation
The stories you've just read are only a fraction of what I've experienced in the excess proceeds business.
Every claim has taught me something different. Some lessons came from the law. Others came from the courts. Most came from people. That's the part no course can truly prepare you for.
I'm currently writing my next book, What They Don't Tell You About Excess Proceeds, where I'll share the real-world situations, legal challenges, negotiation strategies, and unexpected twists that rarely make it into training courses or YouTube videos.
If you'd like an early look inside the book, or you simply want the opportunity to ask questions directly about Texas excess proceeds, probate issues, heirship, assignments, redemption rights, or building an excess proceeds business, I'd like to invite you to an exclusive live mentoring session.
For just $30, you'll receive up to three hours of live Q&A and mentoring with me. No prerecorded videos. No recycled course material. Just an open discussion about real cases, real strategies, and the lessons learned from working in the field.
To request an invitation, email:
with the subject line:
I'm Interested in the Book
I'll personally send you an invitation to the next seminar along with the details for attending.
The excess proceeds business isn't nearly as simple as many make it appear. My goal is to help you understand what happens after you find the money, because that's where the real work begins.
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