How to Use the NED List to Find Listings in Denver

Jerad Larkin
1 day ago
9 min read

What is the NED list in Colorado? NED stands for Notice of Election and Demand, the public filing that starts a Colorado foreclosure. Homeowners on the NED list are typically about three months from their foreclosure sale date, which is why title companies pull it as a lead source.

Out of a three hour short sale class I sat in on, this was the section that most applied to what I actually teach, which is marketing and lead generation.

Because here is the thing about distressed property leads. Everyone knows the list exists. Almost nobody works it well. And the gap between those two things is where the listings are.

Quick note on who I am, since it matters for how you read this. I am an Account Executive with Chicago Title of Colorado. I am not an agent and I do not take listings. Pulling NED lists and farm data for agents is part of what I do, and I teach a class called New Age Farming on exactly this kind of work. So this post is the marketing playbook layered on top of what the short sale instructor covered.

What the NED List Actually Is

In Colorado, a foreclosure formally begins when the lender files a Notice of Election and Demand with the public trustee. That filing is public record.

The important part for you: when someone lands on that list, their foreclosure sale date is roughly three months out.

Three months is the number that makes this list useful. In the short sale class, the instructor was clear that she does not want a file with less than 30 days to the sale date, and FHA gets difficult without an offer at least 37 days out. So a homeowner who just hit the NED list is at exactly the right moment: enough runway to actually do something, and enough pressure that they are willing to talk.

Your local title company pulls this list. At Chicago Title of Colorado I run these for agents regularly, and I can filter it to the areas you actually work rather than handing you the whole county.

Not Everyone on the List Is a Short Sale

This is the part most agents get wrong, and it is why the list is more valuable than people assume.

A meaningful number of people on the NED list have equity. They are behind on payments, they have their head in the sand, and they keep believing they will catch up or figure it out. They are not underwater. They are just stuck.

For those homeowners, you are not bringing them a short sale. You are bringing them a normal listing, a check at closing, and a way out. That is a straightforward transaction, and it is a genuinely good outcome for someone who was about to lose the house and the equity in it.

So when you work this list, you are working two categories at once:

Homeowners with equity who need a regular sale, fast, before the sale date
Homeowners who are underwater who need a short sale

Your first conversation does not have to know which one they are. Your first conversation is just: there are options here, and there is time to use them.

The way to sort them quickly is an Owners and Encumbrances report. That tells you what is actually attached to the property, who is on title, and what the loan type is. I break down how to read that in how to spot a short sale that will never close.

Why Most Mail Campaigns Fail

The instructor made a point that reframed this whole channel for me, and it is obvious in hindsight.

People who are not paying their bills are not opening their mail.

Think about it from their side. Every envelope arriving at that house right now is bad news. Collections, the lender, the HOA. They have learned to stop opening things.

So a letter in an envelope, no matter how well written, does not get read. It goes in the trash unopened, along with everything else.

What to do instead

Use a postcard. The entire message has to be visible without anyone opening anything. That is not a design preference, it is the whole strategy. You get one glance between the mailbox and the trash can, so the message needs to land in that glance.

What that means practically:

One clear message, not a full letter shrunk down
Big enough type to read at arm's length
Lead with the outcome, not with you
A phone number and a website, large

Frame it around options and time, not around foreclosure. Something in the neighborhood of "You have more options than you think, and more time than you think" reads very differently than "Facing foreclosure?"

Repeat it. One postcard is not a campaign. These people are in crisis, their attention is fragmented, and the moment they are ready to act is not necessarily the week your card arrived. Plan a sequence over the three month window.

The Channel That Actually Works: Door Knocking

The instructor was direct about this: her most successful agents have always been door knockers. People not afraid to walk up to an address on the list and talk to the person.

I know. Most agents would rather do almost anything else.

But look at why it works here specifically. You are the only person showing up who is not there to collect money. Everyone else contacting this household right now wants something from them. You are showing up to tell them they have options. That is a fundamentally different conversation than the one they have been bracing for.

Handling the awkward part

The obvious objection: how did you know?

Answer it plainly and immediately. It is public record. There is a filing at the public trustee's office that becomes public information, and that is how you know.

The instructor's framing was that you explain it is public record and that you are there to help. Do not be cagey about it, because being cagey is what makes it feel invasive. Being matter of fact is what makes it feel professional.

What to actually say

Keep it short. You are not closing anything at the door.

You are not there to pressure them
There is a timeline, roughly three months, and options exist within it
Some of those options let them walk away with money, some do not, and which one applies depends on what they owe
You will find out for free if they want you to

Then leave something behind and go. The goal of the first conversation is permission for a second one.

Farming Distressed Areas

There is a geographic pattern worth understanding.

When a housing market softens, the outer ring softens first. Buyers consolidate toward the core. In the last cycle in Denver, entire outlying subdivisions were significantly upside down while closer in neighborhoods held.

So distress is not evenly distributed. It concentrates, and it concentrates predictably.

If you are choosing where to farm this, look for:

Outlying subdivisions rather than the core
Neighborhoods heavy with FHA purchases from the last two to three years
Condo communities, which are showing up disproportionately in short sale files right now, partly because of high HOA dues
Areas where you already see a cluster on the NED list, because clusters are a signal

That last one is the easiest. Pull the list, map it, and look for where the dots bunch up. That is your farm.

I can pull that data with the mapping for you.

The Channel Nobody Is Using: Digital

This is where I would spend my time if I were an agent working this list, because nobody else is.

You have a list of addresses. You can farm addresses digitally, not just by mail. That means an agent can be visible to a household repeatedly for a very small daily budget, without ever knocking on a door or mailing anything.

Think about the sequence:

A postcard arrives and gets a two second glance
Over the next weeks, the same face and message shows up in their feed
By the time they are ready to talk, they already recognize you

That is the entire point of brand awareness advertising, and it costs very little. I teach classes on running Meta and Google ads for about a dollar a day for exactly this kind of use case.

The content angle matters too. Do not run ads that say "facing foreclosure." Run educational content:

What actually happens in a Colorado foreclosure
What a short sale is and who it is for
Whether you can still sell if you are behind on payments
What happens to the debt after a foreclosure

That last one is powerful, because most homeowners believe they can hand over the keys and be done, and it is not true. I broke that down in short sale vs foreclosure: the math your seller needs to see. A homeowner who understands that a foreclosure can leave them owing six figures for six years is a homeowner who will call somebody.

Be helpful in public. That is the whole strategy, and it works better here than almost anywhere else, because the information gap is so wide.

Two More Sources

Your sphere. The soft ask matters. Do not point at someone you think is struggling. Instead, tell people you have been focused on helping homeowners who are behind on payments, and ask if they know anybody. Even when you already have someone in mind. It gives the person room to answer without anyone being embarrassed, and it puts the word out that you handle this.

Bankruptcy attorneys. This is an underused referral relationship, and the instructor flagged it directly. Most bankruptcy attorneys do not understand why a short sale matters when the debt is being discharged anyway.

The explanation that changes their mind: after the bankruptcy finishes, the house still goes through the entire foreclosure process. Their client ends up with a bankruptcy and, a year later, a foreclosure on their record. A short sale handled alongside the bankruptcy avoids the second hit and lets the client start rebuilding sooner.

An attorney who understands that has a reason to send you clients. Very few agents have ever had that conversation with one.

The Honest Part

This is not a passive lead source. There is no version of this where you buy a list, send one mailer, and get listings.

It works because it is uncomfortable, and it is uncomfortable, which is why the competition is thin. Most agents will not knock on the door of someone in foreclosure. Most will not have the bankruptcy attorney conversation.

But the timing advantage is real. You are reaching a homeowner three months before their sale date, before they have talked to anyone, at the exact moment when options still exist. That is as good as timing gets in this business.

And a good share of these people are not short sales at all. They have equity, they are frozen, and they need someone to tell them there is still time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does NED stand for in Colorado real estate?

NED stands for Notice of Election and Demand, the filing with the public trustee that begins a Colorado foreclosure. Once it is filed, the foreclosure sale date is generally about three months out.

How do agents get the NED list in Colorado?

Title companies pull NED lists as a service to the agents they work with, and they can typically filter it to specific areas or price ranges rather than delivering an entire county.

Is everyone on the NED list a short sale?

No. A significant number of homeowners on the list have equity and are simply behind on payments. For those homeowners a standard listing is the right answer, and they may walk away with proceeds. An Owners and Encumbrances report is the fastest way to determine which situation applies.

Does direct mail work for foreclosure leads?

Letters generally do not, because homeowners in financial distress often stop opening mail entirely. Postcards work better since the message is visible without opening anything. Door knocking has historically been the most effective channel for this list.

How far in advance should you contact a homeowner on the NED list?

As early as possible. Short sales generally need at least 30 days before the foreclosure sale date to be viable, and FHA becomes difficult without an offer 37 days out. Contacting someone shortly after the NED is filed provides the full three month window.

This post is part of a series I built from a three hour short sale CE class. The full walkthrough is here: Short Sales in Colorado: The Complete Guide for Real Estate Agents.

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