Posted by mr m on June 09, 2007 at 23:20:57:
thanks for sharing the info
Top techniques to FIND the deals? - Posted by CTR (CA)
Posted by CTR (CA) on June 05, 2007 at 16:44:25:
I’ve been heavily reading about real estate and attending local RE invesment clubs for the past 6 years. I think guru’s, speakers, and REI books spend far TOO LITTLE time on how to FIND the deals. The courses are 10% on finding, I think they should be 90% on finding. Marketing/finding is the weakest part of the courses/books. I think finding the right deals (or motivated sellers) is the #1 key activity.
I’ve mostly been into buy & hold rentals and I want to do more lease-options & flipping, so I am embarking on researching what actions to do on a daily/weekly basis to find the deals. Also, even with buy & hold rentals I would like to buy those at more bargain prices/terms then I have in the past.
For those who are seriously in the business of buying and selling homes full time (both for hold & flip), what has worked best for you over the years finding deals? What activities do you partake in during your typical week to find deals or have them find you?
Here are some things I’m considering:
-making offers on bank owned homes on the MLS
-bandit signs
-newspaper ad’s (although I need something more creative then getting in line with the other 15 “we buy” ad’s in the paper)
-realtors
-postcards to title lists
-postcards and calls to expired listings
I haven’t considered mailing NOD’s b/c I think they are already getting hit by too many investors.
Thanks for your feedback!
It’s more about where, not how . . . - Posted by Joe Kaiser
Posted by Joe Kaiser on June 05, 2007 at 21:05:16:
Enter the Subterranean Marketplace. That’s where the deals are hiding.
SubT is the marketplace that has little or nothing to do with MLS
properties or what you consider to be your market. SubT properties
area all about people with big problems and big equites, getting
hammered by, “the man.”
That’s some government agency demanding the property be cleaned
up or torn down, or some other agencey threatening foreclosure
because of unpaid irrigation liens (I kid you not) or unpaid property
taxes or ???
How to research? Easy! It’s all public record when it comes to “the Man”
and it’s all available with an email, once you’ve figured it all out.
SubT is the way to roll.
Joe
Re: Top techniques to FIND the deals? - Posted by Anne_ND
Posted by Anne_ND on June 05, 2007 at 18:35:39:
CTR,
Everybody’s market is different. You’ll probably have to try a few things to discern what works best for you in your market. Maybe buy a few marketing courses.
I’ve found classified ads, direct mail, Craigslist and word of mouth to be most powerful for buying properties, but you may not get the same mileage.
You will need to spend some money and make some mistakes to get your market engine going.
good luck,
Anne
Re: It’s more about where, not how . . . - Posted by CTR (CA)
Posted by CTR (CA) on June 06, 2007 at 07:35:09:
Thanks Joe for the excellent comments.
If it’s not too much information…can you give some more specifics of deals you’ve found.
-where you found?
-what made it a deal?
-numbers of the deal?
-how you structured the deal and ultimately profited?
Thanks!
Re: Top techniques to FIND the deals? - Posted by CTR (CA)
Posted by CTR (CA) on June 05, 2007 at 19:17:32:
Thanks Anne for your response.
Just trying to find out what investors have found REALLY works after trying everything in the marketing courses.
What types of deals are you doing? When you say Craigslist are you finding deals buy scanning what’s for sale or are you posting an ad there? Are you putting a “we buy” ad in your area newspaper classifieds? What types of mailing lists are you sending direct mail postcards to?
I think it’s good to have a discussion on this because the books are so “light” on this topic, yet I think it’s the #1 most important thing.
Thanks!
Re: Top techniques to FIND the deals? - Posted by Rich-CA
Posted by Rich-CA on June 05, 2007 at 23:07:37:
There are as many ways as there are people. Each person will pursue a method that fits with how they think. For example, people people will network, talk to others, and find deals that way. Less gregarious types may use public records or the internet. Some advertise and make cold calls like any other sales person. Bottom line: you find deals by going where the activity is and digging.
too general…need specifics - Posted by CTR (CA)
Posted by CTR (CA) on June 06, 2007 at 07:32:23:
Thanks for the comments Rich. But your still being very general. I’m a guy who works better with specifics. I network a lot and it doesn’t find me deals. I need more hard hitting actions then that.
It’s another complaint I have with a lot of RE guru material, they are too general. I like to see details broken down:
-where did you find your last deal?
-what made it a deal?
-what were the numbers on the deal?
What specific marketing/finding techniques have you used to find deals? Were you flipping? Rehabbing? Holding?
Re: too general…need specifics - Posted by Rich-CA
Posted by Rich-CA on June 06, 2007 at 09:07:06:
Can’t get more specific. I do a combination of finding various people who are both expert and willing to talk about it as well as using the internet. I use Realtor.com, eBay, craigslist, Google, and sometimes just follow threads on the internet side. Some counties have all their recorded documents available from the web (Maricopa in AZ, Bexar in TX), others do not (Davidson in TN, El Paso in CO) unless you subscribe to their service (its how they pay for the extra servers these searches need to keep running).
As far as networking. I use HomeGain.com to locate Real Estate agents. I ask RE agents for referrals to Property Managers and others I need to talk to. Sometimes these folks have a friend, mostly they do not. Property Managers, however, have access to a lot of investors and some deals are investors deciding they want to get out. Can’t be more specific than that because what I do is simply talk to people and listen to what they say. If they want to talk about an upcoming wedding or something else unrelated to RE, fine, I will listen. But there exists no script and if I did break it down, then it would only work for me or people so similar to me as to scare the crap out of my family. When it comes to interpersonal relationships and communications, each pair of people interacting is unique and you have to adapt yourself to what’s going on, know when to withdraw because its going in an unhealthy direction (again that’s very individual).
I meet and talk to people everywhere. In the supermarket, in line at the bank, and so on. Again, no specifics and no script because each encounter is unique.
Bottom line: there are no easy ways to do this and you will have to write your own script. But if it sounds like a script, expect it to turn people off.