The biggest challenge people struggle with in a seller's market is finding good real estate bargains.
Here's a quick list of my 35 top ways to flush out motivated sellers:
- Expired MLS listings
- Craigslist (Landlords, not FSBOs)
- Mailers to people who live out of state
- Mailers to people with VA loans (they tend to move a lot)
- Mailers to people who just inherited property (try my friends at www.usleadlist.com)
- Pull lists of landlords from local court records that represent themselves "pro se"
- Blanket a desirable neighborhood with flyers or door hangers
- Get on the email list of a dozen wholesalers in your market
- Schmooze with real estate agents who list bank-owned properties in your market on LinkedIn.com
- Hudhomestore.com (HUD Homes nationwide)
- Contact divorce lawyers
- Contact probate lawyers (they often get paid when the assets of the estate sell).
- Affiliated businesses that come across motivated sellers (mortgage brokers, process services, house painters, carpet cleaners, handymen, etc)
- Join local business networking groups who can refer you business (Rotary club, etc)
- Join a local real estate investor association (REIA)
- Advertise with other investors on a billboard, bench or bus ad (share the leads)
- Pass out 500 business cards a month (make sure you card says what you do and that you pay referral fees)
- Talk with the local mailman about vacant homes on his/her route
- Drive areas looking for houses with deferred maintenance; track down the owners online
- Get a list of properties with code enforcement violations from your local city office
- Get a list of foreclosure properties in your area and go door knocking (foreclosures.com)
- Do random door knocking in a desirable neighborhood; ask the residents if they know of anyone looking to sell a house
- Go to estate sales - inquire about the property
- Mail to people who are behind on their mortgage, but not yet in foreclosure (the "30/60/90" day list)
- Attend foreclosure and property tax sale auctions
- FNMA and Freddie Mac foreclosures (Homepath.com and Homesteps.com)
- Attend open houses and speak with real estate agents who may have leads on upcoming sales (ie, "pocket listings")
- Network with property inspectors and engineers who may have. inspected a property that fell out of contract on inspection.
- Sign up for online lead services (Google them - there are dozens)
- Use "bandit" signs placed in strategic areas (be aware of local code enforcement rules on the use of these signs)
- Put a magnetic "We Buy Houses" sign on your vehicle
- Run ads on Google and Facebook
- Create a website with strategic SEO for keywords of local cities (note: major cities are hard to get high on Google search results; focus on SEO for surrounding suburbs by name)
- Pay bird dogs for finding you leads (TIP: pay based on information provided, not contingent on you buying the property, otherwise they won't work for you for very long!)
- Network with property managers; they are often the first to know if a client is looking to sell before it gets listed with a real estate agent.
There you have it - 35 Ways to Find Bargain Properties, so get ready to hustle!
