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How to Find Deals When There Is No Inventory

Engelo Rumora
3 min read
How to Find Deals When There Is No Inventory


You’re ready to buy. You’re searching for deals—but can’t seem to find any! What now?

Well, I’m sorry to say that you’re out of luck—there is no available inventory in the U.S. right now. I’m kidding, guys!

Try Looking Elsewhere

I’ve always said that there is no bad piece of real estate as long as the price is right. So, if for whatever reason you can’t find a deal in the market that you’re currently in, it’s simple: look in another market.

I mean you have 50 states to work with! And not only are there a lot of other markets, there are also a lot of micro-markets.

I’m based in Toledo, and I still feel like a kid in a candy store. There are deals falling off trees. I encourage you to look into the Midwest as the East Coast and West Coast recover. The Midwest is always a few steps behind, so it doesn’t go up in value nearly as much as the coasts.

And if there’s nothing available in the U.S., go to Europe! Go to Australia!

Go to the Bahamas! I own a lot of real estate in the Bahamas.

What I’m trying to say is the world is your oyster. It’s pretty amazing to live in the times that we do now.

Related: How to Invest in a New Real Estate Market

Try Doubling Down

A few other alternative strategies if you can’t find a deal, I think you should double down on your acquisition efforts. You can spend more time cold calling, spend more time prospecting, and submit more offers. You can send more yellow letters, work with more real estate agents—leave no stone unturned.

You have to remember that real estate is a numbers game. You have to commit to the numbers daily. You have to meet with real estate agents and submit offers, submit offers, submit offers. Keep submitting offers and eventually you will pick up that deal!

Related: Real Estate Investing: A Numbers Game

Try Something New

Now, something I don’t recommend but is a possibility is getting into new construction. I see that happening a lot right now. Investors start getting into subdivisions or structural renovations that are going to require a lot of capital and a lot of effort just to make a small profit.

Me? I wouldn’t touch it.

I like to be the master of my fate and the captain of my soul. I don’t want to allow any outside influences to affect my potential profit. Those outside influences could be an architect, a structural engineer, the city mandating how high you can go and how wide you can build—a pandemic!

I want to keep everything in-house. That’s why I prefer buying properties that just need minor cosmetic rehabs or a bigger rehab where I don’t have to go out of my way to do a full-blown reconstruction. So, try and keep as much in-house as you can. Again, I wouldn’t go down that path, but you can if you know what you’re doing.

man looking out over river at cityscape and sunset

Try Taking a Break

Another solution is to sit on cash. Cash is king, always has been, and always will be.

You want to be able to go to town and buy every single property if there is a market decline. So, I don’t think there is anything wrong with sitting on cash for six months, 12 months, even two years.

I know it sucks when inflation goes up. You lose money, and you feel like it’s burning a hole in your pocket. But guys, if you make a mistake with that capital, it’s going to cost you a lot more than letting it sit there and do nothing.

My dad—love him to death—he said, “Son, if you’re going to go broke, you might as well go broke on the beach than go broke by doing a job—or investing in real estate, in this instance—and not making any money.”

The Bottom Line

Well, that’s pretty much it. To summarize, the world is your oyster. Be flexible, be mobile, and if the numbers don’t make sense in your market, look elsewhere.

There’s always a depressed market somewhere, where there are so many deals that it’s absolutely mind-boggling. And do not cry over missed opportunity! There is always going to be one around the corner. Another one will come around.

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Are you stashing cash right now? Are you finding deals and investing?

Let me know in a comment. 

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.