How to find investment properties priced below 70% ARV

How to find investment properties priced below 70% ARV

Lots of newbie investors are looking to get started nationwide, and as an active real estate investor doing quite well in Oklahoma and surrounding states, I get asked to share my secrets all the time.

Fortunately, I love to share 🙂

One of the most common questions I get from other investors is ”How are you finding so many good investment properties priced below 70% ARV?”

With the flood of foreclosure deals all but dried up (compared to where they were a few years back)… people are having to get more creative in finding the best deals on great local investment properties.

I use a variety of marketing routes to locate the best "off-market" deals… online, offline, etc… so there is no one way that is the best way to find good investment properties.

But the info below walks you through some ways you can put to action to find great properties to add to your investment portfolio.

Most investors are afraid of competition – they think that if they share their secrets, someone will steal their ideas from them.

That’s not how it works. I work with many other investors to accomplish things together that we can’t do alone.

I share my experience and philosophy because I'm finding more deals than I could ever purchase myself. Ultimately, we’re all investing in the same places, and there's more than enough business to share the wealth, so it makes sense to work with others.

There’s a few core principles that are important to understand if you want to get the best investment property deals.

First, think long term.

Real estate doesn’t move like the stock market. It’s where people live, work and play – not just numbers on a screen. It’s almost impossible to make a huge amount of cash in a short-term real estate deal, those come few and far between.

So don’t expect to get away with fancy tricks, or that you’re smarter than the people who have been doing this stuff for years. Thinking long-term means learning from the past to better anticipate the future.

It also means that if you don’t find the type of deals you're looking for right away… just know that this isn’t a sprint… it’s a marathon.

That’s why it’s a great idea to find several sources of properties that fit your criteria (such as buyers lists of other investors & wholesalers) so you have a heavier flow of great deals to look at.

Second, focus on relationships.

The investment community in our region (Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, & Kansas) is much smaller than most people think.

There are only a handful of true full-time investors who conduct a lot of business in the region. Sure there's many "real estate investors", but only a small group of us are full-time investors, doing a lot of deals each month. Most the rest are either wholesalers who have never purchased a single property themselves, or are part-time investors who have made a few purchases.

Most are used to working with the same few people on a regular basis. If you're looking for the best deals in these areas, it’s worth the time and effort to find those doing the most deals and learn from them. If you can, maybe even work with them on helping you locate deals. They’re your best source of good deals, now and in the future.

How do you get to know them? Go to your local REIA, or contact other investors you see posting a lot of FSBO, or investment property ads and talk to them. Ask them which real estate agents & brokers they use, what wholesalers in the area are they working with (and get their info), or ask them if they ever find deals that don't fit their criteria, and let everyone you meet know that you are looking for investment properties and your criteria. Learning how to find good investment properties isn’t a hard thing…but relationships can be a key element in getting some of the best deals on properties that no one else has access to.

Who should you get to know?

• Other investors who you see doing a lot of deals in your area
• A few of the top investment friendly real estate brokers & agents
• A couple real estate appraisers who deal w/ the types of properties you deal with
• The top property wholesalers in the area who locate a lot of deals
• A few property rehabbers / flippers in the area

Third, identify your target investments.

Real Estate Investing is like many other aspects of life – the people who are the most focused often succeed the most. You have to find your niche. Some people make millions just in parking garages or storage units.

Others specialize in residential apartments, while others deal strictly with retail, or wholesale. If you take the time to do your homework, you can analyze the different segments of the market to see which opportunities are truly the best for you – and not just the best marketed. Once you find exactly what you want to own, you can create a plan to find out who owns it and make sure that they know to call you when they want to sell that property.

This takes a lot of work, but it’s a tried-and-true method for creating long-term wealth.

Finally – use technology.

Sign up for "Cash Buyer" lists like the one we operate and you'll receive notification instantly when great investment properties are located that doesn't fit others buying criteria.

Through our marketing efforts, we frequently locate more properties than we can purchase ourselves, or that do not fit our own criteria.  Whenever we do, our acquisitions guys we work with usually go ahead and negotiate deep discounts, secure them and then sell them for a discounted rate to other investors on our list who are ready, willing and able to invest, and close fast.

There’s other ways to get notified about properties on the open market – you should get familiar with searching the MLS (multiple listing service) with the rest of the herd, because every once in a blue moon a great deal shows up. But the best deals, priced below 70% ARV, are usually only found by building those relationships with other investors, who are locating more than they can purchase themselves.

So hopefully this has helped you have a little more knowledge on how to find great investment properties.

If you’re ever looking to invest in our region (Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, & Kansas), feel free to contact me anytime, and I'll see if I can help you locate some good deals.

Good Luck, Keep Grinding and hitting Home Runs!! – JeffFilali.com - (OklahomaCashHomeBuyer.com)