How do you find deals?

[Christy Philippoff]

What is your favorite way to find deals? We have some money to invest and would be able to make a cash offer for a couple of houses. We've bought one house from the courthouse steps. We just sold our other house we flipped and are currently house hacking the foreclosed house. I know a lot of people do mailings, but my husband and I work and wouldn't be very efficient at answer phone calls, plus talking on the phone is one of my least favorite things in the world and am perfectly capable of admitting my inadequacies in this department!! We've put in a couple offers off MLS but none have gotten accepted. We've written letters using the driving for dollars method and no luck there either!! Any ideas or suggestions would be very much appreciated!!

[Neil Schoepp]

My favorite way is to network. That simply means talking with people about what you do and asking for help (that ask is "If you ever hear of something that is coming or may come up for sale let me know". Let them know that you are actively looking for properties to buy. Each person you talk with becomes a lead generation tool for you. I always approach it from a laid back position. This is who I am this is what I do and if I can ever help you out I will. That help by the way is in anything. For example if I am at church and talking with someone that I am kinda friends with and they make a passing comment about they are moving I ask if they need a hand packing up, or loading boxes. I genuinely look to help those around me. I am looking to build a network of friends not just use them for leads. The leads portion takes care of itself. I use this same approach with bankers, brokers, lenders, inspectors, mailmen, cashiers at the store, gas jockeys, the list just keeps going on. By the way real estate is NEVER the first thing that comes up, it will eventually come up naturally. Most recently I met with a real estate agent about a property I saw on the MLS. I met with her for the better part of an hour and spent just 10 mins discussing the deal. The rest was about her daughter, husband, how she got into real estate. That's actually the part of doing deals I like the most. Meeting people and seeing what makes them tick. I'm most likely not going to get that deal, but the win is I've made another friend. This does take time, but when done with genuine appreciation for them it will last a lifetime.