Finding deals through foreclosure, probate, short sale

[Aaron Macken]

Hey everyone!

My name's Aaron and I'm looking to get my first deal pretty soon. I wanted to ask if anyone had any experience in the following methods of finding deals:

- Foreclosure

- Probate

- Short sales / pre-foreclosure

Any pro's & con's of searching this way? How has it compared to simply searching through the MLS with an agent or hunting on zillow / realtor / redfin?

[Christopher Parsons]

@Aaron Macken nice, I am doing a couple BRRRRs in TX right now. Honestly, if you want to BRRRR, it might be better to try to find those deals now, just look for ones with minor rehab (paint, floors, maybe new bathroom fixtures) and you'll start building up a little rehab experience without the risk of doing a larger rehab.

You can find those deals through a realtor, but you might have better luck finding those specific type of deals through a wholesaler. Wholesalers specialize in finding those type of off market deals and tend to have more options to choose from. If you're going to work with a realtor, you'll want to find one who is investor friendly. Realtors are basically just sales people for real estate, that doesn't mean they know how investors operate and what we look for. Plus, they make money if they sell for their client and they also will be wanting to get around their client's asking price. Hard to get 70 cents or less on the dollar when you're dealing with an agent.

In working with either wholesale or an agent, make sure you do a lot of screening questions. Wholesalers don't usually have 100% information about a property but can probably find you better deals, whereas realtors should have most of the info up front, but they might not be able to get you the best price for your dollar.

A third option (just thought of while I was writing all this) would be to start speaking with property managers. In a lot of state, property managers have to also get their real estate license. They're more than likely working with investors, probably also invest themselves, and also have access to clients who might be trying to liquidate their portfolio for one reason or another.