When to look for off market deals?

Question

Hey investors,

Just wanted to pick some peoples brains with this question. But was there a point in time where you decided to spend less time on the MLS & start pursuing off market campaigns? What caused you to make this decision & how was the process overall?

Jonathan Greene · Answer

I agree with @Caleb Brown, you want to always be doing both. In my market, the wholesale deals now are worse than the MLS because the wholesaler can't get good enough prices. You never want to say one or the other, you should be using as many sources as are available at all times and focusing on relationships more than marketing. When a market is hot, the only deals no one else knows about are the ones you get from relationships.

Caleb Brown · Answer

Always look for both. Off market world is competitive since the market is so good. You have wholesalers and investors doing text/calling campaigns so owners are getting bombarded with them. Set yourself apart if you are doing those campaigns and just keep chugging along, you'll get deals through MLS or off market.

Daniel K. · Answer

Now, because very few people are selling. There was normally about 30-50 houses on market in Parma at this time of year but now there are less than a dozen. But I'm still seeing very little off-market listings in Parma.

I've been getting cold calls to sell my homes, and just recently I got a cold call from a previous selling agent who listed a pre-foreclosure that did not appear on the MLS my agent is sharing. Now it's even showing up on Zillow but still not through my agent's listing when it should meet my criteria.. Hm. He's on vacation too so I made an offer myself.

After having bought 4 houses in the past few years with 3 buying agents, I've learned all I need to know about my market for my goals. Agents do help but often they can know surprisingly little so it depends on how much you value yours. And my agent is good but he seems to be on vacation when the market is slow and agents generally drag their feet for low price deals because they want more commission. A couple deals passed me by because he'd take a couple days to write up an offer in this low inventory market. During times like these it makes sense to look both on and off market.

With all that in mind, off market properties in this area of Cleveland or Parma do tend to be either very distressed or they are pretty terrible deals. (typically something like 20k with 40k repair cost for 3 bedrooms, in the East side? 40k of sweat and labor can bring more equity in other areas) The only properties in this category that I normally consider are the cash-offer fixer uppers because I can make my most of my money doing almost anything myself or with an extra hand or two.

When to look for off market deals?

When to look for off market deals?

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