How did you find your last two deals?

Question

Investors,
I'm wondering if any of you have come up with some creative ways to find deals this summer.  
My last two were found by:
     1.  Newspaper ad
     2.  Small poster left on a grocery store bulletin board

Chris Kane · Answer

REO's that I watched and bought when they were ready to unload

Lynn Z · Answer

Bought 2 houses and a lot by riding in a great neighborhood after church over and over.  Termite damage allowed a lower ball figure and offered cash with no contingencies.  The family didn't even clean out the house.  It was a wreck.  Rehabbed it in 30 days.   Rented it next month.   There was a tenant already in the second house.  Just sold the lot to a builder.

The last deal was a 50's stone house on a busy street adjacent to a high class zip code.  Commercial carpet, roaches throughout.  Needed updating badly.
3/1.  Made a kohler bath from extra space in the living room for master.  Sunk $70k in top to bottom repairs, new kitchen, roof, windows etc. and did not borrow more than I absolutely had to.  1031 exchange replacement.  Got great  responsible tenants after waiting 2 months trolling through duds.   Closing on a long term mortgage and probably going to do a HELOC for 100K -- Just in case.  This was a house that sat openly for 2 years with 2 top realtors.   In a few years of looking top notch....I'm going to make a pile of money for my efforts.  Location, location, location.

Andrea Hewitt · Answer

I found my last deal on realtor.com
I was working with a realtor who was sending me daily listings, but the property I ended up purchasing I found myself on the net.

Anthony Sulecki · Answer

1. Ad from paper
2. A letter on a home that I knew was a great wholesale that read, When your realtor cant sell your home call me. Fast closing etc. (of course it was listed at that time) I knew it wasnt going to sell around here.

PS - For the new guys. I invest without realtors at all, so I have no problem saying that. If you deal with realtors, its probably not a good idea.

Frank Adams · Answer

Networking; 3 house deal from a "tired" landlord who needed CASH. I flipped two through double closing to tenants and put a few $ into the third and flipped it within 3 weeks.

FSBO sign from a guy who had no idea how to SELL.
1. Sign was in WINDOW, instead of yard, had to be driving slow to see it.
2. Guy took an average of 5-6 days to return calls.
3. Had a vague idea of how much he wanted.
4. Called him again 6 weeks later, he returned my call 5 days later. I showed up at the house with my (3/4 page) P&S contract, all filled in except PRICE.

all cash

Michael Rossi · Answer

I get almost all my deals these days through word of mouth/networking.  I have been in business for almost 4 years and I receive frequent calls from desperate people who want to sell their properties NOW.

I bought 12 rental units (2 SFHs and 10 apartments) in May (6 buildings total).  All of these were from landlords who wanted to get out of the business and were willing to sell the properties at a BIG discount.

Mike

N/A N/A · Answer

Personal networking for a mixed-use commercial/residential. Distressed property with a bad landlord tenant situation for the commercial frontage.

Watching a listing for residential. It expired twice. Made a lowball offer. Owner accepted.

Minna Reid · Answer

1. My newspaper ad
2. Preforeclosure i found on the mls a week before auction (can't really count it professionally though, as I live in it...a deal nonetheless)

Account Closed · Answer

King of lousy?

You wonder why people do not trust RE investors? Then you read stories like this and you know why.

John Corey

Nick Albin · Answer

yeah. well she was already in the nursing home and a realtor was selling it. house was  free and clear and the state would collect any money made on the sale.

I guess it is kind of lousy. Oh well. Whats done is done.