Forget the MLS! The REAL deals are the ones that are "Not for Sale"

[Jay Scott]

Got going on an off market deal in Arizona.  How did we get it?  Through our Real Estate Attorney.  One of his clients needs to "get rid" of his house.  Spoke to the owner yesterday.  He's flexible and open to just about anything.  

Purchase and "all in"....$1.9 MM

ARV....$2.7 - $3 MM

Already have the capital lined up. 100% will be covered. And the private lender will get a VERY nice ROI.

"Why hasn't he sold himself?"  Great question.  Long story.  Short answer is he has to sell by next Friday.  Other "buyers" tried, but failed.  So it is up to us now.  

The best deals have been, and always will be off market deals. Yes, once in a while, you can find a "diamond in the rough" on the MLS, which is why I spend maybe 10% of my time finding deals on that. The other 90% is on other methods to find them off market. Giddyup!

[David Krulac]

I have bought and sold over 1,000 properties for my own inventory. When I was writing about my story, I listed the source of the deal. 25% came from the MLS, which obviously meant 75% did not. In one community with 1,300 houses, I ended up buying 117 properties and the number one source of purchases there was letter solicitation. I wrote letters to every non owner occupied property owner, every out of state, out of country, out of county owner. I wrote letters to owners that lived in Canada and the Philippines. I wrote to every owner that had owned the property over 20 years, and every property that indicated estate or "heirs of" in the property title. One time I received a phone call that went like this: "Our Mother passed away and in her papers we found your letter from 5 years ago. Are you still interested in buying her property?" I was surprised the first time that it happened, but then the same thing happened a couple more times. I told everybody that I met that I was buying property there, good times, bad times didn't matter. I even talked with the town officials including the Mayor, and Zoning Officer. I even bought property that the town owned, and when somebody asked at the town hall, "Do you know anybody buying property here." They gave out my name and number. Letters are just one source of many deals for me.

Another source that I used was to introduce myself to neighbors when I bought a property.  I'd say, "You have a nice house here, if you ever decide to sell, give me a call, here's my card."  

Another source that I've used is to always ask, "Do you have any other property you want to sell?"

A one point I worked in a real estate office; the owner of the company was personal friends with several attorneys.  Whenever the attorneys were working to settle an estate that owned real estate, they would refer their clients to that real estate company, which resulted in listings for the real estate company and sometimes the company owners even bought the properties.