How to build a network for deal flow

[Jackson Lemerond]

I am a 23 year old real estate investor in Wisconsin, and purchased my first property in April of 2025. I'm on track to have the funds to purchase another property in my buy box I've defined by the end of this year hopefully, but I'm working in advance in order to prepare a network for myself in order to find better deals faster and easier. I have a realtor that sends me mls listings, which is how I acquired my first property. 

But I was looking to get into off market deal flow as in my area; most homes are older than what I'd like to purchase off the MLS (I'd like 1940s or newer, most proprrties for sale in my area were built between then and the 1880s). There are good quality deals on the MLS, but usually get bought up pretty quick that are in my buy box, so I'd simply like access to more opportunities to find deals.

I was wondering how an experienced investor builds up their network of people they get deals / advice from. I've heard a variety of ways people network to find deals, from going to meet ups to talking to local realtors or brokers in their town. So far, I have done the following methods to try and network:

- gone to realtor offices around my town and letting them know I'm an investor and gave them my buy box. I also asked some questions and got some good insights into my market this way, but realtors don't seem too keen to work with someone that isnt gonna buy something relatively soon, which I totally understand

- tried to research and search for meetups locally, but have had little success with this

any other methods anyone would like to share for building up a real estate network for finding better deals would be appreciated. I'm sure I'm missing some obvious ones.

[Mitch Messer]

Quote from @Jackson Lemerond:

I am a 23 year old real estate investor in Wisconsin, and purchased my first property in April of 2025. I'm on track to have the funds to purchase another property in my buy box I've defined by the end of this year hopefully, but I'm working in advance in order to prepare a network for myself in order to find better deals faster and easier. I have a realtor that sends me mls listings, which is how I acquired my first property. 

But I was looking to get into off market deal flow as in my area; most homes are older than what I'd like to purchase off the MLS (I'd like 1940s or newer, most proprrties for sale in my area were built between then and the 1880s). There are good quality deals on the MLS, but usually get bought up pretty quick that are in my buy box, so I'd simply like access to more opportunities to find deals.

I was wondering how an experienced investor builds up their network of people they get deals / advice from. I've heard a variety of ways people network to find deals, from going to meet ups to talking to local realtors or brokers in their town. So far, I have done the following methods to try and network:

- gone to realtor offices around my town and letting them know I'm an investor and gave them my buy box. I also asked some questions and got some good insights into my market this way, but realtors don't seem too keen to work with someone that isnt gonna buy something relatively soon, which I totally understand

- tried to research and search for meetups locally, but have had little success with this

any other methods anyone would like to share for building up a real estate network for finding better deals would be appreciated. I'm sure I'm missing some obvious ones.

Jackson, the most effective approach I've EVER used to find quality off-market deals is "tired landlords."

It's been WAY faster than pre-foreclosures, easier than expired listings, and less work than driving for dollars!

We reach out to property owners who have filed for eviction against non-paying tenants.

We look for cases where the unpaid balance is large (3 months of rent or more), and approach these obviously struggling landlords with an offer to get them paid and free of tenant stress.

HOWEVER...

This strategy ONLY works if your local city/county court system provides online access to the required case data. You'll need names, addresses, dollar amounts, case status, etc.

Some counties DO provide this data, but many DON'T!

We've had HUGE success in Metro Atlanta (GA) and also Tulsa (OK).

(For example, I can hop online from anywhere in the world and see who filed eviction in Tulsa County for FREE!)

Google search "<your county> eviction filing" to get started.

Thank me later!