I'm a rookie real estate investor focused in Indianapolis, IN. My full time job is playing professional basketball overseas and I've only been into flipping houses for the last year. I find it kind of hard to find quality deals through just the MLS. I mostly use Zillow and Trulia which is how I've bought all three properties I've purchased in the last year. With that said, I've noticed that a lot of deals tend to happen off market, without ever hitting the MLS. So as someone who is trying to play an active role in finding off market properties when I'm on the other side of the world, what's the best way to do so?

@Julian Mavunga what you need to find are motivated sellers. Sellers get motivated not houses. You can purchase lists with different motivations like absentee owners, 60-90-120 days late on mortgage, pre-foreclosure, delinquent taxes, water cutoff, code violation, evictions, probate, divorce, etc. and mail or cold call.

Other methods are driving for dollars, door knocking, wholesalers, craigslist, Realtors, FSBO sites, expired listings, put out bandit signs, billboards, newspapers, other offline publications.

You can use pay per click/adwords, motivated seller website with SEO, facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, and other forms of online and social media marketing.

If you have a big budget you can do radio, TV and billboards. Lots of bigger outfits do well with these mediums.

Originally posted by @Julian Mavunga :

I'm a rookie real estate investor focused in Indianapolis, IN. My full time job is playing professional basketball overseas and I've only been into flipping houses for the last year. I find it kind of hard to find quality deals through just the MLS. I mostly use Zillow and Trulia which is how I've bought all three properties I've purchased in the last year. With that said, I've noticed that a lot of deals tend to happen off market, without ever hitting the MLS. So as someone who is trying to play an active role in finding off market properties when I'm on the other side of the world, what's the best way to do so?

 If you're finding it online it's on the market.

Relationships, relationships, relationships. Building a proper networ(th) of people who is connected in the communities you're trying to invest in is going to be very important. Having a pulse on the local market and proving to them that you have the ability to close and that you're serious about every deal is going to play a large role in your deal flow. 

I would spend more time getting in touch with power agents and deal makers in the local market. 

@Julian Mavunga Although there can be some decent deals to be had on the MLS... the best opportunities to be had are those that never hit the market. Indianapolis is a very small market in the grand scheme, but it can be well worth your time to establish relationships with brokers and wholesalers that control a majority of the deal flow within the market. If you already have a team of inspectors, contractors, project managers, etc you are just missing the deal flow. If you can prove that you are a consistent closer to those that are sourcing deals you should not have to step foot in the market.

I would encourage you to reach out to those doing deals to get on their lists so that when opportunities come up you can be one of the first to gain access. Remember.. you are in a very competitive market, so the more responsive you are the better. If you are slow to get back with brokers and wholesalers you will with out a doubt lose out. Be prepared to run quick analyses and get back with them provide feedback. Know your numbers! Hope this helps. 

Cheers,

@Julian Mavunga you mentioned you purchased 3 properties. Assuming those are rental properties and you have a PM, your PM (or even other PM's) can be a great source for deals as well as wholesalers and all of the other advice above. 3 of my deals this year came from my PM as well as others potential deals that did not go through. PM's are very much part of the wider network and have a lot of insight.

Hi @Julian Mavunga ! As Greg stated, you should target motivated sellers! You could pay for a direct mail campaign which will identify property owners who are highly motivated or have problematic situations. You will save money in this instance as well because you will not have to pay commission to a real estate agent or an assignment fee to a wholesaler. You can negotiate directly with the owner of the property. 

Hey Julian, cool to see you have been flipping properties from overseas. That means that you have a very good local team that helps you in everything. Buying properties off market is a bit different. I believe most off market deals are wholesale deals. When buying a property from a wholesaler that means that you have to buy it cash. There are no realtors involved so there are no commissions to be paid but it also means that there are no disclosures or anything like that properties are being sold as is, and if the property is occupied it makes it even harder to schedule an inspection - if this is on your protocol when buying a property to flip it. Speaking if inspections - it is very hard to find wholesales that will give you inspection time and you'd like to an inspection you will have to take the risk, and there is a good chance the property will be sold before you will be able to schedule an inspection. The good thing about it is that these properties are usually being sold at a 20%-35% discount out of the After Repair Value including the repairs. There is a lot to be said on wholesale deals so if there is anything else please feel free to ask.