How to find off market properties

Question

Hello All,Currently I'm working full time and my side investing consists of note investing.  I'm at the very beginning stages of venturing off into multi family rentals.  I've heard a lot about finding deals that are off market.  Now every now and again when I issue a new loan or start a foreclosure related to my note investing, I'll get something mailed to me asking to purchase my loan.

My question for you all is this, How do these people find out my name and address?  I'm sure they get it off public record, but I'm looking for something more specific.  Like a step by step example of how someone does this.  I'm looking to use the same concept for finding properties and mailing out offers to owners.  I'm assuming you can't just mail something to a rental property, as the real owner most likely will not be occupying the facility.

Or if you have any other tips to find off market properties, throw it at me.

Thank you.

Brock Mogensen · Answer

Those are public records.  Try contacting all of the local county assessor offices and ask to buy the list of owners.  Take that list and create a direct mail campaign.  I send four pieces to each owner throughout a 3 month period.  Find the phone numbers and parlay the direct mail with cold calling also.

Sean OToole · Answer

@Jerryll Noorden On the steak, let's pick a market we agree on and see if you can do the same there. I'm a man of my word and will send a porterhouse your way. https://www.omahasteaks.com/product/Private-Reserve%AE-Porterhouse-Steaks-%2B-Seasoning-58972.

James Wise · Answer

Property owner information is listed on the website of your county auditor.

Jerryll Noorden · Answer

Hahah man I love the attitude. How about you order a shirley temple and enjoy it on my behalf. And we call it even. I do want a picture of you holding it! If you ever need help with SEO let me help you. I know you dont need it but the offer is there! I mean it!

Sean OToole · Answer

Oh, and let's stop bugging these folks. Start a new thread... SEO Challenge and tag me.

Jerryll Noorden · Answer

Dude I just want my steak. I don't mess with food!

We should team up and see if we can learn from each others methods, and we can all improve our craft!

Sean OToole · Answer

@Jerryll Noorden You're welcome for the opportunity to make your pitch. ;-) Caveat emptor.

Jerryll Noorden · Answer

OHHH no you di-int!! It is war buster!

Sure I am Good at SEO... but you know what else? It is not just me being good at it. It is LITERALLY everyone else is just bad at it. They are all doing it completely wrong.How is it that I rank FAR above everyone else? That my leads coming in are far above the norm in quantity and quality (as far as I know at least). I simply cracked the code. I have a proven formula that simply works! Period. I am convinced I can rank anyone #1 no matter the competition. Now back to you..

OK EVERY single point you made is completely wrong. I am not kidding nor exaggerating.

I rank #1 for ALL keywords (I want to rank for) and for the MOST competitive keywords.

Then,

if you tell me that sellers are not going online to look for ways to sell their house, .. well that is the same as you telling me that sellers do not try to find agents to list their house on the MLS. And that is obviously ridiculous.

Even the MLS is ONLINE. Is there a version of the traditional seller using an agent without going online? So is there an offline version of Zillow? So that point is totally wrong.

Then..

I wouldn't call it "hope and prey". Again. look at the numbers. Look at the leads coming in. There is nothing to hope and pray for. It is coming in for 2 years day in day out.

So I have NO IDEA where you base your claims on. You are pulling  these claims out of thin air. For 2 years have I been harvesting leads every day, from keywords competitive or not.

But if you want to take that route, then it is ALWAYS some sort of hope and pray no?

Even if someone needs to sell their house and you know this for a fact and you walk up to them phisically, you still have to "hope and prey" they will like you or trust you enough to sell to you.

You need to hope and prey they will accept your offer.

You need to hope and prey, they didn't already sign a contract with someone else

You need to hope and prey that.. [fill anything you want here].

Yes I can ALWAYS find a reason why something wil NOT happen.

But here is the fact of life.

over 90% of people will turn to internet to find a solution to their problem. That means I will be chosen before anyone even knows about them because they are first to know if they have a problem, before anything or anyone else.

Nope... relevant keywords has nothing to do with it? Again want proof?

Sure thing:

Not once did I use the keyphrase "best looking house cash buyers in CT". Also not once did I use  How to get cash for your house in CT"

And..

For that same search .. why in heavens name would Google put my name at the bottom of the list for suggested searches?

People that don't know much about SEO say exactly what you are saying.

Ohh you need special keywords.

WRONG!!

There is something called Google trust and search intent.

See Google is a lot smarter now than it was before.

WHY would I rank for pretty much ALL and ANY keywords in our niche without me having them on the site?

Well.. it is called search intent. When someone searches for "sell house fast forclosure", Google knows that this person wants to sell their house fast because of foreclosure..

And (here is where Google trust comes to play)... Google knows exactly what my website is about and they know I am the best choice... and they put my site first!How does Google know I am the best choice?

Because my metrics are 1000% higher than my nearest "competitor" With 30 leads a week and a time on page between 8 and 11 minutes, google ABSOLUTELY knows there is no one in CT better than my website. And my website will always be first.

Adtionally.. even if I never even mentioned the above...

Keywords is not some mysterious entity you would need to guess. No dude. You can EASILY find out EXACTLY what people type to find services like ours. So your point there also is a moot point. :)

And then to add the icing on the cake.

With SEO there is no money spent, list research, marketing KPI's I don't need to skip trace I don;t need to "prey and hope" they are motivated.

I LITERALLY do nothing.. NOTHING and the leads flow in.

How is there ANY argument here. Now if you tell me "Hey man, I don;t care how inferior my method is, I WANT to do it my way" OK. Nothing to say.. but to tell me or anyone there is a better way than SEO? sorry mate.. you are simply wrong! It is nothing personal. A personal opinion you can have. But argue the facts... not going to happen!

FYI, SEO works FAR better and faster in a small market. And Connecticut definitely is not a "Large" market. Try Texas THAT is a large market and I have  clients that are CRUSHING it from my SEO strategies. In big and small markets.

So really...

up to you, but I think you owe me a steak dinner.

Look I see this countless of times. Someone wants to promote their services and then tries to belittle a strategy because they favor an other. But as you can see, I show numbers. I show proof. There is no arguing this. You can not beat SEO No matter what you say or try.

As long as you can not find super motivated seller leads for free without any effort, or annoyance.. you just can't beat SEO!

Sean OToole · Answer

@Jerryll Noorden I agree that SEO can work if you are really good at it (sounds like you are - congrats), can find relevant keywords that sellers actually use in searches, and you have no strong competition for those keywords in your market. Plus you have to be in a market where lots of sellers are actively searching for your keywords in order for it to be worthwhile.I'd bet you a steak dinner this is working for you because you are in a large market with enough market distress to create the search volume you show.For most, I'm confident in my statement that it is a hope and prey, "message in a bottle" upon a sea of billions of websites, approach compared to simply using public records to find the name, address and property details for any property owner you want. The SEO approach, no matter how good you are, is always limited to whether people search for your keywords or not, and whether google shows them your message or someone else's based on their algorithm of the day.

How to find off market properties

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