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Posted almost 5 years ago

10 Ways To Find Great Investment Properties

If you really want the best deals in investment properties, you have to increase your odds by finding more deals.  Who is more likely to get a cheap house or apartment building, an investor who looks through the MLS or Loopnet listings and calls it a day, or the one who seeks new, creative ways to locate properties no one else knows? Here is a list ten simple ways to find off-market properties:

1. Talk

By simply letting people you know that you are looking to purchase properties, sometimes the properties will come to you. There are a lot of owners out there who want to sell, but haven’t yet taken the steps nor listed their property.

2. Use the Internet

Go to a search engine and enter the type of real estate you are looking for, along with the city you want to invest in.  It may open you up to new sites and portals you never knew existed.  You never know what you might find.

3. Driving for Dollars

Drive around looking for “For Sale By Owner” signs.  Owners often don’t want to pay to list the ad every week, so you won’t see all there properties there.  Jot down addresses, take pictures of the homes and call the owners offering to take the house off their hands.

4. Find Abandoned Properties

Drive through local neighbor hoods and look for houses with tall weeds in the front yard that look like no one is living in the homes. That’s a pretty clear sign that the owner doesn’t want to deal with the property.  He or she might sell cheap just to avoid the property taxes and upkeep.

5. Find Old “For Rent” ads

Look online and in local papers for for "for rent" ads that have been listed for a long time.  Call if they are a few weeks or months old.  Landlords are often ready to sell, especially if they are having difficulty finding tenants.

6. Talk to Bankers

Bankers are a great source of foreclosures and distressed properties.  If you can establish good relationships with key bankers around your town, you might get a foreclosed-on investment property before anyone else and get it cheaper if you buy it before they list it with a real estate agent.

7. Offer Someone a Finder’s Fee

There are some people who always seem to hear about the good deals.  Make connections with theses people, give them your business card and let them know how much you will pay for a lead that turns into a sale.  Have such people coming to you.

8. Eviction Notices

If your local papers publish eviction notices or, if you can get the information online or at the courthouse, it can be useful.  A landlord who just went through the process of evicting tenants is a potential seller.

9. Old FSBO Ads

If you call on two-month-old “For Sale By Owner” ads, and they haven’t sold, they may be ready to deal. Owners often give up the effort, but still would love to sell. Help them out!

10. Put an Ad Online or in the Paper

Place an ad on Craigslist, Facebook, in local newspapers or anywhere potential sellers may look. Simply state “Looking for investment properties to buy” and list your email and phone number. That might be sufficient enough to start generating a few calls.

These are just ten of hundreds of ideas you can use to find great properties.  Be creative. Think like a seller and look where sellers would look to sell their properties. You are only limited by your imagination.



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