How Do You Find That Distressed Seller?

How Do You Find That Distressed Home Seller?

Use to be that when your looking to purchase distressed properties you would purchase a Sunday Newspaper and look for House For Sale ads that indicated the home seller was motivated or in some kind of distressed situation and needed to sell quickly.

This will still work but is not as effective simply because a lot of investors and people who have read a "get rich buying and selling real estate" book use the trigger words just to get you to call them. These ads will say things like divorce, foreclosure, must sell, will consider trades, needs work, and will finance. I would still call on these, but I would also listen to what the real estate seller has to say and do my research to determine just how distressed they are and if the home or property seller is worth what they are trying to sell it for.

And of course we are going to be watching the small free papers also. You will usually find them at the local convience stores and coffee shops. They are usually much less expensive to advertise in, so we are going to find property for sale by people on a smaller budget. You will also find seller realtors advertising property that they do not want to pay the cost of advertising in the major paper that is in circulation. This is also where you will find investors advertising some of the houses they have in inventory that they are trying to sell off. Other investors and landlords can be a great source that may also consider creative financing and terms as well as holding all or some of the paper on the property.

Another source or way to find distressed property sellers are homes that are in foreclosure. This would include bank foreclosure, private notes in foreclosure, and tax foreclosures. There is usually a general circulation paper that will list foreclosure notices. Now you need to always be careful when purchasing these kind of properties and I have information in a related article about that. when contacting anyone in foreclosure you want to be understanding of the situation. This is a very dramatic situation that they are in.

Your realtor will be another source. He or She is going to hear about properties that need a quick sale. These are properties that are in distress for some reason due to the owner needing money. If you can find out how much money the owner needs, you know what kind of offer they may be agreeable to.

One of my favorite ways is to simply keep pen and paper in my car and then when driving around mark down any vacant houses that look rundown or abandoned. Put a short description so you will remember it as well as the address. Then look up the address on the internet or at the local tax office and find out the where the tax statements are being sent to. Then simply send them a postcard letting them know you would be interested in purchasing the home or property located a the properties address and a phone number to contact you.

The reason I use a post card is the person receiving it automatically turns it over and reads it. They do not just throw it away unread. They will quite often keep it and put it on the fridge or bulletin board and keep it even if they are not ready to sell at this time. And of course the postage is cheaper on post cards also.

Now the other avenue that I get leads from is word of mouth. You might be surprised what you will hear about when you let your friends, family, neighbors, and people you work with and come in contact with. If they know that you pay cash for real estate you might be surprised at how many people have a house they want to get rid of. Now when I say I will pay cash I am not claiming I pay all cash. Just that I pay cash.

I also know other investors that put the bandit signs on corners and posters that say "I buy houses for cash". I also see ads in papers, on bulletin boards in Laundromats, and even on full highway ad boards..

Get the word out and the phone will ring. Just be sure and do your home work before buying. Remember there is always another deal around the corner and you make your money by purchasing the property at the right price and terms.

Why Do You Need A Realtor?