ALL LISTING ARE SELLING! NEED INFO...
Hello
I am interested in wholesaing and other junker (reo's) deals specially w realtors... but
all of them are telling me that alll properties listed get sold fast and for the asking price!!!! I call up realtors of ugly properties and they tell me the same thing...
how can I find deals to flip when there is nothing available...(under contract) through realtors.
Has anyone experienced this? A SELLLER'S market where everybody is buying and FAST (at ASKING PRICE!)?
Please respond on how I should deal and improve my route on this. 
If you think about it, the minute it goes to MLS, all the realtors in the area know. And if it is that good of a deal, they call the investors they work with. These are investors that have been in the game a long time and may even have cash to throw down.
You want to get them before the do on the market - before anyone knows they are there. Start finding homes and contacting the owners of vacant property.
What you need is a method to get the properties before they do on the MLS. Once they are on the MLS, it will be more difficult to get a price below market because the agent has a fiduciary obligation to get the highest price possible and therefore frequently will do a market analysis to determine what other similar properties are selling for.
A couple of suggestions that have worked well for me is to call the "For Rent" ads in the paper. I usually ask if the person answering the phone is a realtor or the owner (property management companies will not worth the extra breath, politely do on to the next ad!). If the owner, I usually ask if they would be consider selling the property or would consider "guaranteed rent" on the property in return for an option to purchase at a stated price (i.e., lease option). The lease option locks in today's price but if you get a long enough option period (I recommend no less than 2 years and preferably 4 years or more), the property will appreciate in value so you can make a profit later. The advantage of the lease option deal is it takes less cash than purchasing the property and it is easier to get a breakeven or positive cashflow out of the property.
Also, if you are driving around and see rundown houses, knock on the door and ask if the person "knows of any person in the neighborhood that is considering selling their house or property." I have had owners tell me they have thought about it, but did not have the money to fix up the property before selling it (I took it off their hands with a discount for me fixing up the property), or renters living in the house tell me that they were moving out of the property in 3 months and knew the owner was tired of owning rental property (or was retiring) and therefore planned on selling the property.
Alternatively, you can send letters to a targeted neighborhood. You can usually get the names and addresses in the property tax file at the county's tax assessor's office (or via the internet if the tax assessor's information is online). Send out a form letter about once every 6 months. It is a numbers game so over time you should get a 5-6% response and a 1-2% closing rate. This gives you the advantage of picking the best deals that suit your investing criteria. Remember that agents do this all the time to try and get listings. You can use the same approach and have more success than the agent if you write a good letter indicating that you (i) are not an agent and are not looking to earn a commission, and (ii) want to buy their house for yourself. In fact, I usually state they can say the commission by working with me directly. I also state in my letter that my letter is not meant to be offensive and apologize for the letter if it offends them. I then ask them to give me a call and let me know so that I do not send another letter to them in the future. Finally, I usually say something to the effect that if they are not planning on selling their house "this year or next year" they keep my name handy if they should change their mind in the future. One other thing that I add is if they are aware of any neighbors or friends that are thinking of selling their house, they should give me a call. I will "treat" them to a $100 gift certificate to a nice restaurant if I buy the friends or neighbor's property they referred me to.
There are a number of other strategies to finding good real estate deals. You just have to start thinking "out of the box." Remember, if you do what ever one else does (use the traditional methods of finding real estate via the MLS), you will get to the same place as where everyone else is (purchasing properties at market value)." If you think of making a profit on your real estate investing the way a businessperson thinks of making a profit on selling his widgets or service, you will start making money on the front end instead of making all of your money only through appreciation. A businessperson buys at wholesale and sells at retail. You need to take the same approach.
Hope that helps,
Taxjunkie
Great post ...
Alot of great suggestions and it cleared up a few things.....I was also thinking of calling FSBO's maybe you can do another great post on that one....
yet as far as wholesaling, I will try other different approaches just like addin that wording on the letter.
Thank you very much.