Motivated Sellers !!
I am new to real estate investing. I have read and studied numerous books on the subject but I can't find motivated sellers. I wondered if anyone has used or can recommend a book or system to get the ball rolling. I am contemplating either Scott Risers' "Find all the motivated sellers you can handle" ($299)or "Motivated seller magnet" by Ben Innes-Ker ($475). Has anybody used them or know of them? I can't find any reviews. Please help cuz I'm anxious to get the phone ringing.
JimMac,
Glad to meet you.
Motivated sellers come in all shapes and sizes, however it would help if you tell us what type of investing you do, as your marketing effort should be geared to your investing method.
Welcome on board this board, some great posters here to help you.
John $Cash$ Locke
John,
Thanks for the quick reply. I really don't have a lot of cash to start so I thought I woulld start with a small home or condo that I could do some minor reapirs to and sell for profit although I would love to get an Apartment or multi-family using creative financing so I could generate some postive cash flow. I guess you could say that I am willing to look at any ****Must Reach Senior Investor status before posting URL's*** have about $6000 in ****Must Reach Senior Investor status before posting URL's*** have a ELOC set up, but my wife won't let me use it to invest. Rather than argue, I figure that if I can show her that I have afew good deals under my belt that she will come around. I am determined to make something happen.
sorry for the confusion in my reply...the missing text was really an acronym for equity line of credit that I set up and the wife doesn't want me to use to ****Must Reach Senior Investor status before posting URL's*** wasn't a url
There are a few ways to get motivated sellers...
How are you wanting to purchase?
JimMac,
Yes, wive are funny that way until you do a couple of deals and they pick out their new Mercedes because you did some deals.
You are looking to re-habb a property, this is done by driving neighborhoods looking for houses that will meet your criteria, based on your HELOC amount.
Then it is a matter of due diligence when you find one, check out what it will bring fixed up. Then contact the owner and make an offer.
You might be suprised that you can find deals where the owner will keep the loan in there name and deed you the property for a period of time . I would start with a SFH to begin with until you find out if your are comfortable with this method of investing.
I am not into rehabbing, my idea of a rehab when I buy a house is to pull the nails out of the walls where the pictures were hung up. Then use that spakle stuff to patch the holes. I am exhausted already just thinking about it.
John $Cash$ Locke
JimMac,
Congratulations on having the courage to think outside the box.
I am also in the infancy of my investing career and I also have chosen rehabbing.
Let me recommend a book for you. It is by Kevin Myers. The name is 'buy it, fix it, sell it, profit." I got it for free from the library. If it's not on the shelves, ask the librarian to order it for you from another library. That's what I do.
I am starting with bank REO's. I found a good RE Agent that understands what I'm looking for. Bank REO's (In case you didn't know) are properties that have been foreclosed by and are now owned by a bank. Normally, they've been sitting empty for 6-12 months.
In the Myers book, he tells you how to start with the fixed-up value of the house, subtract repair costs, holding costs, resale (realtor) costs, and padding to get to your purchase price. That's where you start.
Best of luck to you. If I can help any more, please ask.
Ronnie
[addsig]
Hello Mussetter,
thanks for the advice. I t have read Buy it, Fix it , Sell it and agree that it is a very informative book. I seem to have a handle on what to do when I buy a property, but I just don't have enough motivated sellers to talk to.
I am driving around my target area but the houses that are FSBO are not motivated. I am working with a realtor who understands what I am doing but still gets unmotivated sellers. After months I had I motivated seller that after 4-5 phone conversations got their loan up to date. Hence no more motivation to sell.
I needto find motivated sellers or better yet , have them find me. Can this happen, oor is it all hype to sell a book or system? I mentioned two that I have heard about. If anyone knows of a systematic approach to getting motivated sellers to call them please let me know.
Oh, and John Locke, I intend to purchase your book on subject to. Would your tehniques help me to purchase a more expensive multi unit from a motivated seller with my limited funds?
Just a note, I really appreciate all the info that everyone provides on this site. The creative investor is the best site bar none!
If anybody else has information but does'nt want to post, you can e-mail me personally. Thanks in advance
That's all that I have first hand experience with so far.
Perhaps you should try a couple of other RE agents. I don't think I live in a depressed area, but my RE has more REO listings than I can deal with right now.
Maybe I'm just the only one outside the box, though. This is a very conservative area.
Good luck
Ronnie
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I have found some motivated sellers by sending out postcards, mailers, etc, I also call people. Find out who is going through the foreclosure process (it is public info) and contact them. You KNOW that they are motivated. If not, they will be - shortly. I try to show my understanding of the situation and try to resolve problems that they have (for example, if they are behind in payments, I will buy the property and lease it back, etc.)
Good luck and happy investing
Derek
Find out who is going through the foreclosure process (it is public info)
Where can i begin to look for this info on the web? or better yet where is it listed?
FYI also newbie. I spent about $150 bucks at Barnes and Noble and then discovered THE LIBARY. Don't waste your money anywhere else. Almost everything you need to read is at the library. A few good books you might want to look into are. How to make millions in real-estate, How to make millions in Foreclorsures (Same author) Flipping Properties and Real Estate Loopholes by Diane Kennedy. These are some great books and have wonderful "how to" advice which a lot of other books lack.
Good Luck
Thats a good point. Lots of good books to be found there.
BUT where is the public info posted on foreclosures? Cant seem to find it on the web.
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Dare,
Check the county recorders office, call around to county offices, they'll get you started in the right direction.
Work with a realtor and instruct them to give you a list of all properties that are vacant, not new contruction (ie built before 2003), and have been on the market for 6 months. You can go out farther or shorter depening on how many search results you get. A house that has been listed for one year and vacant I've found leaves a very modivated seller. On the flip side sometimes it doesn't because a person gets used to not having the money and deals with it when they have a vacant house for a year. I'm not an expert but it is definatly a place to start.
HI!
John gave you a great idea! I bought his book just to use it.
Get them to sell you the property "subject To" while you do the repairs. THis keeps you liquid and gives you mileage for your 6K.
Also look into Mobile Homes. My mother in law did quite well in Belleville IL. My brother has double his money on several small MH deals where he paid less than 10K for the home and did a quick refurb on it.
I am a contractor and frequently come up with incredible deals on MFG. homes. The best being a 4 year old new double wide that was never lived in for $14,000
Good Luck!
PS the Myers bok is the best on the subject..
I dont write books however. The library is the last place that I would go. Outdated books etc. Lot of that stuff is ghosted. Im not trying to embarass you or anything. You need to go with the people that are pros in this. I have friends that have spent thousands on theyre education and they make far more than a doctor ever single year. Your right though barnes is bs.
Although I have heard Scott Riser speak, I am not familiar with his material. (His talk was very focused on a single subject, which I enjoyed.) But I do have the Ben Innes-Ker material, and like it very much. He recommends two books (that should be available in the library): The E-Myth, and a book whose title escapes me but is by Dan Kennedy on "direct response marketing" (i.e., where prospects contact you, not the other way around.) Hope that helps! ==L==