« Be Financially Healthy, Donate Often | Main | Who should go to marriage counseling »
The Often-Overlooked Opportunity in Real Estate Listings
By plrprousers | September 17, 2009
Many investors think that real estate listings will not help them find properties. They believe that owners of distressed home will not want to wait around for an agent. Investors spend a lot of time and money using alternative methods to find deals. These alternatives often include staking out deserted properties, using bandit signs and 800 numbers.
But any way that you can get leads on investment properties should not be neglected. The use of real estate listings might yield better results than you expect. You can determine a certain set of things from a real estate listing. These things could possibly help you spot a good investment.
You should not neglect to use free sources of leads. Use real estate listings to help you find good investment properties. You can look for the following “flags”:
* Look for houses that have been listed for a long time - If a house has been listed for a long time, the owners may be getting nervous. They might not realize that there are options outside of a realtor. Your contacting them could actually be a life preserver.
* Home prices that have been recently lowered - People who drop their price may be getting motivated to sell. After all, why take less money if you do not need to sell at all? Drops in price may indicate an owner’s need to get out.
* FSBO (For Sale By Owner) houses are good targets - It is likely that FSBO owners are overwhelmed. They may be delighted to have any offer than gets them out of their current situation. They also may take a lower offer because they are not paying commission.
* • Properties that offer “creative” or owner-financing - This type of financing has inherent risk. It often involves working with buyers who do not have excellent credit or who cannot get bank loans. If a property owner is willing to take this type of risk they are likely a motivated seller.
As you can see, the real estate listings are a great source of leads. Use your local paper to spot potential deals in real estate listings right away.
Tags:distressed property,investment property,MLS,motivated seller,real estate investing,real estate investor,real estate listingsRelated posts
Topics: Finance | No Comments »