4 Ways to Find Real Estate Property for Sale
Finding investment properties for sale takes more work than just browsing the MLS. Whether you’re looking for undervalued properties to fix and flip or properties to buy and rent out, your strategies should differ from those you’d use to buy a primary residence.
You may get lucky and find the ‘perfect’ property on the
MLS, but if not, here are 4 other ways to find real estate property for sale.
1. Work with a Wholesaler
Real estate wholesalers do the legwork for investors like you. They find the properties and even put them under contract with the seller. Wholesalers then look for investors like you to assign the contract to at a slightly higher price to cover the cost of their legwork.
Wholesalers often have access to ‘off-market’ properties
because of their aggressive marketing tactics that help them find distressed
buyers who need to sell now.
2. Use Real Estate Websites
While the MLS has the largest listing of homes, some homeowners selling by owner list on Zillow. Keep Zillow in your regular routine of websites to watch so you can jump on new homes just listed before others do.
Another great website is Roofstock.
This website caters to real estate investors and most homes listed on there are
from investors. Some homes even have renters in them already making you a
landlord from day one.
3. Search Public Records
This method is more time-consuming, but it can net you some undervalued homes especially if you find distressed homeowners about to lose their home in foreclosure.
You can find property records online or at the local county
courthouse. You can find homes in pre-foreclosure, or with judgments or liens.
Knowing the homeowner is in distress, you can make an offer that may help them
avoid a full foreclosure, getting them out of the financial burden and giving
you a real estate investment.
4. Work with a Real Estate
Agent
Don’t work with just any real estate agent when looking for investment homes. Find one that specializes in investment homes. The criteria is much different and the calculations to determine if the home is worth it are extremely important.
If you ignore the important details, you could spend much
more than necessary on an investment home and miss the potential profits.
Final Thoughts
The key to finding the right investment property is knowing what numbers to crunch. How do you compare properties and how do you know you’re doing it right?
It can get overwhelming when you look at all the figures and factors including the cash flow, net operating income, capitalization rate, and return on investment. Why try to do it all yourself when you could have it done for you?
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