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SHOW NOTES FOR EPISODE #012 – HOW TO FIND GREAT DEALS
Overview
Finding the real good deals is an important process but it can only happen AFTER you have carefully defined your goals. How and where you look for deals must directly support your primary goals.
Ideally, finding great deals is a process whereby you set up mechanisms to help you create a steady stream of property leads that will eventually provide you with that “diamond in the rough” – that great property that has all the right stuff to help you get that much closer to achieving your end goal!
I like to call it PROSPECTING – because that’s what it is! Just like that old miners in California in the 1860s, they collected all the best data they could find before they started to dig on pan for gold. Locating the “right” property is key in successfully your real estate investments.
They say a good real estate investor “makes his profit when he buys” – not when he sells!
Your goal should be to lock in your profits from the beginning
It’s important that you direct your efforts toward finding the right properties
Know Your Criteria
First, before you begin prospecting, make sure you know Your Criteria
- Town
- Neighborhood
- Property Size
- Lot Size
- Property Conditions
- Number of Units
- CAP rate
- Cash Flow
- Appreciation Potential
Know your Objectives
For example… I want to
- Find a motivated seller
- in area where the economy is about to rebound (it hasn’t yet and that’s one reason the sellers are anxious to sell)
- And where the sellers in that area are generally unaware that the market is rebounding
- And in this area you can expect appreciation to rise in the next 1-3 years
Methods to Find Deals
Now, there are a lot of different methods you can use to start building your leads funnel. Here are a few. You may use just a couple that work well for you or all of those listed here, plus aybe more of your own:
- First, you may want to consider creating Your own website. This is easier than you think with such online services as WIX and Weebly. The purpose of a website is to have an ongoing “ad” so to speak where you clearly define what you are looking for and how people can reach you.
- Business Cards
- Internet
- realtor.com
- trulia.com
- zillow.com
- redfin.com
- Setting up filters
- Getting access to MLS through a real estate agent
- Types of properties
- Regular
- REOs
- Short Sales
- Newspaper (old school) and online classified sites like craigslist.com
- Word of Mouth – tell everyone you know and meet what you are doing and what kind of properties you are looking to buy
- Develop an elevator pitch!
- Others
- Realtors where you can offer them a piece of the prize (finders fee, etc.)
- Mail carriers
- Newspaper delivery people – they see houses properties that look abandoned or in need of help
- Bird doggers that you pay finders fees to for good leads
- Create a Business card that offers $500 finds fee
- Networking
- biggerpockets.com
- Local real estate clubs
- Meet-Ups
- Service clubs
- Direct Mail
- List Brokers – You can buy lists where you define exactly what you are looking for, for example – I want out-of-state owners, that have owned a property of 10 years, who owns properties from duplexes through 30 units, in this specific town or zip… and on and on, to define your key criteria
- Types of Direct Mail
- Yellow letters
- Typed letters
- Postcards
- Who to Mail to
- Absentee owners
- Abandoned properties
- Probates
- Pre-foreclosures
- Foreclosures
- Apartment owners
- Expired listings
- Online advertising
- Facebook/Google/Twitter ads
- Pay-per-click ads
- Signs – Bandit signs
- ONE OF THE BEST WAYS (AND SOME SAY THEE BEST WAY) to generate good leads is through Commercial real estate brokers
- Brokers regularly get access to off-market deals because sellers don’t want to advertise
- One of the ways to locate is to go to loopnet.com (even though you might not like the property) find the top brokers in the market and contact them and develop that relationship
- Wholesalers
- Internet
- For Sale By Owner
- GOOGLE: Type in the specs on the property you want and the town and see what comes up
- Social media
- Blogging
- City Records
- Evictions
- Board of Health
- Tax records (County Assessor)
- Driving for Dollars
- Virtual Assistants
- fiverr.com
- freelance.com
- upwork.com
- virtualassistants.com
- Do a Google search on Virtual Assistants
- Don’t Chase Deals – Attract them!
This is a quick overview – not meant to be comprehensive – but the idea is to share with you what I do so that you can start putting together a plan that will work best for you and your goals.
I do reference other podcasts in this podcast that you might want to familiarize yourself such as “Getting Started in Real Estate Investing,” “The Top Real Estate Markets,” and “Setting Goals.” That will help you better understand some of the things I mentioned in this podcast.
Also, please note: I have a website that has a contact area where you can send questions and I have an email – bill@olddawgsreinetwork.com. You can always contact me with your questions. I always get back to everyone who asks me specific questions in the Old Dawg’s REI Network.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions – that’s the whole idea of the “NETWORK” concept in Old Dawg’s REI Network.
Well, that’s it for today! I hope you’re getting motivated to move forward on your real estate investing plans
Check us out at our website at olddawgsreinetwork.com and come to iTunes and subscribe to the podcast so that episodes can automatically download when they come out.
Get a copy of our free 3-Minute Rental Property Analyzer at olddawgsreinetwork.com.
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