How to find deals ? - Newbie

[v.raghavan]

Hi all,

I am exited to be a part of you all. I am starting in real estate investing part time. I am trying for find motivated sellers and find properties, but could not put things together.

I live in N.E New jersey.  I tried calling paper ads, even which have motivated signs in the ad, but they turned out to be a trap by fellow investors / RE agents etc. Infact I spoke to a real estate agent, told what was taught by RE gurus, she laughed and said you are 1000 + 1 and this is a sellers market.

Can anyone let me know & others like me, a step by step approach to find motivated seller & deals? I know once we get out feet wet, we will be in a better position.

Thanks in Advance
Vinne

[fadi]

First, you need to figure out the formula you want to use to come up with the offer price. Many investors follow the ARV * 70% - repairs cost = offer.

Then, you can place an ad in the sunday newspaper for "We buy homes" type of thing and run it for few weeks or as long as you want. When people call you, try to find out the reason they are wanting to sell and if you find them to be motivated, then go visit the house and see if it is what you want and if so, make the offer as stated above. If they do not accept, then move on to the next one.

Realtors will find deals through the MLS, but you may need to find an investor friendly one. Most of them do not deal with investors and don't want to.

[MikeG]

Well I can say myself I understand where you are coming from. I also live in the North East...NY to be exact and to say the deals are tough to find here would be an understatement. The competition here for this kind of investing is also fierce.

 That being said  there are deals to be found you will just have to invest your time into it and weed through the nonsense you are likely to encounter. in my opinion if you can find a deal 15 to 20 percent below market up here you are doing good. Buying retail here in NY is not very "investor friendly" for the most part.

Good Luck

MikeG.

PS. It doesnt hurt if you have sales experience because at the end of the day thats all we really are....salesmen/women.

[vragha]

Thanks for the reply. I am in touch with the realtor and she is finding deals from MLS, which needs a little fix ups, as this is what I know can get the price down from the retail. However I need to pump in some money and do a fix up, though.

I should be running some ads for "we buy houses" kind of stuff soon.

Will keep you all posted on my progress. Any thoughts appreciated.

-V

[matshingdo001]

hi there I am an investor in canada and the market is realy TUFF here!!!  try running ads like "going bankrupt we can help" or things like "we can HELP stop foreclosure".  U can also talk to a mortgage broker, he/she will talk to lots of people trying to sell, refinance and people in trouble, also U have to weed though good realastate agents and bad ones, U want the kind that will work with u and not the market,  keep in mind U are a threat to the market and u compromise the realistates agents  modo "keep house at market value".... anyways hope thats a few ideas for U.... and good luck!!!!