Finding a Motivated Seller

[Jeremy1113]

Whats the best way of finding a motivated seller that would want to lease option there house. i went on FSBO.com and called 2 houseowners that were looking to sell there house but they didnt want to lease it they just wanted to stright out sell it.

[GBC]

Jeremy;

No offense man but before you write your first contract or deal use your spell check (F7). While we don't care, your potential sellers, lawyers, and buyers will.

Best wishes,

Geoff

[herbster]

Its been my experience that most motivated sellers aren't that motivated at all. They just learned a new trick to get some attention. Yep they all think they need the outright sale. That would be nice but far and few in between given how difficult it is to get qualified. I point that out to them as well. I get about a 1 out of 10 responce to my craigslist messages via email and perfer to call them. Contact FRBO's to as many couldn't sell and are now renting. Good luck and don't check my spellyn. Herbster

[JasonAL]

Jeremy,

If you're going that route, I suggest hitting up the FRBOs (For Rent By Owners), as
opposed to the FSBOs.

Like you've experienced, the FSBOs have mainly 1 thing in mind, and that's to
sell. So it's no surprise when they shun you away. However, I've had some luck
in structuring a lease option or sub2 from FSBOs. You never know til you try.

On the other hand, the FRBOs are looking to rent, obviously.
However, if you'll either email or call them by saying something such as:

"Hi, I saw your ad on __________, and was wondering if you'd be interested in
selling (for your full asking price) at the end of the lease?"

By adding some "icing" to the proverbial cake, you're now offering something
better that what they're advertising for and have opened discussion up to negotiate
for a CA or sandwich lease (I don't do these, btw).
Who knows, they may have tried selling but have gotten desperate, thus their
current state of becoming an "accidental landlord".

[CharlottePlayer]

there are a few ways to attract sellers that would do creative financing.  You can send mail to out of state owners, place ads in the newspaper (precise placement is key), or call owners that want to sell or rent (change your approach). 

Calling owners to ask about owner financing you have to come in contact with at least 50 people to get a possible deal.  If you can stand the rejection and a lot of no's, then you might be alright.  Personally, I would never won't to speak with a seller unless they call us first.

[jlspartz]

What's the best way of finding the out of state owner's address?  Are you mainly looking at the ads for long distance area code telephone numbers, and then do a reverse lookup for the address (this only works on landlines)?  How long does it take for their primary address on the tax record to change?

[fadi]

You buy the list of absentee owners from a list broker and mail them.

[CharlottePlayer]

Yes you can look for ads with out of town area codes.  You don't want to sell them on the phone at first, not even try to find out their information.  Those types of sellers get all types of calls from newbies with a new proposal so you have to be tactful when you call them.

[aaronwilliams123456]

To be honest with you, why would you want to lease option another sellers property when you can get them to sign over their deed to you? And you'll own the house from day one.