One of the hardest things for new investors to get over is that sellers will actually sell their house to you at a deep discount for cash or with creative seller financing terms including no money down. Yes, it really happens! The usual catch is that the seller wants the sale to happen fast.
So, it’s important for you to learn ways to buy or sell houses quickly if you want to get great deals. Wholesaling and Highest Bidder Sales are the two best ways to sell houses quickly.
The traditional way to buy or sell houses is to call a real estate agent. But for real estate entrepreneurs/investors that is usually not the best way to find a profitable transaction. Most real estate agents don’t understand creative transactions so they can’t or won’t present these offers in a positive way to their clients.
So, you’ll need to learn how to find motivated sellers on your own. The article below, an excerpt from Jack Miller’s Buying Houses From A to Z book, will give you some insight about where to find sellers who will sell at a deep discount, subject-to their mortgage, or with creative seller financing with no (or very little) money down.
When you first start to buy houses, it seems inconceivable that you could just ask someone if they wanted to sell their house or not at the front door. But when you think about it all those real estate offices that advertise page after page of houses for sale in the paper are proof that sellers abide in quantity out there in the big wide world. All you’ve got to do is to find them.
Let’s approach the problem of finding motivate owners methodically. When have people ever sold their home?
a. When they were moving?
b. When it no longer met their needs?
c. When they had a chance to buy something better at a good price?
d. In a divorce?
e. A bankruptcy?
f. To satisfy an IRS lien?
g. When the kids left home?
h. When they returned?
i. To settle an estate when there was a death in the family?
j. When they needed extra room for an elderly relative to live with them?
k. When a fire, flood, hurricane, tornado, or earthquake has frightened them?
l. When they needed money and could no longer afford their house?
m. When maintaining a home was too much trouble or expense?
n. When they wanted to convert a large equity into an income stream?
o. When they wanted to pull out some tax-free cash?
p. When they’ve retired to the sun belt?
q. When they no longer liked their neighborhood?
r. When they were moving up, down, or out?
s. When someone talked them into selling?
t. When real estate investors were burned out as landlords?
u. When real estate investors wanted to create more liquidity?
v. When people wanted a better school district for their kids?
w. When a job change required them to commute too far?
x. When they got into a quarrel with their neighbors?
y. When they wanted to reduce expenses and increase retirement income?
z. Because they were greedy and wanted top dollar in an up market?
I like to think of the house market as just one big mall parking lot. On any given sale day, it will appear to be full up, but if you sit and watch for a time, you’ll see cars entering and leaving all the time. With each departure, an opportunity presents itself for another car to park. The same thing is true in any neighborhood. Over 60 million Americans change homes each year. All you’ve got to do is to use your common sense to figure out which ones.
They might be owners of problem properties that need to be fixed up in order to sell. Or heirs who can’t afford probate and who will sell an Option on a house if someone will put tip the money to hire a probate lawyer. Or burned out landlords who would welcome anyone who would take over their managerial and maintenance chores in return for a slice of the rents and an Option to buy.
They could also include those who would lose their homes unless they could find someone who would subsidize their payments in return for a share of any equity at a point in the future. Or people who are holding mortgage notes that are in default that they’ll share an interest in with anyone who will go through the foreclosure process to recapture the property. Or other entrepreneurs who don’t have the skills to structure a creative deal and who will share it with someone who can put it together and get it closed.
The list can go on and on. The sellers are out there in force. It but remains for you to select the technique that best suits your style for finding them, and to start doing it. Obviously, the more you know, the more you’ll have an advantage over the competition, and the more opportunities you’ll recognize and be able to exploit.
