Finding the Deal

[Spencer Blondeaux]

Hey BP community! Excited to be here and soak up all the real estate wisdom. Like many of you, I'm a new investor, although have worked with investors for several years, finally jumping out of the nest if you will! In this completive market, it seems as though off-market deals is the only place to really find a "comfortable" position to be in (although completely aware that we are all in a risk filled area of investing). My mentors (both successful investors) swear by building strong relationships often saying  "It's all about who you know,". So, I've been diligently networking with realtors in my sphere, but let's just say I haven't exactly landed at the top of their preferred investor list. I know it's a marathon, not a sprint, and I am in this for the long run, but I'm also eager to jumpstart the process!

While I continue nurturing those realtor relationships (and patiently waiting for my phone to ring), I'm curious to explore other avenues for sourcing off-market deals. What creative strategies have you found successful? Any tips on targeted marketing, effective lead generation, or even some "outside-the-box" tactics? I'm all ears and eager to learn from your experiences, hear your ideas, criticism, tell me I am crazy! I ma here to learn and I will not pick and choose how those lessons are presented to me!  And hey, if you have any funny stories about your own deal-finding adventures, feel free to share! We could all use a little laugh break in the workday, right?

[Jonathan Greene]

You aren't networking with the right people if you aren't going to real estate investor meetups. That is the thing that will eventually get you over the hump, not talking to realtors who, for the most part, don't know anything about working with investors and have heard the "once I get this first property, I am going to keep going" dialogue a million times.

If you want to market yourself, the best thing to do is to walk a five-block radius that you really want to buy in. Mark every home that looks like it needs some work. Check those to see who lives the furthest away of the absentee owners and start there (or with the oldest people). Write as yourself, not a company, and tell them you are trying to buy your first property in your own backyard and would love to have a conversation whether they want to sell or not (they probably know someone else).