Advice Finding Off-Market Homes

[Anthony Perry]

Hi Folks! I'm hoping I could get some advice from this community on how to source off-market deals, as well as a pulse check on what I've been doing so far. I'm looking for an off-market home in my local market, Santa Barbara CA. This property would be for my in-laws to purchase and move into, but I'd ideally dovetail any success into finding investment properties as well.

So far, I've driven around the neighborhoods my in-laws would ideally purchase and jotted down the addresses of the homes that clearly need some TLC. I've gotten about 50 addresses that way. I plugged them into Invelo to find the owner information and have begun sending hand-written letters. Some of them have phone numbers as well, but pretty much all of them are marked as Do Not Contact.

Does this seem like an effective track to stay on? And has anyone noticed any particular nuggets to look for? For example, if a property is clearly a rental, does that typically have a higher chance of success? That's my intuition(less friction on the homeowner, they don't have to uproot and find a new place to live), but I'd love other opinions as well.

Thanks in advance!

-Anthony

[Jason Wray]

Anthony,

You would be surprised by using some old school methods like simply writing a letter like you mentioned. There are also a lot of agents who tend to get pocket listings or know before a property hits MLS. If you want to talk to a good agent out in that area I would reach out to Jen Day @Jen Day

I would also check facebook marketplace in case someone is looking to sell and just throwing it up to see if they get any traction.  Zillow also hs a "Make Me Move" feature you can click on to see home owners listing their property in hopes of a good offer.

I have also seen peopl reach out tp local AFL Assisted living facilities to talk to the Admin or on boarding nurse to see if ay families or people need to sell their home to cover costs.

[Jeff Roth]

Hi Anthony-

You asked about the best ways to find off-market deals for your in-laws to buy and move into and you are focussed on the Santa Barbara, CA area which I have been to and it is gorgeous.

It kind of reminds me of an Ann Arbor on the ocean. :)

Anyway, I like your strategy of driving and looking for houses in need of repair and sending handwritten letters and contacting rentals for the reasons you gave. Also consider contacting houses that look vacant, simply door knocking in a neighborhood that you are interested in and talking to the homeowners in a genuine way, For Sale By Owners is another potential, using an App like Nextdoor or Facebook pages/groups related to local real estate and just telling the group what you are looking for, contractors also know about houses coming on the market soon and so do property management companies, and finally garage sales are a good way to find off-market properties as people prepare to sell.

To Your Success!

[Caleb Brown]

Letters are a good start. You can try door knocking, scary but direct way to chat with owners/renters. Cold calling/texting works but you'd have to pay for the numbers and make the calls. Then it is repetition. Out of the 50 addresses zero will probably be interested in selling so it's a numbers game before you find the one. 

[Drew Sygit]

@Anthony Perry everyone's given great feedback, except for one thing - how long this may take!

No one knows:(

It could take a week, a month or more than a year of constant followup until an owner is motivated to sell. 

How long are you planning to do this approach?