Finding Motivated Sellers

[Melissa Webb]

OK, so now I have my Real Estate Team (Title Co, Attorney, Agent, Tax Advisor, etc) my LLC is set up, I have end users, spent way too much money on "classes, coaches and Mentors" that didn't (or couldn't) answer my questions, some cash and great credit. My goal for now is wholesaleing. I'm ready to pull the trigger, but I am having the darndest time finding motivated sellers. I have tried the traditional advertising, but still no takers (most just want to sell for a profit and get into a bigger place). And I have looked into REO's and short sales, however the banks have not been cooperative. Right now they seem content to keep their non performing assets and taking the government's bail out money. Any Ideas or other forums I should be looking at?

Thanks!

[Account Closed]

Think out of the box (you have no other choice if everyone else is already doing the traditional things).

My favorite is the subterranean marketplace. Few people know it exists and there's little competition. You access it by recognizing problems and understanding how they're resolved, and then assembling lists of people impacted.

For instance?

Taken to the extreme, consider a meth lab property. I'm not suggesting you buy meth labs, this is only an example. Your town has a process for handling meth labs. It involves legal actions, clean up demands, inspections, penalties, etc.

If you figure out that process, you can also figure out how to get involved. What's filed, posted, on the web, etc? Who fixes them?

Do you know you can ask for public records and receive a list of meth lab properties in your town? Do you suppose some of the owners on the list might be motivated?

There are dozens of situations that present problems you can target, understand how the game is played, the agency involved the process to correct, and figure out a way in.

I once was required to remove the top 6 inches of dirt from a 50 x 100 foot lot (asbestos contamination complaint from the clean air division of the Dept of Ecology).

You could have bought that lot from me for nothing because I was tired of dealing with it and still made a bundle.

And if you'd have been following Clean Air's public filings you'd have known of mine and every under property owner with a similar problem.

Secret lists, and all you have to do is ask for them. You want sellers under siege by agencies imposing penalties and making clean up demands. Those properties aren't listed for sale, and they can be had for next to nothing.

Back to our example . . . if you know a clean up firm that specializes in abating, rehabbing, and reselling former meth labs (and they're out there), how hard would it be get that list, tie one up, and pass along the dream?

And no, this is not a strategy to in any way get involved in the actual abatement process. You probably don't want to go there.

When you get sued by the county and they're issuing $1000 a day fines because they're tired of the mess you made, your leaking underground storage tank, or your illegal wrecking yard, you tend to get motivated pretty quickly.

And when you get my postcard or phone call, you tend to at least think about my instant solution to your difficult problem.

That's where I choose to be positions. Might work for you, too.

Joe