Don't have access to the MLS, still possible to find good deals?

Question

Hey guys, this might seem like a silly question... but I'm absolutely determined to purchase my first home within the next 3-5 months here in Portland. I keep looking at Realtor.com and I'm thinking to myself "these probably aren't good deals, this website is mainly for retail buyers."

Yet I've seen videos of Brandon from BP using Realtor.com... so I was wondering if places like realtor.com are a good place to look or if most of the good deals to be found online are listed with the MLS?

What I'm looking for is a property to live in for 2-3 years, then turn into a rental and do the BRRR strategy with it. This will be my first purchased house.

Thanks to anyone for any tips on this. I need to get myself an agent soon to get access to the MLS!

Aaron Lovett · Answer

MLS members aren't allowed to give out their login info.  But, if you work with a good agent who knows exactly what you are looking for, he can hook you up with updates on what is currently listed and what comes on the MLS before Realtor.com or any other website gets it.  The thing is, a lot of agents don't know how to search for what you are really looking for - because they haven't helped you figure it out.  (The search is the easy part for agents who really know their MLS system - narrowing it down to your specifics is more difficult.)  So find someone who understands your goals and priorities, where you are flexible and where you aren't.  (Frankly, this applies to every buyer, not just investors.)

The way it works for me:  I interview the buyer, asking lots of probing and challenging questions, to figure out what they're looking for.  Then I'll set up however many search parameters in our MLS.  A search might include as little as a maximum list price, or as much as dozens of variables (bedrooms, year build, zip code, etc.).  I might need to include any number of things and set up several searches.  The MLS will automatically e-mail my client and me with the results, and it will e-mail new results hourly, once a day, once a week - whatever the buyer wants.  After the searches are set up, I'll check in with the buyer to see if the results seemed to be the sort of property he's looking for.  If not, I'll ask more questions and modify the search accordingly.  (I'm also doing some other searches behind the scenes, just in case a seller has listed something incorrectly, or a search the listings of sellers that I know commonly overprices listings.)  Anyways, there's a lot of work involved, especially for investors, but it's fun stuff.

Arpan Patel · Answer

Yes you can find deal on there. We run our entire acquisitions from realtor.com or like sites. The important thing is knowing how to find value. Finding a deal is more about building up knowledge in your area first then it becomes looking for deals. Deals are everywhere however if you don't know what a deal looks like then you won't ever be able to spot it.

Ozzy Smith · Answer

Most people don't realize that all of the sites are linked now.  Many of the different links are owned by the same company.  If it's listed on the MLS (and even a bunch that's not) you can find on sites like realtor.com or Zillow.  We actually just found a deal yesterday on one of those sites we made an offer on.  Just be careful using their estimated value to do your analysis.  Sometimes they are close but not always.  Find a house that looks good numbers wise on those sites and then call your agent about that one specifically and have them pull the comps.  If they know what they are doing they can give you good comps in about 10 minutes and write the offers for you.

Aaron Lovett · Answer

Cool, @Chris Morey - there is a wealth of information here on BP and elsewhere.  Be sure to search the forums, many questions have been posted before.

Since real estate is ultimately such a local business, your best bet is to look for a real estate investment group in your area and start a conversation with any agents there.  Since you'll be starting with a single-family personal residence, you don't necessarily need an investor-only agent (I know you said investor friendly) - as long as the agent you work with is an excellent one, that person will be able to help you find what you are looking for.  Of course that puts more emphasis on your clarifying your goals, but you'll need to do that anyway!

All the best to you Chris, this is going to be fun.  =)

Arpan Patel · Answer

Another few factors to consider are competition, frequency, and area. Competition in your area will lead to fewer deals being on the MLS/realtor.com. For instance for me in downtown Chicago on the northside it is hard to find a good deal because there are just so many people looking for deals who range from the casual gawker to global investors. Therefore my frequency of locking up deals is much less. However if I only want 1 house a month and I willing to put in - let's say - 40 offers then I can make my number of one property. Now factoring in frequency, if you'd like to buy 5 houses a month in a hot area then - by using the same numbers - you may need to put in 200 offers. In that's the case maybe you'll need to supplement your pipeline to include some direct mail or wholesalers, etc. We for instance want high volume but don't want to spend the time and capital developing more pipelines so we moved the area to a place where it only takes us 4 offers to get a deal under contract. There are essentially three factors at play as far as the acquisition funnel goes which are competition, frequency, and area. There are of course others but that is what I have found prevails based on our anecdotal experience. Let me know if that helps

Account Closed · Answer

@Chris Morey  If you are going to use realtor.com you might as well use a Realtor.  Some listings on the MLS are still not on Realtor.com.

In general, I do not think most good deals are found on realtor.com.

Chris M. · Answer

Thanks for the feedback guys. @John Hixon that makes a lot of sense.  Since this is my first purchased home though, not sure I'm gonna go through all of the effort of a direct marketing campaign etc. although if I wanted to find the best deal possible I guess I should.

First step will be meeting up with some local real estate investor groups like @Aaron Lovett suggested, find an agent then start seeing the kind of options I have. If it looks like the deals are really sparse, I might try the direct mail marketing route. For some reason I keep thinking it's excessive for my first house... but why? It would be the smartest way to do it probably.

Really appreciate this guys... I'm in an interesting position where Portland's market is cooling, but interest rates are on the rise. While I want the home to be nice and cozy for myself, I also want it to be an excellent investment. Something tells me I'm going to learn a ton over the next 6-12 months :) I feel like I've got my head wrapped around the basics thanks to BP, books and others... but man I've still got a lot left to learn.

Thanks again for the tips and insights.

John Hixon · Answer

@Chris Morey  Your best deals are going to come from off market.  And, the only way to find those is with direct mail.  You might get lucky with the MLS but if you are serious about find great deals on investment properties then direct mail is the only way to go.

Chris M. · Answer

Well, from everything BP has taught me, I think the wisest move would be to find an investor-friendly agent and explain that despite being my first purchased home that I will live in for a few years, I am still treating it as an investment property. Then, I can work with the agent via the MLS/other listings while searching realtor.com and driving for dollars myself.

Ideally trying to get a 4 bedroom and house hacking for a few years before turning it into a rental. I've been moving around a lot... would be nice to have a home base for a few years or more.

I'm full of questions guys, hope you don't mind: are there lists of investor-friendly real estate agents anywhere? I'm guessing this is best discovered via word-of-mouth references, but hey, lists are always a handy way to start. Thanks for any tips on potential lists of agents for my local area and greatly appreciate the information.

Arpan Patel · Answer

No, they just send you properties based on search parameters you give them. The good ones can see the market as you do and guide you on properties they think are deals based on evidence and past experiences - but even they will still need training on what you particularly want. The bad ones will just set an automated search for you and rely on you to pick out the deals. (Good and bad are based on what I think a good realtor should do however some might reverse that arguing they just want access and don't want someone else to dictate to them what deals are. I like a collaborative environment and want others informed input - hence why I attached those labels) I hope that helps

Don't have access to the MLS, still possible to find good deals?

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