The Elusive Off Market Deals

[Jason Lam]

Listening to the Bigger Pockets Podcast, reading the books, and talking to the more seasoned investors on the forums it seems the best deals are found off market. I know there are quite a few off market strategies you can do such as wholesaler, driving around, direct mailer, etc. I'm going to list the challenges I have with each and hopefully you guys can give me some ideas to make them possible/easier. I am currently based overseas and have a 12 hour time difference between my current target market and where I am living.

Wholesaler: I plan on conventionally financing the loan so wholesalers are pretty much out since most of them will require cash buyers.

Driving around and knocking on doors: I live half way around the world so I can not explore this option.

Bird Dog/Using someone to find me deals: As a new investor how do I go about doing this? I would be interested in this buy don't know where to start to find someone. I am assuming most of these people would want to work with seasoned investors to be able to learn something and hopefully become investors themselves one day.

Direct Mailing: This seems like the most feasible option for me as all I have to do is buy a list and use a direct mailer company. The 12 hour time difference does pose a challenge but that can be overcome by me just staying up at night in the week or so after the mailers go out. 

Are there other strategies I'm missing?

I think I settled on most likely trying direct mailing but what do I ask on a direct mailer, how do you evaluate the deal without seeing photos of the house? Should I get the current owner to take photos/video for me or send my property manager over to take a look so I know what I can offer?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks