Found Deals Off Market - Here's How

[Account Closed]

Here is a big pro tip:

Stop buying on the MLS. It’s too expensive! There is a process called "Buying Off Market". Where do you think all of those properties on the MLS come from? They were "off market" until they were "discovered by an agent" and put on the MLS. Think of it this way, someone decides to sell their property, so they call a realtor who takes 6% (so they can get paid) and lists it on the MLS. When you find the property before it goes on the MLS, you can buy for 6% less. On a $400,000 house that's about a $24,000 savings. I do this all of the time.

Then I use “Subject To”, which runs $15,000 to $20,000 to buy a property instead of putting 20% down ($80,000 on a $400,000 property), and a similar process called “Seller Financing” that gives way more than 1% monthly income.

There are other ways called “SEO” and “Pay Per Click” and “Yard Signs” and so on to find properties.

That’s right, you can buy 3 properties for $50,000 “Off Market”. Yes, you get depreciation and tax write offs. And it can be done out of state. These are decent homes in decent neighborhoods. Don’t try this in cheap neighborhoods. It’s too much work.

For instance, This property was bought for $5,000 (Five Thousand Dollars).

Click on images to enlarge Purchase & Sale Agreement (many more examples available).

and this one was bought for $5,000 (Five Thousand Dollars).

There are hundreds of people doing these every day around the country.

My experience is the best place to focus on these are the typical places. Dallas, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Columbus. Places where investors are welcome and prices are reasonable.

We’ve had success in WA, AZ, TX, AL, GA.

Oh, I’d not tried in Socal yet, because of the high price point and unfriendly landlord/tenant laws. If someone is buying “off market” in California, please comment.

Isn’t it amazing to see what can be done with investment dollars. Instead of the bank making the money, the investor does. What a thought. A certain amount of people are willing to sell on Creative Finance, like Subject To, (Subto), Wraps & Seller Finance for various reasons.

It's usually under $15,000 or so in "up front" money, so make sure you have some capital. No need for credit, no need for financing. These properties can be used for a rental, fix & flip, STR, Lease Option, 1031 whatever crosses your mind.

[Bruce Lynn]

Don't be fooled by "off market" properties.  "Off Market" is just a made up marketing term.  So many people get suckered into these "deals".  When 20-30 people show up at 2pm on a Friday to see an "off market" deal, it's not really off market is it?  Very much on the market.  Plus probably 70% or more of these "off market" deals never close.  Title issues, seller issues, non-refundable deposits, no inspection period, lending issues, appraisal issues, liens, IRS liens, city liens, no wills, unpaid back taxes, solar liens, and all kinds of other crazy stuff.   Plus they take a lot of money and time to find and try to make a deal.  Who pays the closing costs on these deals?  If you're the buyer often you're offering to do that which adds to your cost.  If you're buying from a wholesaler, then you might well be pay closing costs x2, theirs and yours.  How quickly those "deals" become non-deals.

Plenty of deals on the MLS. I see them almost every day. Very efficient process. Save your time and money and a ton of headaches vs only focusing on off market deals. For every 100 people I meet who say they will never buy off MLS, I can probably show you 90-95 that haven't done a deal in the last year.