Finding property to flip or rent

[Joseph Canini]

My brothers in arms, I got another question for you: How are investors like myself finding properties to flip or rent. My partner has access to MLS, and searches there on a daily basis, but I find it hard to believe that is the only way of finding properties. Are there other ways of finding properties to flip or keep as rentals? With San Antonio booming right now, and the competition being steep I am hoping to find an edge to carve out a piece for my company.

Looking for a needle in a hay stack in San Antonio...

[Patrick Jacques]

Direct mail, craigslist, networking at a local RE meeting... There's a ton of ways to find a property. Be creative.

[Jassem A.]

Sometimes sellers will advertise on Craigslist or other sites that are not on MLS. Also sometimes sellers who are advertising their homes for rent on sites like Craigslist, Hotpads etc that are not directly connected with the MLS would consider offers for their properties rather than waiting for good tenants. I believe there are some wholesalers and companies that buy property in bulk that don't market directly on MLS as well but that use signs and mail advertisements in order to generate leads. You could drive around looking for boarded up or run-down houses and make the owners an offer on a sticky note on their front door.

[Derek Smith]

I'll have to agree with Patrick, being creative is your best bet.

For example, my agent and her broker, deal primarily with rehab properties. With that said, they tend to announce what it is they are looking for, usually via word of mouth/e-mails/etc.. I know of at least one project that was off the market, but through the grape vine his office caught wind of the possible deal, shot it over to their investors, and next thing you know they are closing on a property NOT listed on MLS.

So, there are ways, you just have to look for them. Good luck!

[Seth Teel]

@Joseph Canini Have you tried working with wholesaler and/or agents that specialize in investment properties? I know at my shop we only deal with investment properties and investors. We are currently sourcing the majority of our properties off-market (non-MLS). A year ago, 80%+ of our inventory were listed properties on the MLS. It has gotten too competitive to buy listed properties. We are finding way better deals in other arenas. If you need help sourcing, feel free to give me call. The most successful investors use multiple resources (agents, MLS, wholesalers, auction, REI clubs, etc.) to source their properties.

[Andrew Abbott]

Google Adwords is a pretty effective marketing tool too. I don't have much computer savvy but was up and running in just a few hours. If you have any questions on it I'd be glad to share what I know.

[Tucker Merrihew]

Do a driving for dollars campaign in an area where you would like to either buy and rent or buy and flip......then start sending direct mail to the owners over and over and over again......you will get deals if you stick with it.

[Alan King]

@Tucker Merrihew how often do you mail these address? Every 30 days?

[Tucker Merrihew]

We will mail them at 2 week intervals for the first couple letters and then every 4-6 weeks after that.