Best resource to find multi family properties for sale?

[Robert Obniski]

Im going to be looking into buying a duplex/triplex/4plex in the near future to be a live in owner. I havent looked into it too deeply but the regular websites i search through are difficult to navigate through when I am searching for a multi family specifically. 

What resources do some of you use to fine such properties?

[Kelly N.]

All of our purchases have been MLS listings, so we could have found them on line at numerous websites, and that was how we started. I found a great realtor willing to work with investors and have made 3 purchases through him. He is very in tune with the local market and has been able to show us properties that other investors are selling before they get listed, a few as much as a year in advance. The first few were good deals, we just didn't have the financing to buy them at the time, and once they hit the market at a higher price there were better options. He showed us three more that one investor was selling, we would have jumped on 2 of them but were in the middle of another deal (our third purchase) at the time. By the time that closed, he had listed with a realtor and one of the two we liked was under contract, we are now under contract on the other plus a 5th property that was on the MLS.

So find a great realtor who has ties to other investors and you might get some good prospects prior to the rest of the world seeing them.

Also, we are focused on a small area with lots of multifamily, so I am starting to take note of other owners and their habits (how well the house is kept up outside, how long they have for rent signs or posts up) and through that plan to identify people who might be ready to get out.  So far 4 out of 5 purchases (or pending purchases) have been from people who only own one property in our city, and the last one owned 3 and is selling them all at once.  

I also got one lead from a prospective tenant- she was calling to ask about an apartment and mentioned her current landlord was planning to sell this summer.  I didn't pursue that one since the others we had looked at were better deals, but so far it has not listed so we may go after that one next year when we are looking for the next property to buy.

Kelly