Purchasing a House that's "For Rent"

[Ryan Nitzsche]

I live in Tampa, FL. I own 4 rental properties (SFH) in Carbondale, IL. I'm just rented the townhouse in South Tampa that we've lived in for a few years (that was the plan when we bought it) and my family and I are going to rent an apartment for 1 year before purchasing another primary residence. Sorry for the long intro, on to the topic.

We are going to look for a property to purchase in our expensive market by my standards (300 K-400 K) for a decent place in good school districts of South Tampa in the next year. I was thinking about contacting owners of properties that are "For Rent" especially if rental history which we can see on Zillow doesn't look great (i.e. It's for rent all the time, price reductions, a little improvements needed, etc.) Of course saving on the Agent commission alone would save 6%, but I'm thinking there may be investors that are looking to unload a property, especially if it's giving them issues, stage of life, etc.

Does anyone have experience with this approach? I was thinking about putting together a short email message template to use every time I find a property that checks the boxes.

Thanks in advance!

Ryan Nitzsche