Buying a home that is not on the market

[Mike H. Jones]

Hello all,

I am new to the forum, but I have always used to site to gain general real estate info.

I have a question, but first let me give you some background info for the sake of receiving any other advice that the forum topic did not ask about:

I am a recent Graduate student grad (23) and will begin starting working full time in January. I majored in Accounting & Finance and will be sitting for the first part of the CPA exam come January. I will also be starting full time in January and will be making 47K before taxes. My monthly debts (student loans & credit card debt only) will come out to around $350-375, or even less once I pay off the manageable balance on my credit card bill.

After running throw some numbers, my gross monthly income will come out to 3.9k and my net (with projected taxes) will come out to around 3k, give or take a thousand with the new tax plan. 

I currently live in Atlanta and it's still reasonably affordable and an easy city to get the home buying process started. There's are tons of up and coming areas in the city and I truly believe that this will be the next city in the entire country to boom given the formation of the Beltline, Amazon likely moving its 2nd headquarters here, 2 new stadiums professional sports stadiums, planning for street cars/trollies all throughout the city, great schools already here, billions worth of investment in the city and the fact that the actual city of Atlanta (not focusing on the metro) can be expanded even more, amongst other things.

The city is going through a mini boom right now for sellers, but it seems to be sellers who bought their homes back in 2010-2015 who are now trying to make a profit on it because they bought it for dirt cheap. Yet, I'm not worried about this being a bubble (at this point) because the prices aren't even half of what they were back in the 05/06/07s, and with my max offer price ($155k), I would still be able to afford the mortgage payment even with my current salary of $47k, which I undoubtedly expect to increase over the next five to ten years.

^^^^ Just wanted to give some background info

So my question is what's the best way to buy a home that is not on the market? 

I've identified an area which I think will have the most appreciation and growth (my investment strategy) and would like to buy a home in that area of town. 

I've searched tax records to locate the owner and know that whole trick of the trade already. However, I'm asking what's the best way to convince or persuade them to sell me the home? I know everyone isn't going to sell, that's a given...but for those who are on the fence or have been thinking about it...what will win them over? I plan to write detailed letters expressing my interest, but any advice will help.

I've heard that recommending a rent to own situation can work (of course, this is when the home isn't occupied), but what about when the home is occupied? 

I know that this is more of a "throw your boomerang and see what it comes back with" kind of situation, but any advice or alternative views are welcomed.

Thanks,