Need advice on finding and buying off market property

[Ryan Schwartz]

Hello all,

Brand new to bigger pockets here. I am a part time real estate agent. My full time job has a non traditional schedule and I have several days a week off which allows me enough time to be an effective agent even though I'm part time. I've been doing it for a few years now and definitely know my way around a transaction. My broker is my cousin, so I have a great resource in my corner as well. Anyway, I digress... I'd like to buy a "move up" property for my family and keep my current home as a rental. The market here in CA is absolutely brutal for buyers right now. For example, the last listing I had got over 10 offers in under a week, including cash. Just being a financed buyer, even though my income, DTI, FICO and asset situation is strong, I feel like I'll have a hard time competing. I am going to attempt to find my own seller off the market and create my own deal. Not only can I get it at a slight discount because there will be no commission for a seller to pay, but I'm looking to eliminate to competition this way. My wife and I have a couple of our "dream" neighborhoods picked out. I'm curious as to what the best strategies are for identifying potential properties, how to approach the homeowners (letter, door to door, a written offer, etc) and how to write a fair and solid price (I'm thinking full price offer based on comps minus 6% because of no commission but throwing in some cash or creditiing closing costs to the seller to sweeten the deal a little bit. I'll take any and all advice. Thank you!