REO Inventory and Offers

[Stephen Sokolow]

Hello all,

I am in the South Bend market and have recently been focused in on REO's. I am using the MLS to located deals within a predefined zipcode (46614). My experience so far is that there is not a ton of inventory (9 currently listed) and when I submit offers either the banks are not answering or they are only coming off their asking price by a max of $2000. Is that normal? I am using a fix and flip model. Most of the homes are in rough shape and it seems the banks are not taking that into consideration in their asking price. I am using the flip calculator and sold comps form the mls to come up with my offers. So far I have not had any offers accepted.

My questions are this. 1. Should I start looking into other markets? 2. Are other investors finding this pattern in their local markets? 3. Is it still profitable to pursue REO's or should I start to look into other strategies for acquisition? As always feedback is much appreciated and I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and answer my questions. Happy Thanksgiving!

[Levi T.]

It's the same in all markets. Your targeting the wrong people, you need to get the deals before the banks get them, you wont find that on MLS. That means you need to find other means of finding off market deals that fit your needs.