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[Robert Freeborn]

I'm currently using Zillow and Loopnet to look for small multifamily properties in my area. However, I don't like how functional loopnet is, and searching for multi-family in Zillow is a pain.  I don't want to be that guy who needs his hand held, but I'm hoping to learn from BP's extensive, collective experience.

Does anyone use any other service to find listings?  What do you like, or don't like? What do you think works best? Any other recommendations? 

[Andrew Cushman]

@Robert Freeborn , the best deals are obtained through relationships, and no service or software will replace that.  Like @Rick Versace said, by the time most properties reach Zillow or Loopnet they have already been passed around and picked over.  We buy 100+ unit properties, and they are almost all off-market deals brought to us via good broker relationships.

You said you were buying "small" multifamily, so I'm going to assume you mean somewhere in the 5-50 unit range.  If I were looking to buy those, here is what I would do:

1. Use Zillow, Loopnet, etc. to see what brokers have the most listings in the area of the type of property you are looking for.  Then start calling those brokers and building relationships with them.  That means talking with them about what you are looking for.  It means analyzing the junky deals they send you in the beginning and then calling them back to thank them for the opportunity to see it and then explaining why it doesn't work for you.  You then follow up with a question like "are there any other properties you have that we haven't looked at yet?"  Also, always respond quickly!

2. Have a broker set up an alert for you on the residential MLS so that you automatically get sent and new listings that come up. The main reason for this is to find more brokers to work with, but you might snag a deal this way as well. The reason is that a lot of mom & pop owners of small multifamily properties just hand the listing to their friend or relative who is a residential Realtor. That person is happy to take the listing, but since it is out of their area of expertise they don't really know how to market or price the property.

3.  Join the local apartment/landlord association, start going to meetings, and network.  Odds are you will meet lots of owners, and at some point just might be able to put together a deal with one of them.  The same applies to real estate investor meetups.

4.  Direct mail.  This obviously costs money but can be effective with non-institutional owners.  Create a list of all the multifamily properties in your market that you would be interested in buying and start sending letters to the owners!

Good luck!

Andrew