How do you find a house that the numbers work on?

[Gary O.]

So in my area houses are selling well. Duplexes are comm0n but they are asking to much to fit the BP criteria of good investments. For some reason 4 plexes aren't around. 5 plexes are around but again the numbers don't spell newbie success team.

Is my job to negotiate for better pricing which the gap is large or continue on my way until I find that investor property that the seller knows that if the numbers don't work the deal doesn't work?

[Kerry Smith]

@Gary O. - Welcome to the site!

Honestly, your job is to do both. It takes a lot of preparation, work, and relationship building to find a property that meets criteria. The more you analyze potential deals, the easier it will be for you to weed out the bad ones quickly. Yes, you will have to do a lot of negotiating with sellers. Yes, you will have to submit a lot of offers.

If you've listened to any of the podcasts you will hear - "1000 leads, 100 phone calls, 10 property walk throughs = 1 deal." While those numbers are going to vary with every investor, the point of it is, it takes patience and diligence to find deals in this business.

One actionable step you can take right now, is to complete your BP profile, upload a picture, and post an introduction post over in the New Member section of the forums. It will help you network with others, and you will get more responses from your posts.

This may help to:

Here are 10 tips to help you get started on Bigger Pockets:

1. New to Bigger Pockets? Start Here!

2. Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide – This little book is a true gem, and it will give you a good overview of the ins-and-outs of real estate investing.

3. Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast- A weekly podcast with other successful real estate investors. The podcast is a wealth of game changing information, and entertaining too!

4. Develop your own business strategy and plan How to Write A Kick @$$ Business Plan – A great post by D. Scott Smith on how to write a great business plan.

5. Do not miss out on all of the free resources in the Bigger Pockets File Place – Lots of spreadsheets, example leases, and contracts can be found here.

6. Locate and attend several different local Real Estate Investing Association (REIA) meetings. REIA meetings are the best way to meet and network with local real estate investors, cash buyers, lenders, agents and contractors.

7. Stay away from the “guru” sales-pitch events - They rarely increase your investment knowledge, they merely empty your wallet!

8. Get active on Bigger Pockets by connecting with other Bigger Pockets Members in your area, and engaging on the forums:

9. Make sure you set up your Key Word Alerts – You will receive an email notification whenever someone posts on a topic you are interested in.

10. After you've spent some time on Bigger Pockets, make sure you go by the Bigger Pockets Podcast on iTunes and leave them a rating!