Please help a newbie out! Part 2

[Joseph Jordan]

Well, I attended my first tax foreclosure county auction today and bid, but unfortunately I was outbid and left empty handed. I feel good that I was able to know what my max bid was and when to responsibly stop, but still kinda bummed as I ran the numbers on the winning bid and feel like I still could have been in a good position if I kept bidding a few times - oh well!

At this point, I'm wondering if anyone out there has any tips on where to find off market properties, or distressed properties, aside from the sheriff/county foreclosure listings I'm already aware of? Those seem pretty few and far in between, in my area at least, so I was hoping to get some advice on where the pros go. I would love to just be able to flip one to two houses per year, at least to start off.

Can my realtor help me? I mentioned it to her, and she said she would keep her eyes open. Wholesalers? Are certain programs out there useful, like Property Radar and ProspectNow? I heard those are able to provide leads and contact info for houses that might be in pre-foreclosure. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!

[Deanna Lawrence]

Hi Joseph,

First of all congrats on taking action. You're ahead of most people already. As far as finding off-market or distressed properties, here's a few options:

websites: hudhomestore.gov, auction.com, craigslist

join a local REIA and network. There will inevitably be some wholesalers who will be happy to put you on their buyers list.

driving for dollars - there are a couple apps out there that will pull up owner info on any property you drive by. You can send them a letter or postcard right from the app. Then keep mailing them until they respond or sell to someone else.

Hope this helps.