Contractor · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2017 · 22 posts · 7 votes
4y
Best and most reliable way is to build your own list, any other list will already have been scoured by investors in a market like this, especially if you don't have a competitive edge on the flipping costs.
Rental Property Investor · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2019 · 530 posts · 511 votes
4y
Drive for dollars.
Seriously.
:-)
I can say if you want a trendy location for a flip, the place is going to be in pretty bad condition in this market at around $100 because the land alone is often going to run that much. You know where you want to be, take a friend and spend an afternoon driving the streets, have them write down house numbers or you do it while they drive. Then take them out for a nice dinner. Split your list in half (you should have a hundred or two addresses).
Now comes the fun part. You can door knock those houses if you have some shiny brass ones. You can skip trace and call owners. You can do yellow letters.
As a wholesaler, landlord, and very rare flipper, I can say going this route gets results. I can also say it often is 5-10 contacts until you get a response. The money is in the follow up. Once you buy houses off market you will never go back to the MLS. The difference in price points will let you hire VA to run the whole process once you put it together and then some. Then you will have so many deals you will be selling the ones you don't want to your investor friends.
(I all seriousness though, do drive neighborhoods you like, and either be active with the distressed houses you find (door knock or skip trace) or be passive (DMM). If you go driving once a quarter and set up a follow up cycle you will never need to go to someone else again and your profits will be far higher because you aren't paying middleman fees.)