Off market duplex deals

[Chris Lawlor]

Hi All,

Loving the forums and the friendly, open knowledge and advice sharing that goes on here.

My wife and I are looking for a house hack situation in a duplex/triplex in the capital region. Realistically, I think it's a duplex with our budget and the market the way that it is.

We have had two properties nearly on the hook, but the first cut and went with a cash buyer the day after giving us a verbal agreement (sucks, but that's life); second failed inspection for a number of reasons (also sucks, but better to avoid a money pit, right?).

We've been looking for about 6 months now and it's tough, but we have to persevere. We need something that is as move-in ready as possible as we're about to have a baby and we just won't have the bandwidth to rehab or do any significant work to the house beyond maybe some painting and cosmetic stuff.

I'm somewhat despairing of the market at the moment and our chances of finding the right property; however, just yesterday one of my wife's colleagues heard that we are in the market for a property and mentioned that her family have an estate sale that is not yet listed and would we be interested. I'm thinking that there must be many more opportunities like this and I'd like to try and see if it's possible to find more opportunities like this. Has anyone any advice on how to go about this beyond getting the word out with friends and family?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and for any advice that you might have.

Enjoy the weekend everyone :)

[Nathan Gesner]

There are opportunities out there; you have to find them.

First, you need to know generally what you are looking for and then tell everyone you meet, every time you meet them. I did this when I first started and someone brought me a deal in three months that we have nearly quadrupled the value in five years. Maybe create a business card with details listed and hand them out at work, church, grocery store, kid's basketball game, etc. Tell 100 people and that's 100 people looking for you.

Second, drive for dollars. You drive around communities and look for signs of people moving, neglected homes, etc. Or even knock on doors (every 3-4 should work) and ask if they know anyone in the community thinking of selling. You may have to knock on 500 doors, but wouldn't that be better than waiting six months?