Newbie investor starting BRRRR

[Ashek Elahi]

Hi there, 

I am a new investor, started my journey with my wife back in 2022 we house hacked our first property in new haven CT.

I am currently having a hard time finding any good deals in my market everything is so over priced and goes way above the 1% rule, I even made some low offer on the properties that I thought would be a good fit for BRRRR however offer never gets accepted or someone else over bids.

My question to the group is what is the best way to find a distressed property? how can I utilize my realtor to find off market deals? any suggestions is greatly appreciated. 

 

[Travis Timmons]

Ask yourself, "What can I do that is really difficult?"

That will be your strategy. The easy money doesn't exist right now. You have to either get lucky, have an unfair advantage, or do the necessary blocking and tackling to find situations that create deals. For example, here's an easy one. Call every listing that hits 90 days in your market on the MLS. Shut your brain off and just call the listing agent. If you do that enough, you'll find a situation where a seller wants to get out from under a bad situation.

I kind of hate that there is a casual term for BRRRR...let's call it what it is without the tailwind of massive appreciation - you're buying a mess of a property. You're either getting a great deal because there is a problem that the seller can't or won't solve or the property will not qualify for conventional financing, so a buyer has to take it down with cash. Or you can get lucky and find the needle in the haystack off market deal, but generally speaking, sellers aren't stupid, have access to the internet, and have an idea of the fair market value of their home. They're only selling well below the ARV if there is a giant mess to clean up. You either pay for a house with dollars or dollars + stress + worry + hassle + unknowns. Either way, it adds up to the market value.