Ready to Invest in Your First Multi-Family Property? Here’s How to Fin

If you are contemplating entering the world of multi-family apartment investing, finding motivated sellers is arguably the most important piece of the puzzle. If you can master the art of working with motivated sellers, you can definitely make a great deal of money in this industry.

Who Wants to Sell?

There are a number of people out there who are looking to sell. Use their motivating factor to assist you when you approach them. To find these sellers, look to public records and databanks. Here are some leads to track down:

People who are:

• Divorcing. Divorce is often a motivating factor to get rid of property. You can look for divorce filings at the county clerk’s office.
• Subject to poor property management. Sometimes owners of multifamily properties have been dealing with terrible property management companies. If you can find out which management companies have the worst reputations, you can then contact the owners of the properties directly, offering to buy their properties.
• Death. Death of a multi-family property owner typically motivates sales. Check to see which estates are in probate and then contact the family members. Many times, family members have no interest in running an apartment building.
• Code violations. Apartment building owners who violate city codes, or fire codes, often wish to unload the property, to avoid dealing with the problems.
• Litigation. Often, as with those code violations, owners who are dealing with litigation are dealing with many legal problems and will simply want to sell in order to avoid dealing with the hassle.
• Property tax delinquencies. Owners who owe back taxes are often looking for a buyer. Check out the county clerk’s office for a record of properties that have not been paying their property taxes.

While the factors that can motivate an owner to sell are varied, the one constant is that they do want to sell. Approach them with the information you have, perhaps in a letter, offering your contact information and the opportunity to unload their property. Your phone will soon be ringing off the hook! You will be part of multi-family apartment investing in no time!