All Forum Posts by: Doug Pretorius

@Dominika M & @Roy N. I've done 10 of these deals and it usually takes 4-6 weeks to find a suitable buyer.

I've tried the buyer-first approach but I'm not very good at maintaining positive control over a buyer's expectations, so they tend to become unrealistic and lose their sense of urgency.

@Dominika M When I got started there was only one other guy I knew of who did RTOs on a regular basis here in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, and he was a realtor. He did it as a way to get a quick and easy commission on leads other agents wouldn't touch (sellers with no equity, buyers with no down payment).

Nowadays it seems everyone has jumped on the bandwagon, from individual landlords, to corporations, to several of the big-name realtors.

As @Roy N. said it's mostly in the starter home price range.

These can be a good deal for everyone involved if you don't get greedy. I'm looking for sellers who bought recently with a nice low interest 5 year mortgage. They typically have no equity and are just looking to breakeven and get out from under their payments. I'll buy their home for what they owe on a contract deferred to the renewal date of their mortgage.

Then I'll look for a buyer who doesn't quite have 5% to put down and maybe has a few credit issues. With 3-5 years on the mortgage I've got plenty of time to work with them to get sorted for financing. If that doesn't work and they've been a great customer (responsible with payments, take good care of the property) I'll assume the mortgage myself and keep them on until they can pay me out completely.

I shoot for about a 10% spread on both price and payments for my profit, so over the course of the deal, the buyer ends up with the lions' share of any appreciation or capital improvements that they make to the home.

Hope that helps!

Sarah Jones You have to test like crazy. I eventually found a message that worked like gangbusters and I signed over 100 deals in 2-3 months. But it only worked in two markets: Toronto and Vancouver. Everywhere else I tried that same message/technique it failed miserably.

Clay Huber I had a seller call and say that he'd had my postcard on his fridge for 6 months!

Ken's right about finding out if you and the seller are in the same ballpark, although his numbers might not work for you depending on your investment strategy.

Ask them what they NEED (not what they want) for price, and if you're interested in taking over their mortgage, ask what they need per month too. It never ceases to amaze me how low of a number some sellers reply with to that simple question. And with the unmotivated ones you can just thank them for calling and be on your way.

Jesse Rivera I've tried hundreds of scripts and what worked the best for me was just these 2 questions:

For Lease options:
"Would you consider a rent to own?"

For Subject tos:
"Would you consider selling your house for what you owe on it?"

I've got most of my deals by cold calling FSBOs.

Well it was just a thought :)

Using bandit signs to sell houses on terms is like taking candy from a baby around here. $20 worth of signs = 100 calls, easy. Compared to a $20 Pennysaver ad that might pull 4 calls if I'm lucky!

Ryan, you know there's a lag for just about everything right? So have you considered the possibility that the reason you have more success in the spring is because of your effort in the winter?

Totally agree, Dick. Home-made signs are the greatest marketing tool available for selling houses!

I haven't had much luck with bandit signs for buying houses though, and I've had a lot of trouble with code enforcement. They don't mind "rent to own" signs but their blood pressure explodes when they see "we buy houses".