Happy New Year and happy hunting…
I have been hunting for a good REO deal with my realtor. My realtor has no experience dealing with investors…
When we spot a listing and go there to look at it…he discuss pros and cons about this property like good floor plan or consequences of having it right on the major street. Sometimes I feel we are very careful. My exit strategy is to rehab and sell.
Do you think it is a good idea to go that far out as not to buy a property if its back is on the major street or if the floor plan is a little not according to our taste.
I am open for some discussion…
There’s only one thing that matters…is it resellable? A screaming deal isn’t a screaming deal if you end up getting stuck holding the property.
What your agent is saying to you is what the agents that show your home to potential buyers will be saying. So, that’s something to keep in mind. Are a poor floor plan or busy street insurmountable? No.
Good luck!
Does everyone has difficulty finding REOs through MLS. They have some sort of “non fixable” thing, e.g. close to a major street or bad floor plan.
Is there any other approach you guys take when investigating REOs.
Thanks
Ronnie
The biggest issue we have is getting the lenders to be realistic about their asking prices. Here in San Diego, the number of REOs are growing at an amazing rate. Every day there’s more. Including one drool worthy $2.6million ocean and race track view home in Del Mar. So, the main issue is not finding houses that are resellable, it’s finding one that you can get the lender to actually be reasonable and make the money side work.
Our real estate agent is the official listing agent for one of the lenders. I have access to his website which lists all of the REOs in our county regardless of the lender that owns it plus he sends me a list daily of properties that fit the basic criteria of what I’m looking for. He totally and thoroughly understands the difference between someone buying as investment vs. someone buying retail.
Call the lenders in your area and ask them who their listing agent is and then give them a call. I think you’ll get better results. Find on you like and develope a relationship.
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Call the lenders in your area and ask them who their listing agent is and then give them a call. I think you’ll get better results. Find on you like and develope a relationship.
Why go to the agent? Just go to the lender directly. Cut out the middleman =)
j
A) Most lenders won’t deal directly with investors. Let’s face it, they’re getting 50 calls a day from investors that claim they’re the best thing since sliced bread. That’s why they hired an agent.
B) By using their agent, I have someone that does a butt load of work, shuffling through hundreds of houses and sending me a new list every day. This means that I actually have time to do things that need to get done on my current project. And since I don’t pay him (the lender does), it’s free labor!
C) When my agent gets something from the lender that he knows is perfect for us, I typically know before it even hits the MLS. Try calling every lender every morning to get the newest listings and see how that works out for you.
D) The first rule of good management is knowing when to delegate. Could I do all that shuffling through properties? Yup. Should I? Nope. My time is worth more than that.
So using their agent costs me nothing, saves me time and gets me to the head of the line. Why would I go directly to the lender?
False.
More money, more money, more money.