hey everyone! i am fairly new to investing. i do have a mentor that is coaching me but i have looked at all the places she gave me - except driving around which i am going to be doing tomorrow - to find for sale by owner houses. i feel like i bother her so much so i decided to bother you guys if you have any advice on where i can find for sale by owner houses listed. i have looked on www.owner.com, craigslist, foresalebyowner.com, local papers, realtor (but i don’t have a paying subscription) and other places i can’t think of off hand but i haven’t found anything that is in the bread and butter category. i am going to have to find houses where i can do creative financing these first several times.
i would appreciate any advice, encouragement, wisdom, etc. from all of you experts! Looking forward to learning a ton and a successful investor! thank you in advance!
I can’t believe no one has responded to your post at all.
In my professional opinion… it’s best to wait for listed deals to become potential fsbo deals; with you as the only buyer.
If you get a chance to read flipperjunkie’s blog you’ll see that the least productive lead sources are fsbos. I think he’s got one lead out of 200-plus leads that came from a fsbo. They are a waste of time.
Here’s some adjectives that describe fsbos…
-cheap
-greedy
-unprofessional
-ignorant
-know-it-all
-punchy
Go ahead and bang your head against the fsbo wall and see how long it takes to realize the above. Just saying.
I don’t mean never buy directly from a seller, or worse to only buy through an agent. I’m saying, “Get to the sellers before they think about selling… or wait for them after they have been abused by an agent and are ready to do ‘anything,’ with someone who will relieve them of their problem.” Timing is everything in these situations.
Frankly some of the most motivated sellers are actually those that have listed their homes with an agent. So, one of the best scenarios is to let the homeowners of currently listed properties know that you want to buy their house after their listing expires, but before they re-list it with another agent.
You’ll get some interesting responses from sellers. Some will be rude; suggesting that you’re unethical for suggesting they cut their Realtor out of a commission. Some will be insulted that you think their house won’t sell at the inflated, delusional price they’re asking… And others will be glad to take your name and number, and will start counting the days until their listing expires…
Otherwise, pitching fsbos is like more like beating your head against a wall, since these types of sellers mostly think they’re competent to sell themselves; have lots of time; think they’ve got options; or they’re really punchy, rude and impatient, because they’re not getting what they expected and will ride their price/terms like Wannamaker, before they ever sell for a good price. Not my kinds of prospects.
Hope that makes sense.
Find properties that are not for sale “privately”…yet …or can be purchased directly from a seller after he’s suffered a disturbing experience with a lying, lazy, weasel of an agent. There’s a boatload of these prospects out there.
For FSBO’s, you can go to landvoice.com and pay $35 a month or so for leads they e-mail you.
I get 99% of my leads from listed properties…the rest are from my charm and good looks…ahem…