Would expired listings on the MLS be a good source to find frustrated sellers and potentially land a decent deal?
Yes, possibly…especially in a lethargic market.
Keith
On average, what kind of a discount might be expected from a seller in this situation?
Depends on how desperate they really are and how much they owe. The reason they are selling also plays a factor. You never know why its on there, if its not selling it might be someone with no motivation whatsoever that will just pull it off the market and wait or it might be someone that needs it gone yesterday.
It has been my experience that those that are willing to hire a real estate agent, list it on the MLS and pay the commissions are more inclined to lower the asking price and hire a new realtor, then entertain a below market offer (when they have been unsucessful in selling their home immediately). That’s not to say that you won’t find a deal from time to time, but I would argue that the conversion ratio in this target market will be on the humble side.
As a national mortgage lender/broker, my marketing activities avail me to homeowners that are in the early stages of this decision, particularly those that currently hold subprime ARMs (the leading cause of the escalating foreclosure rates)
My suggestion is to contact homeowners that currently have high interest rate ARMs that are due to adjust in the next 1-3 months to determine if they intend to; 1) refinance, 2) sell, 3) foreclose.
The best part of this marketing approach is that in most parts of the country, it will cost you NOTHING to find 100s of leads every month.
Regards,
Do realtors ahve access to expired listings on the MLS? If so, how does the realtor go about obtaining them?
As far as I remember from my limited use of the MLS its as simple as any other search, you just have to ask them for it.
I’m actually asking this question because I’m going to start working towards my RE license as soon as I complete my university degree.
Once I become a licensed RE sales person, could I actually perform a search for expired listings? How do real estate agents go about finding expired listings?
The MLS is like any other database, it can be queried using a variety of variables, including recently expired.
Expired MLS listings are readily available to anyone that have access to the service and is heavily marketed by other real estate agents trying to get this newly expired listing.
Regards,