I was just listening to a recording by Robyn Thompson. She says that she get’s over 50% of her properties by doing searches on MLS. However, she does have a realtor’s license. Are there any realtor/investors out there using MLS to locate properties, and if so, what are you using as a search criteria when searching MLS? Are you searching the remarks for certain key words, ownership information? It would be very cool to have someone who is familair with MLS to comment on what the savy investors are searching on.
Here is what I use, I’m sure there are more, but it’s a start.
invest,rehab,tlc,as-is,as is,needs work,handyman,motivat
REO, bank owned, bank, proof of funds, investment, investor.
“Potential” is a great term
There are plenty of deals on the MLS. Investors act like it is a mystery to find good deals.
HUD and REO’s are always listed. Look for the common words (like pre-approved) used in the remark section and use those for the keyword searches, along with price range, area, bedrooms, etc.
work with a good reo asset manager and you can know about the deals before they even make it to the mls. By the time its on the mls everyone is seeing it. I know people constantly searching the mls for mark downs etc. If the house is on the mls for more than a day its not the best deal because the one that is will already be gone.
“3 bedroom single family” Then I run the address through a reverse search to get a number. Call the owner and work out a deal for when their listing expires. If I can’t get their number I’ll send them a postcard.
HERE IS A SECRET MANY REALTORS DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW. www.Realtor.com Every listing that is on the MLS is listed on www.Realtor.com You can search all the same listings the real Estate agents have access to. And if you see something you like, you can call the listing agent directly. Another secret…since they are the listing agent and you are the buyer - if you buy from them, they would get a double deal. Full commission. They don’t have to split it with another realtor who brought the buyer!!! So by knowing this, you can feasibly negotiate up to 3% off the purchase price because if that Realtor had to split the commission with another Realtor, she/he would only get 1/2 the commission anyway! Happy Searching!!
I really doubt that Realtor.com is a secret but there are a couple of things you should know about it - When an agent puts a listing in his/her MLS it is picked up by Realtor.com. When Realtor.com decides to take the listing off and why they decide to take it off is the secret. In a trial I conducted, four out of six listings on Realtor.com had been sold or were no longer on the market for various reasons. The listing agents have no control over how Realtor.com operates. To me, using that site is a better than nothing - I use it once in awhile to check general prices but I would not rely on it for factual information.
There’s an ok deal on MLS every now and then. A better use for MLS is expired listings. We’re hoping to assign a recent deal that was on MLS and expired. It was priced ok, but we negotiated a better deal. Since you don’t have to go through the listing agent once the listing expires, it can save the seller that side of the commission.
It’s not really a secret. The real secret is that people who think they’re getting a better deal directly from the listing agent are mistaken. They represent the seller, not the buyer. I’ve seen many people who went directly to the listing broker and didn’t get as a good a deal if they used a buyer’s agent. How do I know that? Well these were people who came into our mortgage office next door to our real estate office. From the realtor’s standpoint, when you go to them directly, they actually have to do twice as much work so why shouldn’t get they get twice the pay? Why would they want to give up half their commission and do more work because they have to worth with both buyer and seller. Also some large real estate firms have firm policies of not cutting their commission. If they did it for one person, they’d have to do it for everyone. They would rather lose a deal over 1k than set a precedent where they’re known for discounting their commission when they’re working with a buyer directly. That would also give them a bad rep in the community because everyone likes to brag about what a great deal they got.