What type of seller gives you the most wholesale deals?

I was just curious to find out of all of you completing wholesale deals, which types of sellers gives you most of your deals? By this I mean estates, foreclosures, landlords, etc???

Thanks, Brandon

For me, so far, it’s been vacant rundown houses.

Just look up property records where the owner has a different mailing address than the address of the property. Then, drive by them to figure out which ones are vacant.

It’s time consuming but well worth it.

I am curious…about what percentage of houses that you drive by are vacant? I would have to think that you spend a lot of time driving by houses that end up not meeting your criteria.

Is it possible that you’d just be better off sending letters to all of these out-of-town property owners? After all, even if the property is not vacant, you still might have a “reluctant landlord” out there who would sell to you.

Just curious. I try to limit my driving as much as possible.

Paul, it all depends. If you’re willing to buy a property that has a tenant/lease situation then that would work fine. My personal investment strategy involves wholesale flipping or rehab flipping. So, I don’t want to have to deal with any existing tenants or leases.

I’d say on average only about 10-15% of the absentee owner properties that I look at are vacant. It will vary depending on the marker you’re in, and the areas of town you’re looking at.

Thanks for the clairification.

However, if you’re driving by 7 to 10 houses to find one that’s vacant, then I’m thinking that you might better off sending mail to or contacting all of the property owners instead.

Then, if one comes to you that has a vacant property, great. However, if one comes to you that is not vacant, you might then be able to sell the lead or otherwise get a referral fee from another investor. At least you can recoup some of your marketing dollars that way.

Also, the house might be occupied now, but if the lease is up in 1-2 months and the owner knows there is no renewal or new tenant coming up, the owner might be extra interested in selling to you. But because you thought the house was occupied, you missed that deal.

I hope you take this in the spirit intended. I’m certainly not saying that you’re doing something wrong. I’m just always looking for a better way of doing something.

Yes, you definately have some good points Paul.

I have certain areas that I target, and I drive by the absentee owner properties in those areas on a regular basis. So, if they do become vacant I most likely will notice.

That is only one category of property I look at. So, for all the different types of situations I look at I get enough deals. It just depends on your situation and investment goals.

PS - A little tip for finding out if a property is vacant, drive by on trash pick up day. If there isn’t any trash out for pickup then that is a good indication if it is vacant.

kjb, would it be feesible to just call on “for rent” ads in the papers and craigslist to find these types of owners as well? The reason i ask, is that I don’t have a car to drive around right now and I am very new to wholesaling/finding sellers. Do you look up these addresses at the courthouse as well? Thank you, Timo :smiley: