So yesterday I decided to start my marketing… :O) So far I had been trying to find a good deal through the MLS and learning my market/area.
Yesterday I went online and identified 21 properties with out of state owners. I am mailing them a card today with my business card in a magnet stating that I want to buy their property located here. If any of them is tired of managing an out-of-state property they may be willing to sell for a price I am willing to buy…
One thing that I did notice there are very few properties owned by Companies (LLCs, Corps, etc.). The 21 that belong to out-of-state owners only 2 were owned by Trusts. None was owned by an LLC. I was surprised by this as I thought more people would be owning investment properties through companies. I guess not…
I went to the Treasurer’s website and started clicking on the parcel’s in my target area. For each parcel I clicked I could see the parcel’s address and the owner information. Then I went to the tax records to confirm the owner’s name and address. Is a little bit tedious but it works. Not sure if you will be able to do the same considering in NJ. My state has a ton of information online… :O)
Good luck! Please let us know how it works for you.
mfouts - I know… the problem is that I am learning and at this point I rather do it myself. I am learning a ton of information as I search the different public records. I guess once I master this I may consider buying lists…
The other problem is that I am a DYI type of guy. I like to do it myself… Sometimes it is good, sometimes it is not… Ask my wife… :O)
So here is an update. Since I started my “marketing plan” I sent 65 cards to out of state owners and owners with late taxes. Two cards were returned by the post office because they could not forward them? I guess the address in the tax records were wrong or old.
I got my first call today… :O) An investor from California that is trying to short sale his house here. He called and left me a voice mail. I ran some comps and decided to call him back. I was really nervous but decided that I had to call him back right away. He was a very nice man - we talked for approximately 25 min. Right now I don’t think I will be able to help him. He is asking $200k for a house with ARV of $140k to $150k. He has just decided to sell and has his house listed with a local agent. I told him that at that price I will not be able to help him. He may be able to get something close to that from an Owner Occupant but not from an investor. There was a house similar to his that sold for $185k recently. That house was on the market for only 11 days - so I am assuming it was really nice. He said that he will try for a while (he is not late with his mortgage, but he will soon not be able to pay it). We agreed that he will call me if he gets to a point where he becomes really motivated to sell… I will keep monitoring the property. Who knows - in a few months he may become really motivated.
So long story short, I was glad I talked with him. It was not comfortable for me, but at least I did it this first time… :O)
And I am really happy because from 65 cards I sent, I got one call… :O)
On your first post, you mentioned you were surprised to see so many “investors” with their properties in their own names. They could have been unintentional investors. They may have had to move before they could sell their homes.
Congrats on hour first call! :beer You mentioned the seller was trying to do a short sale. Get whatever info you can on the seller and the property and refer it to an investor that does short sales. Although my focus is on making deeply discounted all cash offers to homeowners with a lot of equity, I will refer out all other deals.
He is already working with a local realtor that is familiar with short sales. He has just listed his property and is current on his mortgage payments. So he believes he will be able to get close to market value for his property. I told him that I would be able to buy only at deep discount. We agreed that I would keep an eye on his property and if he gets to a point that he is desperate to sell we will talk again. I will keep in touch with him. Maybe in a few months if he doesn’t get a buyer he may be more motivated to sell to me…
Thank you for the suggestion to refer deals to others… Have a great weekend.
So today I got my second call from an out of state investor insterested in selling her property. From the 65 cards I sent so far I got 2 calls… :O)
She is upside down on the mortgage but now she has a tenant in place. With the tenant she can pay the mortgage. She is afraid that if the tenant leaves or stops paying she will not be able to afford the mortgage. She had a number of bad tenants in the past. The other thing is that she got an interest only mortgage for 5 years. Her mortgage will adjust in approximately 2 years. She will not be able to make the payments then.
We talked about her options - right now she decided to keep the property and see what is going to happen within the next couple of years. Her hope is that the property values move up and she can at least recover her investment.
I will keep in contact with her and see if I can help her in the future.
Just wanted to share an update on the results of my “marketing plan”. :O)
Fadi - the good thing is that each time I talk with a potential seller I get more comfortable. When the right deal comes along I will be better prepared to handle. I am now expanding my target to include local homeowners that bought their houses in the 90s. I guess I will have a better chance of finding someone with equity in the house… We will see… :O)
I remember my first face to face meeting with a prospect… she had a 2/1, she was asking $45k. I offered her $35k… she was reluctant, so I offered to break down the numbers for her to explain my price… when I did, I couldn’t justify lower than $50k!! Lost that deal
Lesson learned, it was a great deal at $45k, should have taken it around that price There is no substitute for experience… you will make many mistakes, and that will only make you better.
Fadi - thank you for sharing your experience with your first face to face meeting. I am yet to meet with a seller face to face… I will make sure I do my calculations beforehand and will be prepared to justify my price… :O)
I decided to step up my “marketing plan”. Today I am sending out 84 cards to homeowners that bought their properties before 2003 and have some equity. Now I am marketing to three types of owners:
1 - out of state investors that may want out of their properties here;
2 - Owners with late taxes;
3 - local owners that bought their properties before 2003 considering that they will probably have some equity on those propertis (if they haven’t refinanced it in 2005-2007).
You dont have to manage them. There are plenty of reliable property management companies out there. You dont have to limit yourself to your own area then either.
