038: How to Find Deals – Friday Fundamentals

How to Find Deals

We’re going to look at different resources for finding deals. When discussing how to find deals, we categorize the deals by how they are listed: either off-market or on-market.

On market deals mean the deal has been listed with a real estate agent or broker. The real estate agent or broker then shares that information through a database called the the multiple listing service (MLS).

Off market deals are those that have not been formally listed with an agent, and rather are advertised by the seller themself.

There are benefits to both on and off market deals. Let’s dive a bit deeper into each.

With on market deals, there is often much more information available, and you’re typically working with a real estate agent who is legally required to operate within certain parameters. However, on-market deals are much easier to find for everyone which creates competition. There are many different sources where you can find listed properties. These include:

  • Zillow
  • Trulia
  • Loopnet
  • Realtor.com

Off market deals can be harder to find, since there isn’t one place where you can go to find these types of deals. Off market properties can be found on:

  • Craigslist
  • Facebook Marketplace
  • Newspapers classifieds
  • For sale by owner signs

Now these are all probably sources you have heard of. Let’s look into more creative ways to find deals.

The first creative strategy is searching for properties which have delinquent property taxes. These properties are often sold at an auction by the city or state municipality. Every city and state are different, so be sure to look into your specific market for more details on how these properties are sold.

Properties that are in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure can be great opportunities. These properties are often referred to as REO or real estate owned by the lender. These properties can be found by the legal filings, and are often searchable on sites like Zillow, Trulia, etc.

A subset of foreclosures include HUD homes. HUD, or the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, pays government insured loans (FHA loans) when they are defaulted and resales the home on what is known as the HUD Home Store.

 

Links

https://www.unitedwayhouston.org/flood/flood-donation

https://www.hudhomestore.com/Home/Index.aspx

http://www.loopnet.com/

https://www.zillow.com/

https://www.trulia.com/

https://www.realtor.com/