I'm looking for the deal of the century, and I want YOU to help me find it...

For people that want great deals, they are never in the MLS. You have to do your own targetted marketing to find those 60% of retail deals. The deals of the century are out there though. You just have to pound the pavement to find them.

If I find a deal that good I will buy it myself.  Everyone spots a good deal and everyone jumps on it.

A lot of people have taken those get rich quick real estate investment courses and don't realize like Rob said, it takes targeted marketing to find a good deal and what Gene said, "If I find a deal that good I will buy it myself."  

 

Great article! Just spent two hours with an investor who actually told me he wanted to buy 5 homes for 60-70 cents on the dollar!  He said, "I know they are out there!"  Well see....

Great article.  I had one buyer who wanted to pay about 80 cents on the dollar, and then wanted me to rebate part of my commission back to him.  He said I owed him that for giving me his business.

Great story!! Excellent response...Lol !! Excellent blog post!

This is one of the best articles I have read in a long time. I got an email the other day from someone who found me online. Moving to town in two months. Really likes my site, wants to work with me. Wants two acres in the mountains, minimum of 2000 square feet, would prefer newer. Can spend as much as $100,000. (I referred her to one of my new agents :) :) )

Everyone would like to have the deal of the century. Good for you that this one had a sense of humor!

Dear Jared & Amanda,

It is about the same around here. Low inventory has brought multiple offers back & everyone with cash is biting themselves for not buying two years ago.

This particular person seems like someone that has taken a course, gone to a seminar, or read some book about Real Estate investing and is trying to "get in the game" without really knowing what they are doing.

Can you find killer deals?  Yes!  Can you find them on the MLS?  Yes!  Should you talk to a great agent to help you?  Yes!

However you have find discounts on VALUE (not list) and know what to have your agent to look for.

I have bought many properties off the MLS at 50-60% of current list, but they aren't cosmetic fixes and I didn't have an agent plop it in my lap without giving any criteria other than "Find me the best deal ever!".

 

First you seek out an agent that has experience working with investors and wants to be in the niche.  Most agents really don't want to and don't know how to deal with this different kind of buyer (If they AREN'T different than retail buyers other than putting in crappy offers then they don't know what they are doing).

Once you find some good potential agents you given them criteria to work with.

Like a) distressed properties (REO, Short Sale, Probate etc.), b) priced in the bottom 10% of active houses, c) if fixed and fully updated to local standards would be worth in the 40-60% range, d) have been on the market >100 days, e) better if current condition means they could not qualify for FHA and at least difficult to get conventional financing.

These are the kind of places you can get nice discounts on but even then the rate is not going to be great.

Since amping up my business I have made over 1,400 offers and have bought 14 places.

0.1% success rate but they have all been pretty good deals!

Wa wa wa wa ..... missed it!  Time for the new reality.

It took sellers almost 5 years to get with the reality of the market.  We are wondering if it will that buyers that long!  lol

It is amazing to me that with all the publicity about prices rising, multiple offers and low inventory, people are still looking to buy a home for less than 50% of the listing price.

What an excellent response to this inquiry--I'm going to use the time machine line!!  Thanks!

Your response sounds straight out of "Back to the Future", unfortunately a movie fantasy doesn't play in today's market!

Hi Jaren, we usually classify these buyers as "weeds" - and we don't "water the weeds".

Great story Jared, I like the way you handled that one.

Thanks for this.  I have a meeting with a potential buyer tomorrow morning and I'm expecting a similar conversation (only she doesn't have a sense of humor).  She's been looking for 2 years now, the house she is living in will be going to auction in a few weeks so she's concerned.  Should be an interesting conversation as I heard from her former agent that she wants to low ball all offers and won't commit to one agent.  If she persists then I will be saying 'next'.

It sounds like that Buyer had seen too many real estate "infomercials".

There are deals like that, but they are very rare and take a considerable amount of time to find. The thing to look for are problem properties in great neighborhoods that are severly under valued because of the situation of the homeowner.