Still looking for motivated sellers?
Real estate investors struggling to find motivated sellers and more deals may be encouraged to know that almost 14,000 of these properties sell every day of the year!
Around 5,000,000 homes sell each year in the United States. That’s an average of 13,698 closed sales each day. That number could be significantly higher in 2016 if analysts’ positive forecasts are accurate. These may not all be the dirt cheap steals some real estate investors are seeking, but someone is doing these deals, and making money on them. It’s also worth noting that every seller is a motivated seller. Some individuals and companies may throw properties up on the market to test it – to see how much they can get. Yet, few actually make it through to a sale unless they are motivated. Selling a property can be work. It takes some time, planning, and it can cost money.
Why Properties are Sold
Some of the common reasons real estate is sold include:
- Moving for work
- Need to downsize or gain more space
- Need to be near family
- Rising housing costs (taxes, interest rates, HOA fees)
- Relocating near better schools for kids
- Liquidating assets to cover major expenses
- Property was inherited
- Changing business plans
- New regulations or taxes
- As part of regular business operations
- Problem tenants
- Divorce
- Change in personal finances
These are just some of the reasons owners sell. All of these represent some form of motivation. Even if these sellers aren’t desperate at the time they start exploring listing their properties, these factors can put a lot of pressure on them as time moves on.
How Long Does it Take to Find a Real Estate Deal?
In one recent shocking post online, an ‘investor’ said he had been searching for motivated seller deals for five years, with no deals done! Others brag about doing 10 plus deals a month, every month. Some say they even pull in six figures a week. So how long should it take to find a real estate deal?
Results can be dramatically different. Some investors storm in and find deals in their first 30 days. Others might take several months to close their first deal. If you go over six months, something may be wrong. It certainly warrants reviewing what you are doing and coming up with a new game plan if you are going months without securing purchase contracts. This is true even in the hottest markets and when there is significant competition.
12 Ways to Find Properties for Sale
- The Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
- Door knocking
- Direct mail
- Cold calling
- Real estate websites
- Blogs
- Social media
- On and offline networking
- Google Adwords
- Realtors
- Craigslist
- Local newspapers
Where to Find Deeper Discounts
One of the biggest challenges of those taking longer to find deals is not a lack of inventory, but a lack of deeply distressed, discounted, and cheap deals. So where are those deals? In addition to the above where might investors want to look?
- Referrals from local businesses and professionals
- Auctions
- Tax sales
- FSBOs
- Lists of distressed property owners
- Banks and lenders
In early 2016, 58,000 homes were headed to foreclosure in Detroit alone. So the deals are out there.
If you still aren’t signing deals, then take a moment to review what the issue really is. Is it a lead generation problem, volume problem, pitch problem, closing ability, or offer problem? Or is there a chance you haven’t been working off of up to date deal analysis models and maybe have unrealistic goals?
It could be that a minor tweak needs to be made. Or there may be more real estate education and training needed. Is it worth getting a coach to go over your marketing, and the deals you are looking at together? In other cases, you may benefit from hiring some help. Perhaps you are great with numbers and marketing, but just can’t respond to leads fast enough or aren’t skilled at closing deals over the phone.
Another 14,000 real estate deals will close tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. How many of those will be your deals?
