It is a common misconception that real estate investing can only be done in heavily populated areas. The truth is that you can find deals in any market in almost any part of the country. This is especially the case when looking for wholesale deals. If you listen to local realtors, you would think that there is not enough demand and that you will not be able to buy low enough for wholesaling to work. However, wholesaling can work in any market if you and your realtor are willing to work to find deals.
Some realtors neglect to understand that you are not looking for average properties. You are looking for the beat-up, ugly properties that nobody else wants. In your case, the more damage a property has, the more likely it is to fit your criteria. If you make enough offers on beat-up properties like these, you will eventually start to see some of these offers get accepted. The key to this process is working with a realtor who has bank connections or is willing to submit offers on lower priced houses. They are willing to work for you in hopes that you will close a higher volume of deals to offset the lower purchase price amounts.
Fellow investors may look at the MLS and say the well has run dry. They may not know how to get water from it. You have to take an alternative approach to the kind of homes you are looking for. You want the property that has been on the market for 180 days or has “needs TLC” in the listing. Some owners may be reluctant to sell for what they know the value really is because it would fall into a short sale. You can walk them through this process and explain all of your options. There are still deals to be found on the MLS if you know where to look and how to deal with the sellers.
In addition to your realtor, you can preform your own marketing. The market is not as flooded with short sales and foreclosures as it was a few years ago, but there are still deals available. Your marketing could be aimed at pre-foreclosure ads from your local newspaper, estates or vacant property owners. However, there is still a lot of competition for these properties. You need your marketing to stand out.
If there are not a lot of properties in your area, you need to try to capture every deal you can. You can do this by networking with local realtors, attorneys and fellow investors. Show up at the local networking meetings or investment clubs ready to contribute. If there are none in your area, start one yourself. You may only have one other person at the first meeting, but with social media and word of mouth, news travels pretty fast. You want to become the go-to investor for every possible deal in your local area. How you act and interact inside of every deal will help you develop a reputation. Once this is developed, you can maintain it by how you treat the people in the transaction. This doesn’t happen overnight, but if someone is buying real estate in your market, why can’t it be you?
Wholesaling can be done in almost any market with the right approach, the right team and the right outlook. Don’t let other investors’ failures dictate yours. Just because it didn’t work for them doesn’t mean it won’t work for you.
