There’s one category of seller that is always available, whether the market is strong or weak: the extremely motivated seller, or “Don’t Wanter.” These are the people who beg you to take their house. They are ready to give you the deed. These are the people almost always willing to accept your terms. Come up with a Don’t Wanter and it’s your lucky day!
How do you find Don’t Wanters?
1. Check out your local newspaper and shopper for classifieds with headlines such as “Must Sell Now!” “Seller Desperate,” “Lost Job Must Sell,” or “Transferred Must Sell.” You can tell the motivation of the seller by the tone of the ad.
2. Craigslist, Backpage and Kijiji include For-Sale-By-Owner listings for many parts of the country. Look for the “must sell” desperation FSBO sellers in these sources and contact them.
3. Choose some neighborhoods that you would like to invest in, and drive around them. Look for houses that are in need of some maintenance, but are still lived in. Then send the owners letters or postcards that clearly explain that you can buy their house quickly and in any condition. If you are persistent with your marketing, you will be the one they call first when they decide to sell.
4. Look for the people who are in foreclosure and are getting close to the sale date. You can find them in the legal notices section of your local newspaper. These people will be most motivated to find a solution to their problem. The homeowner is likely to see a short sale as the only option out of the foreclosure.
5. Request lists of people who have not been able to refinance from mortgage brokers in your area. A mortgage crisis might be coming in the near future for these homeowners and they could be very motivated to sell.
6. Get the list of divorce filings in you area. Often times divorcing couples just want to sell their house as quickly as possible so that it’s easier to split their assets and move on.
If you want to invest in multi-unit properties, send marketing materials to people who have owner their properties for over 10 or 20 years. These people are more likely to be looking to sell their units and retire. One great option for these sellers is to buy it on a contract for deed that will bring in a steady income, but frees them from worrying about being a landlord.
Out-of-town-owners of single family homes and smaller multi-family properties are great prospects. Since rents have fallen below mortgage payments for these small-time investors, they could be steadily losing money every month. They might be running low on cash reserves and in need of a quick sale to avoid foreclosure.
Probate owners are also often anxious to sell the properties. They might not want to spend the time and money it takes to make a fixer-upper ready to sell, and they might not have the attachment to the property that one might assume. Many times, heirs will sell for a wholesale price just to be rid of a burden.
Take a good look at the property before you buy it. You want to make sure that you don’t inherit any expensive problem properties.
Find the Don’t Wanters in your market and you will be guaranteed a steady flow of very motivated sellers that are often invisible to your competition.
Want to find out more about how to find motivated sellers? Then get a FREE copy of Bob Massey’s eBook all about how to find motivated sellers.
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