How low can you pay for a home in your market? Can you get one for $30,000? $10,000? How about one dollar? Investors who live in the Rust Belt or other areas that were overbuilt and were slammed by the housing bust can find some incredible buys right now.

If you look on Realtor.com, you can find over 150 houses, condos, and multi-unit buildings around Chicago for $10,000 or less. There are over 130 in Minneapolis for between $7000 and $30,000. In Detroit, there are over 3,444 listings available for $25,000 or under! The prices get down to $40. In Cleveland you can get some decent homes for under $20,000. 520 of those homes in Cleveland have a starting auction bid of one dollar!

Common characteristics are that most of these homes are bank owned. The banks tend to be more anxious to get these properties off their books than they are to make a dime on the assets. Because of the low, low prices and the need for speed, many are all-cash deals.

A significant portion of these homes require some serious rehab work. Many of these are complete burn-outs that are going to require a full gutting. A lot of times liens, real estate commissions, and all required permits and fees have to be paid by the buyer. The buyers must do some complete due diligence to get inspections, surveys, and all other work before they sign anything permanent with the bank. Sales in the price range are always “as is.”

There may be special local considerations to be aware of. For example, most of the 33 listings between $10,000 and $30,000 in the Cedar Rapids, IA area are in areas of the city that have been flooded. It would be critical to find out if the home is in a “tear down” area and how quickly that work is expected before attempting to buy anything in this zone. In the case of “as is” property it is “buyer beware.”

Most of the listings between $20,000 and $39,000 in Cape Coral, Florida are located in an area of the city that is going to be assessed $25,000 for city sewer and water services. The homes in this area might not need serious rehab, but the assessment becomes a factor in determining the true cost of owning the home in that part of town.

Both the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 contain several billion dollars for the rehabilitation of blighted neighborhoods, particularly in areas where foreclosure has been the highest. At least $4 billion of the Neighborhood Stabilization portion of the 2008 bill have been distributed to the neediest cities.

Local Investors can’t expect to receive individual grants from these programs, except possibly from other portions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that related to making energy efficiency upgrades to low income housing. Investors may benefit indirectly if they accept Section 8 clients as tenants. More money under these emergency programs will be available in order to get more individuals below the poverty level into decent housing through Section 8.

Individual cities or non-profits may offer grants to Investors for the purpose of buying foreclosed or poor condition housing and rehabilitating this housing. Check your local Housing Authority for options available in your area.

Learn more about property investing. Stop by Bob Massey’s site where you can find out all about how to invest in real estate and what it can do for your life.

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.