Not Making Money in Real Estate Investing?
You did your homework and made the jump to invest in real estate. You’ve done the work, so why isn’t the income flowing in yet? No doubt, you are doing all the things that you have been taught and instructed to do. You have a realtor, you’ve been watching the internet for details, you drive around looking for for sale signs, and you are using word of mouth. It doesn’t end there!
All those activities are just the tip of the iceberg. Essentially, it is just busy work in the real estate game. You need to push further! Get your walking shoes on and start knocking on the doors of homeowners facing foreclosure. Don’t keep it safe on the sidelines, put yourself out there and work for the deals!
It will be important to keep in mind that you are not looking to solve the homeowners problems, you are looking for deals. No one sells their house at a serious discount unless they HAVE TO! Would you sell your house to me for 50 cents on the dollar because I’m a nice guy? Of course not, you worked hard for your home and you don’t HAVE TO. But if you had lost your job, were 30 days from losing your home, and I showed you how I could put immediate cash in your pocket, wouldn’t you consider it?
As investors we buy houses from people that NEED TO SELL, NOT PEOPLE THAT WANT TO SELL. When you’re dealing with a Realtor, 9 times out of 10 they’re going to show you nice houses, owned by people that are in no urgent rush to sell. I hardly ever deal with Realtors. I’m not saying to completely alienate yourself from them. That would be foolish. Simply network with them, and let them know that if a killer deal comes along, you can close with cash quickly. Explain what you’re looking for and that’s when they will call you. I wouldn’t go around looking at houses with them. Most Realtors are not trained to look for the types of deals that we’re looking for. Actually, they’ll probably tell you that it’s NOT POSSIBLE to find the kinds of deals that we do.
There’s a few things that you need to be looking for. THESE are the things that will lead you to the good deals that you’re looking for:
1. Divorce
2. Imprisonment or Court Costs
3. Loss of Job – Foreclosures
4. Bankruptcy
5. Death
6. Job Transfer
7. Bad Tenants – Contact Landlords who have filed evictions
Most of these types of people can be searched by looking through the public information on your local courthouse records. Depending on your location, most of the time these are available online. Situations like Loss Of Job would be discovered by looking through the foreclosures and knocking on their door. You need to focus your attention on people with these types of situations.
These people usually have serious issues that need to be solved. They at one time had the cash to pay for their mortgage and the expenses associated with it. Now due to circumstances beyond their control, things have been thrown out of whack and they need someone to get everything reorganized for them. That’s your job…Solve their problem and you’ll get a good deal.
