How To Identify Motivated Sellers For Real Estate Investing

One of the most important things that determine the success of real estate investing business is availability of good deals. You are unlikely to make profits in most real estate investing business models unless you can buy properties cheaply.

My best source of great deals is motivated sellers. When you are buying houses, you will come across all types of sellers. Identifying motivated sellers who drive your business is crucial to your success.

Of course, more targeted marketing will give you more motivated sellers. I am particularly fond of targeting people with legal trouble who own real estate. These usually turn out to be motivated sellers.

Classified ads, newspapers, bandit signs, and other kinds of general advertising methods attract all kinds of people looking to sell their houses.

So how can you identify people who really need to sell their houses? It is easier to explore different types of sellers.

1) Unmotivated seller
This type of seller thinks he owns the best house in the sub-division. They have invested a lot to make sure the house is in top condition.

They have put it in the market but they have not found a buyer. In most cases they are looking to get the full market price.

They would not discuss numbers like mortgage balances, etc.

Move on, you are not likely to make any money out of such deals.

2) Luke-warm seller
This is the type of person who calls you and says he might be willing to let you buy his house, and asks you to explain how you work.

Even though he will listen and ask questions, he does not feel comfortable discussing details like mortgage balance.

Most likely, he will tell you how much he has been trying to sell for, and ask you to make an offer. He wants you to go see the house first and see if you like it.

Even though he will show the interest to be flexible enough to negotiate, you are unlikely to get a good deal from him.

Of course if you are a savvy real estate investor, you never make an offer unless you have all the numbers such as the fair market value, repairs, mortgage balance and so on.

You are likely to waste a lot of time driving to see such houses and not get a deal.

Usually I will ask him to call me with all the number before I can make an offer.

3) Motivated seller
This is the person who really needs to sell their house. Maybe he is facing foreclosure of is behind on his mortgage payments.

Probably they have tried to sell and see no other way out. They will keenly provide all the information you need. And mostly they just want to get out of the mortgage.

Most of my motivated sellers submit their information through my real estate investor web site; by the time I talk to them I already know if the deal can work or not.

If I pre-screen such a seller on the phone, the conversation is likely to take less than 5 minutes and they provide all the information I need.

In my business, this is the only type of seller I deal with. It is only this type of seller who is likely to make you money.

Successful real estate investing requires that you pre-educate potential motivated sellers about how you do business to close more deals. Learn how an interactive real estate investor website can pre-educated motivated sellers for you, pre-screen them and pre-negotiate deals for you saving you time, money and effort allowing you to close more deals.