| It almost goes without saying that you
want to buy the houses for the lowest possible price. But where do you
find these deals? They certainly don’t walk up and knock on your
forehead (unless you are a real estate agent). This means that you need to
actively go out and look for them. You need to develop a system for
locating motivated sellers.
What is a motivated seller? It is a Meridianville Alabama real estate seller who, for whatever reason, is anxious and compelled to
sell their house as fast as possible. These sellers will likely sell for
less than market value, often considerably so. They will sell below
market, and shake your hand and thank you for buying it.
They had a problem, and you helped solve it. You
got the “monkey off of their back.” Do not ever feel like you are
taking advantage of a Meridianville real estate seller. For whatever reason,
they are in the situation that they are in and it’s not your fault. Remember,
if you don’t buy it, someone else will!
What would cause a seller to be in a situation
where they need to sell fast? There are many possible answers, but
here are some of the most common:
1. DIVORCE -About 25% of all Meridianville real estate
home sales are the result of divorce or family problems. While this is
unfortunate, it provides some great opportunities for the investor. There
are cases where one spouse will agree to sell the house very cheap just so
that the other will get less proceeds. Often in messy divorces the court
will order the sale of the house, so it MUST be sold. When people are
highly emotional, they will do things that are sometimes hard to believe,
like accepting a low offer on the house!
2. DEATH - This is also unfortunate, but it is
something that happens eventually to all of us. Sometimes the Meridianville real
estate sale is motivated by emotion, like where a spouse does not want to
stay in the same house after the other spouse dies. Other times it is more
financial, where the home can no longer be afforded without the deceased.
In many cases, there are large estate taxes to be
paid. If the inheritors of the estate do not have the cash to pay the
taxes, they will sell off assets like houses to pay the taxes. If they don’t,
the government will step in and force an estate sale to generate the money
owed for the taxes.
3. JOB TRANSFER - When a person is dependent on
their job and they get transferred, they sometimes must move quickly.
Often one spouse will move on to the new city and leave the other behind
until the home sells. This means separation and the expense of traveling
back and forth. After several months of this arrangement, the motivation
to sell can increase greatly. Sometimes the transferred employee’s
company will pay some or all of the costs associated with selling the
house and moving. This may enable them to take an even lower price for the
house.
4. BOUGHT ANOTHER HOME - In many cases a seller
will purchase another home before their existing home is sold.
They may need to sell the existing home before they can close on the new
one. Sometimes they may close on the new one, move into it, and leave the
old one vacant. Either way, the motivation to sell can be large!
5. FORECLOSURE - When the owner of a home doesn’t
make the payments, sooner or later the bank will foreclose on the property
and take it back. Depending on state/local laws, the foreclosure process
can take anywhere from 4 to 15 months. This leads to 2 different
opportunities.
The first is where the foreclosure process has
been started, and the owner is still living in the property. They may be
highly motivated to sell because soon the bank will complete the
foreclosure and they will be forced to move out… with a foreclosure on
their record if they don’t sell it first. The other is where the bank
has completed the foreclosure and now owns the house. It is controlled by
the bank’s real estate owned (REO) department. The REO department does
not want to own houses, and will attempt to dispose of them as soon as
possible, often at substantial discounts.
6. VACANT HOUSES - Any of the above 5 situations
can lead to a vacant house. Any time you see a house that is sitting
vacant, you see resources being wasted. Whoever owns that piece of Meridianville
real estate is either making payments on it every month or, if they own it
free and clear, missing out on the use of the money somewhere else. No
matter what the situation, a vacant house is usually a good sign of a
motivated seller.
There are several ways to find these motivated
Meridianville Alabama sellers. The first is to find a reliable, professional real
estate agent to assist you. Real estate agents are out in the trenches
every day and are the first to know about these types of properties. Most
of the time the agents are paid by the seller, so it doesn’t directly
cost you to use their services.
You may want to distribute flyers to Meridianville real
estate offices stating that you are an investor who will buy properties
that meet your criteria. You can also contact divorce and probate
attorneys, and bank REO departments. The most important thing is to tell
them that you are prepared to act fast and buy a property quickly if it
meets your criteria.
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