Motivated Sellers The Key To Great Real Estate Deals

Motivated Sellers The Key To Great Real Estate Deals

I once bought a house for 12 cents on the dollar. And have regularly managed to purchase residential real estate for 40 to 50 cents on the dollar. I once had a frustrated seller want to deed a free and clear house over to me for free. How can this be possible? Who in their right mind would ever sell a home for such a deep discount or give real estate away? The answer: The Motivated Seller.

Regardless of what the so-called real estate professionals might tell you, about 10 percent of the sellers of real estate in most markets (there are many more in the current market) are motivated sellers. Three to five percent of these are extremely motivated to sell.

Getting a great deal and making great investments or cash flow depends on your ability to recognize, locate, and deal with these sellers. When someone really needs to sell his property, you become a problem solver. People who solve problems are very well paid or rewarded. Again, a simple concept, yet powerful.

Who Are These Mysterious Motivated Sellers?

Motivated sellers come in all shapes and sizes and are motivated for a wide variety of reasons. Among these are:

Landlords liquidating their rental portfolios
People starting business ventures in need of quick cash
People leaving the area needing to sell quickly to get another home
People who don't want to do the necessary work to a property to get full price
People facing divorce
Partners liquidating assets to dissolve the partnership
People needing to sell property due to death or illness
Heirs to a property wanting to sell real estate for quick cash
People facing foreclosures and repossession
Real estate investors who've bought at a super deep discount
Builders liquidating the last one or two homes in an inventory

There's More...

Banks, Savings & Loans, Credit Unions & Other Lenders
Federal, State, County, and even City government agencies

All of these entities come into possession of residential & commercial property and land from time to time and are required by law to make it available to the general public - sometimes at unbelievable discounts.

There are additional situations that cause moderate to extreme motivation. At first some people are hesitant in using this approach because they feel dealing with someone who'd take less than he could get for his property would be taking unfair advantage of a seller. Consider this real example.

A landlord who has spent 20 years accumulating more than 30 rental properties is presented with a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity in a neighboring state. He needs to act quickly or the business opportunity will be gone. To manage the new business he'll need to move. He doesn't want the hassle of managing the new business and his rentals long distance so he decides to sell his entire rental portfolio.

He's motivated and flexible. He offers a discount on the properties of between 10 and 20 percent with easy seller financing. If someone is willing to buy more than one, the discount gets even better. For the majority of his properties, he wants only enough in the way of a down payment to pay closing costs on the transaction.

Do things like this happen? Yes, every day. Did anyone buying property from this man take advantage of him? No, they helped him solve a problem. Can you find a deal like this, or a better one? You can if you believe you can and know what to look for. Remember, about 10 percent of the property on the market is offered by motivated sellers. Chances are, it isn't listed with a real estate agent, though many are.

If 10 percent of the sellers out there are motivated, you'll need to investigate 10 properties to locate one. If three to five percent are extremely motivated sellers, you'll have to turn over a few more stones. Are you willing to do the work?

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