What Does On-Market Mean?
Step one as a real estate investor is usually the search for a good deal. Depending on your experience and what market you are located in, this can be pretty easy or pretty difficult.
As you most likely know, the real estate marketing is HOT right now, proving it to be slightly more difficult than normal to find properties worth investing in. But, on the flip side, just as soon as one method of finding good deals seems exhausted, another one comes along.
These methods are usually ways to help you find on-market properties.
On-market properties are ones that are listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and other online websites that give all the information about a property that is listed for sale.
Keep Your Emotions Out of It
Any seasoned investor knows that finding good deals is simply a numbers game.
The most important thing to remember when you are going to look at properties that are listed on the market is to not let your emotions come into play. While a house might LOOK great, the numbers may not add up. Or your bid may not be accepted by the seller. There are many things that factor into the decision.
If you are a serious real estate investor, you should be looking at multiple different houses a week because in the end, it’s really a numbers game.
Don’t get too emotionally invested in one particular property and don’t sign up for anything that might not make sense in the long run. If it doesn’t look like it’s going to leave you with a nice, fat profit check at the end, it probably isn’t worth it.
For every 10 offers you submit, you will probably only end up with one of those properties.
Our Process
We start by looking at maybe 100 properties at any one time that we find via the MLS or other online resources like Hubzu or Zillow. You can search by specific zip codes that you are interested in having properties in.
Then, we will narrow down the list to about 25 that we’re seriously interested in and probably end up making offers on about ten of them. We only make offers on properties that will work for us financially and we’ll know that the one or two offers that get accepted will be a profitable properties for us.
With the real estate market being so hot right now, you need to go where the deals are at. If your surrounding areas seem to not have as many properties are they did before, maybe you need to expand the areas you are looking in.
Networking is also HUGE in being able to find properties that are right for you. If you can connect with a real estate agent in your area who understands your business and knows what type of properties you are looking for, it’s great to have them be on the lookout for deals for you. They have access to the MLS and can regularly catch good deals before others can.
Auction.com
One of our favorite sites that we’re currently using often to find good deals is Auction.com. Auction.com lists mostly investment and foreclosed properties and they have sold over $30 billion in real estate via online auctions.
You can search by bank-owned homes, non-bank owned homes, short sale homes or foreclosed/trustee. If you just want to see their inventory, you can search by state, county, zip code or city.
Auction.com’s live auction time and dates are listed on each property. Find the property you're interested in, click on it and then click the "Register for this Auction" link in the Auction Details. From there you'll be asked to log in or create an account (if you don’t already have one). Once logged in, follow the step-by-step registration instructions.
Some properties require additional bidding qualifications and will be identified as such. In such a case, an Auction.com staff member will contact you via email and telephone, providing specific instructions on how to gain approval to bid on these special properties.
We have been able to find some really great deals that have been very profitable to us recently on Auction.com. Another benefit of using this method on finding on-market properties is that there is an app you can download for your phone. That way, when you are driving around and see a possible property of interest, you can pull over and easily look it up.
To learn the multiple other methods we use to find hot deals on on-market properties, click here. You will be able to gain access to other secret ‘Insider’s Playbook’ of Real Estate Investing Checklists, “cheat sheets,” reports, systems and standard operating procedures that I use in my business EVERY DAY!
Be Daring,
Josh
CEO Strategic Real Estate Coach
CEO Freeland Ventures and Freeland Lending
CEO Yellow Jacket Properties
