How To Find Motivated Sellers in Real Estate
WHAT ARE MOTIVATED SELLER LEADS?
So, first things first – what are motivated seller leads anyway? When it comes to working in real estate, understanding this topic is something of key importance if you are to make the best of the investment opportunities which you are presented with.
At their simplest, a motivated seller lead is someone who is desperate to sell their existing property. There can be a huge number of different reasons as to why someone might be incredibly eager to get rid of their property, and this can make for a highly beneficial transaction for a savvy real estate investor. Indeed, if you want to get the best value for money properties for your real estate portfolio, looking out for these motivated seller leads is absolutely critical – and this is due to the fact that motivated sellers will almost always offer a far better deal on their property than the rest of the market.
REASONS WHY PEOPLE ARE MOTIVATED SELLERS
What is it, then, that makes people a motivated seller and someone who you may want to help out with their property sale? Well, there are a huge number of different reasons as to why someone might be a motivated seller – and these can include any selection of the following:
- Money concerns: a key reason that someone might be a motivated seller of their current property is due to money concerns. Indeed, especially in the current climate, money can be a real worry for many families and so for some people, selling their home quickly can be a good way of downgrading and quickly getting some extra cash in hand so that they won’t have to worry so much about their bills or expenses. This can also be the case for someone who has found themselves needing to pay a large bill quickly and whose only asset and means of raising that sort of capital is to sell their house.
- Property has been on the market for a while: if the housing market has gone slow or a property has just been hanging around on the market for a long time, a motivated seller may wish to get rid of it more quickly and so would likely be willing to accept a more competitive price from a real estate investor on their property, in order to get it moved on to someone else.
- They’re part of a chain: if a house seller is part of a chain for their next property then it is quite likely that they might be a bit antsy to get their current home sold so that they can move into the new home before someone else comes along and makes a higher offer on it. If this is the case for someone, they could be willing to cut the price or do a good deal on their current property in order to secure its sale, which in turn can have numerous benefits for you as the investor in the property while also helping them to achieve their dream move.
- Divorce: A key reason as to why people might become a motivated seller is due to divorce. Indeed, many couples end up getting divorced nowadays and this is something that can have implications on the property – after all, both divorcees will want their share from the house sale and won’t likely want to be waiting months on end for the house to find the right buyer, which could mean that they are willing to accept a lower offer from an investor in order to move on with their lives and get past the current difficult times that they are experiencing.
BENEFITS OF FINDING MOTIVATED SELLERS
As a real estate investor, there are a number of different benefits associated with buying from a motivated seller. This can help you to make the most of your portfolio. Motivated sellers can usually offer you a better purchase price for their property, and may also be willing to work with you for other requirements too. Indeed, it can often be expected that motivated sellers will be willing to knock off at least 10% from the expected property value of the house, and some may even be willing to stretch further for a quick sale – with discounts of 30% not being uncommon either!
Commonly, they can help you out further in order to secure a quick sale on their property by agreeing to 0% interest sales or no deposit sales, if such might be enough to help secure a deal with you; for many investors, this can make buying properties from motivated sellers one of the best ways to earn an income from their real estate business.
HOW TO FIND MOTIVATED SELLERS
If you think that you could help out a motivated seller by buying their property as part of your property portfolio, there are a number of places where you can begin your search to find these motivated sellers. Once you have found a motivated seller, you may then be able to work with them to get a good price for your next investment on their property.
So, how can you find motivated sellers? Good places to start your search for motivated sellers include lists from the following for clients:
- Attorney service providers, particularly those specializing in estate law, probate law or divorce law
- Realtors
- Homeowners who are in probate
- People who own a property free and clear
- Pre and current foreclosures
- Absentee or out of state owners and landlords
All of the individuals in the lists above could potentially be willing to work with you in order to sell their property for a competitive price or with highly competitive and beneficial terms, which could help you when it comes to making a profit on the property.
But where can you start looking for lists such as these? Indeed, these aren’t the sort of things that you’re likely to be provided with just by asking – but fortunately, there are many teams who specialize in providing these sorts of data and content. There are plenty of websites out there which can help investors, meanwhile, teams such as our own can provide you with the relevant lists you need. By using these lists and searching for the relevant properties based on their postal code, size, or other factors that might be of interest to you, you’re sure to find one that will potentially be a good fit for you and your current or dream portfolio.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Motivated seller leads can be a great way for you to make the most from your work as a real estate investor, and fortunately, there are plenty of ways for you to find these individuals who might be willing to help you out too. Just make sure you are aware of why the leads want to sell and all of the details about the property itself before making a decision – otherwise, you could find yourself with more of a challenge to do up than you ever realized!
Many professionals save both time and money using Geopoint Data to find the best motivated seller leads.
“Existing home sales jump to 14-year high” – CNBC
“Home sales surged to a 14-year high in August as record low interest rates brought homebuyers out in droves” – CNN
“More Space, Please: Home Sales Booming Despite Pandemic, Recession” – NPR
“US new-home sales surge to fastest pace since 2006″ – Business Insider
“The housing market is on a sugar high” – MarketWatch