Sources of Motivated Sellers As a prospective tenant-buyer

Finding Deals- Sources of Motivated Sellers As a prospective tenant-buyer, your primary goal is to find motivated sellers and landlords! 

The plan is very simple. Don’t deviate from it. If you try to deal with unmotivated sellers and landlords, you will only face a lot of heartache and frustration. The purpose of this section is for you to discover various sources where you will be able to find motivated sellers and landlords. The best place to start is right here at Homestarsearch.com. We specialize in finding homes that are available for Rent to Own, Lease Option, Lease Purchase and Seller Financing nationwide. To ensure that you have explored all the options available to you, you may also want to check these sources: Newspaper You will find many motivated sellers and landlords in the “For Rent” section of the newspaper and “For Sale” section. Look for keywords such as MUST SELL, DIVORCE MUST RELOCATE,AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY, etc. As an investor, we have set up a ranking schedule where on a scale of 1 to 10, I rank homeowners and landlords based on the level of motivation that I sense on the phone. Motivation Level (10 is the highest) 1. Must sell 2. Relocating 3. Undervalued 4. Second Home 5. Great Investment 6. Low Down 7. Owner Financing 8. Rent to Own 9. Estate Sale (Big!) 10. Sacrifice- Must Sell Every Sunday, you should cut and clip ads from the newspaper and rank them based on the conversation. It is a simple and very passive way for the most timid investor to start a cash-flow machine using lease options.

The Courthouse When a landlord is having a difficult time with tenant and must file eviction proceedings, he must file a formal request at the local courthouse in his county. As a result of the Freedom of Information Act, you are entitled to view the files containing the eviction papers filed by landlords. This is a great source of lease option prospects. You will become a problem solver and with the right marketing, you can find and pre-qualify a sublet tenant and have them move in before your first lease payment is due to your landlord. Place signs and flyers in the local establishments such as coin laundry, the bars, and library and watch the phone ring off the hook. Most investors often refer to this type of landlord as the “tired landlord.” Make full use of the resources that are available in your area. The courthouse will be a great source of lease option leads and prospects. Get their addresses and phone numbers if possible and start pounding out those lease option deals. On your next day off, take a trip down to your local courthouse and ask the clerk “where can I find the department to file an eviction complaint”? Once you find the department, try to view the complaints filed over two or three months ago, most likely the landlord is in such a desperate mode to sell or lease option at this point that are you are going to be his saving grace. The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to view these documents. Out-of-state owners Owners of real estate who live in another state are going to be great sources of lease option deals for you. The best way to find these owners is to contact mailing list brokers in your local yellow pages and request a printout of all the out-of-state owners in your area. Mail a “sell your house in 24 hours” theme postcard to each and every one. You should be able to get a response in 1 in 100 who may be instantly interested in your program and who may consider your program at a later date. These homeowners tend to be very motivated to sell their properties because they can’t personally supervise the property 24 hours a day. Contact your local mailing list companies. They will quote the prices of the names of these homeowners per 1000 and you will get a choice of peel off labels or computer disk. Negotiating with sellers Negotiating a rent to own deal with a homeowner is what is known as a “soft sell”. You should be taking the very passive mode to find out as much information about the property from ads that you can. The lease option deal is a beautiful thing. It creates win-win situations for everyone. You don’t have to go into the haggling mode of your time simply educating the homeowner about the rent to own transaction and how it will work for him or her, now or in the future. I make about 50 calls per week from the Sunday newspaper to inquire about single family homes and mobile homes for sale and for rent in my area.