At one time or another you have probably been driving down the street in some neighborhood, when you come upon a property that is overgrown, with an unmaintained lawn that instantly tells you the property is vacant. If you are an investor in the real estate market, this is exactly the deal you are seeking. A property such as this has the potential to bring you a huge profit.
The first thing that you want to do when you find a property that you believe to be vacant is to make every attempt possible to contact the property owner. Try asking the people in the surrounding houses if they know who owns the home, and find out any information you can about the property and the people who own it. Neighbors are a great source of information when you are hunting for bargain properties.
They Talk, You Listen
If you have been in the real estate investment business for any length of time, you should be prepared with a pen and notebook. As you are speaking with the neighbors in the area that surrounds a property that you are interested in purchasing, write down as much information as possible. Keep in mind that you will hear a lot of gossip and speculation, just listen out for the important information.
It is also a great idea to talk with any former tenants of the property whenever possible. It will give you great insight to hear from someone who has actually lived on the property. These people will be able to tell you everything that is right and wrong with your prospective investment property.
Once you have gathered enough information about the property itself, you are ready to talk to the owner. You will have confidence when speaking with them because you now know everything that is wrong with the property and a lot of other pertinent information that you can use in your negotiations with the seller.
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Hi Sean,
Thanks for the tip. I guess an unkempt property does indicate that there’s a problem. You’d have to think there would be some kind of a problem. If you could broker a deal with all the parties involved; you would probably stand to make a good profit.
I think in this situation you’d really have to be a good negotiator. Because for a property to be in this situation; there’s probably some kind of argument going on behind the scenes.
Finding deals in the real estate market can need some creativity at times. Good point about ‘listening’ to the neighbours.