How to Buy Houses Below Market Value (A 101 Intro Guide)

A lot of new investors want to break into the world of wholesale real estate investment or flipping. They know they have to buy houses below market value. This can be a challenge for the newcomer.  One needs to do their homework for this. If they do they can become very successful at it. One of the important aspects is to find houses below market value.

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Where To Find Houses Below Market Value

Finding houses below market value is the first step if you want to be a wholesale investor or flipper.

Upfront, there is no sugar coating it. This process can be pretty frustrating. Why?

• Finding houses below market value is very time-consuming
• Its a numbers game: your success rate (conversion rate) will be quite low
• It also requires a a lot of marketing dollars and/or your time or others’ (resources)

What You Are Looking For

Individuals who want to (or need to) sell their house fast, as-is are the most common type of houses below market value. In this case, doing a deal with the seller may not be too difficult. As a cash buyer, you are going to make it easy for them.

Why would they be interested in selling to you? First, you ca offer them a cash deal. Next, you will buy it 100% as-is and won’t require a property inspection. Lastly, you should also be able to close the deal very quickly.

Individuals who want to (or need to) sell their house fast, as-is are the most common type of houses below market value. In this case, doing a deal with the seller may not be too difficult. As a cash buyer, you are going to make it easy for them.

Why would they be interested in selling to you? First, you ca offer them a cash deal. Next, you will buy it 100% as-is and won’t require a property inspection. Lastly, you should also be able to close the deal very quickly.

If you are dealing with a traditional real estate investor it may be a little more difficult. They may want to try and negotiate more. Make it clear that you are investor buying houses below market value. They will understand the process you use for buying houses. If they are keen on selling the house quickly they will be ready to make a deal.

To get started finding houses below market value you can start by trying the following.

Classifieds

Some years ago a logical place to start was with the local papers. Even though old school papers are damn near-extinct you can still use the guiding principles of this process to look for potential deals in classifieds, whether they are online or in paper form.

Go to the houses for the sale section. Take the time to carefully scrutinize each of these. It won’t take long to identify those houses below market value. But, it also has to be determined who is selling the property. It could be the owner directly. Or it could be a real estate agent. How you will deal with this is going to depend on some factors.

Online Listings: Craigslist, Facebook, ForSaleByOwner.com, etc.

Online listings have become really popular for selling houses fast. Those that want to sell fast are the ones with houses below market value. There is a distinct advantage of utilizing online listings: search and filtering. You can narrow down your results with a search query. This saves time.

Use the same guidelines in the section above to determine relevant listings.

This can be time consuming though so be careful. You will have to reach out to a large number of potential candidates. But the response rate is pretty low, and good deals are hard to find.

Forced Sales Offer Opportunities to Find Houses Below Market Value

Another opportunity for buying houses below market value is to look for forced sales. When we say forced sales we mean situations where homeowners are facing a deadline. This could be foreclosures, delinquent tax auctions, sheriff sales, etc.

Houses like this offer a good chance of being sold below market value.

Networking

A very important approach for finding houses below market value is through networking. This means building a list of contacts that are related to the real estate industry.

Networking means reaching out to these individuals. Let them know that you are a professional property wholesale buyer. There are different ways to go about this. Try some of the following:

• Join appropriate organizations and groups, such as a local REIA
• Establish contacts with bankers, realtors, accountants, lenders
• Talk to people in the community to get leads via word-of-mouth
• Etc.

An Easier Alternative to Find Houses To Flip

If you aren’t interested in sourcing your deals directly with sellers you can buy off-market deals from others who do that hard work for you.

There are cash buying companies/property investors who know where to buy houses to flip. They will buy these homes and then put them back on the market quickly or sell them off-market. These are professionals who know what they are doing.

For those who are just getting into this business, they are a powerful resource. These professionals are big time savers. In this form of real estate business time is money. It can take a lot of time trying to find houses below market value yourself. If one is diligent on using the best resources then this half the battle.”

Skip the Hassles: Buy Houses Below Market Value From a Cash House Buying Company

One part of the off-market real estate investing business is knowing where to buy houses to flip. The other is being able to sell them.

Legitimate cash house buyers know how to do both of these REALLY well. They are experts at both finding houses below market value and selling them to cash buyers like yourself.

These companies know what a house is worth and price them well under market value. This allows you to make your required profits. In turn, there is no bickering over the prices. The deals are done in a simple manner, and they are also done quickly. This is important for those investors in wholesale property.

If you are looking to skip the part of finding houses yourself your best bet is to work with one of these companies. Our company, Sesa Properties is one option. We buy and sell off-market houses below market value.

Whoever you work with, make sure that you are dealing with a company that is truly a professional. There are a lot of novices and beginners in this business. They will try to sell properties below market value. But, they don’t understand the professional process that is required. The end result is a lot of hassles and lost deals.

Get Local Houses Below Market Value!

“Here at Sesa Properties, we have been in this business for several years. We are all about keeping it simple. Our business is built on honesty and integrity. This applies no matter what segment of a property deal we are involved in. We believe that we can do great business with wholesale property buyers like yourself. We focus on closing fast so that you get more properties when you need them. There are no hidden deals or working behind anyone’s back. What you see is what you get when you are doing business with us.”

We have built an excellent reputation as a cash house buyer in Greater Cleveland, OH. We enjoy working with those that are interested in buying offmarket properties, or investors just getting started. It is always our priority to create a hassle-free experience. Have a question about the process, or interested in a property? Give us a call at (330) 304-9626. We’d love to talk to you!

The information presented in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be considered legal, financial,or as any other type of advice.