50 Easy Ways For Real Estate Investors To Find Motivated Sellers

For an updated version of this article, visit 50 real estate leads to find motivated sellers here.

Real Estate Investing can be very lucrative when dealing with "MOTIVATED SELLERS". Working with Motivated Sellers opens up more creative investing possibilities, increases the number real estate investment deals you do, keeps more money in your pockets in terms of upfront costs and profit potential and its just simply easier to work with sellers who are emotionally committed to off loading their real estate property by any means necessary.

Some of the methods listed below for real estate investors are tried & proven, creative and free or low-cost. As real estate investors, some of the leads or lists below may have a small cost or commission  associated with them or a “pay for a successful referral” quid-pro-quo type of situation if you close on a real estate deal obtained from one of these sources.

50 Ways For Real Estate Investors To Find Motivated Sellers

1. Section 8 Landlords: Each county maintains a list
2. TV and Radio: Local stations & cable companies have free/low-cost spots
3. Title Companies: First ones to know when a closing does not pan out.
4. Tax Deed Sale Properties: Easy to get a list from county and state.
5. Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram
6. Small Home Builders: Often buyers are trading up and may have trouble selling current home
7. Retirees: Excellent prospects for seller financing and homes with equity.
8. Rental Agents & Property Managers: Has a list of non-owner occupied owners and can identify landlords eager to get rid of cash-flow property.
9. Nursing & Retirement Homes: Frequently residents and family members need to sell a house or don’t want to deal with tenants.
10. Networking: Connect with Investors online, Call We Buy Houses ads & signs, Investment Associations &  Clubs
11. Mobile Homes: Get to know park managers. Sellers have hard time dealing with banks.
12. Market Bulletin Boards: Coffee shops, Restaurants, gyms
13. Car Signs and Wraps: Tell the world that you “buy houses” while running your errands.
14. Local Fast Food: Many sell advertising. Pick a target neighbor and test.
15. Lis Pendens: Notice of a law suit, usually a foreclosure.
16. Lenders: Banks / REO’s: – Mortgage Brokers, Private Lenders, Hard Money Lenders
17. Judgments & Liened Properties:  Public county or city records, Mechanics Liens, HOA Liens, Tax Liens
18. Investor Packages: May be able to negotiate seller financing as well as terms
19. HUD Foreclosures: Internet: Rent Clicks, EBay, Craigslist, Wholesale Sites, Lead Services, USLeaseOption.com
20. Funeral Homes: Good source for inherited property or upcoming sales
21. FSBO Signs: for sale by owner
22. Flyers:  Think Shopping Centers, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Malls. Put on car windshields or pay someone to do it for you. Use quarter or half pages and print on both sides.
23. Insurance Brokers: Policy changes from owner occupant to landlord or vacant house coverage.
24. Farm & Drive for Dollars: Study a local neighborhood and establish yourself as the go-to problem solver for distressed owners and distressed property
25. Military Bases: Great market for  those needing to sell quickly
26. Expired MLS Listings: Get automated email list from a real estate agent.
27. Eviction Court: great place to find landlords
28. Estate Sales – sometimes tied to probate and chances are the real estate will also be available soon or be transferred to an unwanting relative
29. Door Knocking: Distribute flyers and go door-to-door asking residents if they know of anyone planning to move because you’d like to buy a house in their neighborhood!
30. Door Hangers: You can also use pre-printed post-it notes to leave messages at target properties. Be sure to advertise on both sides, you can even sell the back side and recover your advertising cost!
31. Direct Mail: Pre-Foreclosure Letters, Probate Letters, Out of Town Owners, Bankruptcies, Divorce, Delinquent Taxes, Military Owners
32. Delivery Carriers: Think Postmen, Newspaper, Fed-EX, UPS, water delivery, Swanson guy. They can let you know who is moving, vacant houses, financial trouble, about to sell
33. Credit Repair Agencies & Counselors: Many times the only way someone can get their spending under control is to sell a house they can no longer afford.
34. Courts: Eviction Filings, Probate, Divorce Cases, Tax Liens, Code Violations
35. Personal Finance & Car Lot Finance Companies:  Good lead source for people who are in financial difficulty and used to dealing with “terms”
36. Condemned Houses: Many counties will provide you a free list.
37. Classified Ads: Look for specific keywords that could possibly mean the seller is motivated such as:  transferred, motivated, divorce, owner financing, must sell, etc.
38. City & County Inspectors: Code violations and red tags. If you develop a reputation of buying distressed properties and improving them, you become an asset to the community.
39. Car Repos: Signs of financial trouble. Get a list from repo specialist or wreckers.
40. Price Reduced MLS Listings: Get automated email list from a real estate agent.
41. Business Cards: different types: one for sellers, one for buyers, and one for professionals. Word of advice – you have to remember to pass them out.
42. Bird Dogs: These people can be very valuable to your business. It is important to know your local laws about compensating unlicensed people, however, so do your homework first!
43. Auctions: Often times, you can catch a good deal in a tax sale by beating the Auction deadline. List provides property address so you can contact owner.
44. Attorneys: Think probate, real estate attorneys, family law, and divorce.
45. Advertising: Daily, Monthly, Simple: Quick Closing, All Cash etc., We Buy Houses Ads, Newspapers, Flyers, Online
46. Make Ready & Carpet Cleaners: Many of their customers are preparing a house for sale.
47. Accountants and CPA Firms: They have clients that might need to get find of assets (houses) for tax purposes and can identify clients that have unwanted property or rentals. Also great place for getting a list of retirees with free and clear homes open to seller financing.
48. “We Buy Houses” Bandit Signs: Check your local sign ordinances.
49. Damaged/Distressed Houses: Looks for blue tarps on roofs, boarded up windows, overgrown yards, etc Contact the owner to see if they want to sell the property.
50. Withdrawn MLS Listings – Get automated email list from a real estate agent.

Real Estate Investing can help you achieve your financial dreams and give you the freedom that you want to enjoy your life. It does require some effort on your part to find real estate investment deals and sellers who are highly motivated to creative real estate investing buying and selling strategies. This list just touches the tip of the iceberg but if you only used three of any of the "50 Easy Ways For Real Estate Investors To Find Motivated Sellers"  listed above you will have a much better chance at achieving your investing success.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below or contact me.

Wishing you great investing success!