When I began my real estate investing business the first thing I needed was ways to find motivated sellers. Since then I have created a list of 31 Ways To Find Motivated Sellers.

As a real estate investor the majority of your time should be spent on finding motivated sellers. Without a lead on a property your business is dead.

Real estate investing is purely a numbers game. The more properties you look at, the more offers you’ll make and the more money you’ll make.

1. Classified Ads – Post “We Buy Houses” ads in the classified section of local newspapers and on websites like Craigslist and Ebay.

2. Classified Ads – Look in those same newspapers and websites for FSBO’s (For Sale By Owner) and look in the rental section for landlords running ads to fill vacancies – perhaps they have properties they need to sell or will be selling shortly.

3. Bandit Signs – Mini billboards that can be placed on telephone polls and dug into the ground.

4. Vehicle Magnet Signs – Magnetic signs that deliver your message while you’re driving.

5. Business Cards – A cost effective way to get your message out to everyone you come in contact with.

6. Flyers - Affordable way to print your message and distribute it to everyone.

7. Door Hangers - Another affordable way to distribute your message.

8. Professional Attire - “We Buy Houses” shirts, jackets, hats etc.

9. Website Marketing - Your own website that collects information from motivated sellers and provides information about your company.

10. Bird Dogs - Educating others on how to find properties and paying them a small fee works well. Create your own army of bird dogs.

11. Real Estate Wholesalers – Contact wholesalers who already found and negotiated deals.

11. Driving For Dollars - Drive neighborhoods for vacant, condemned and boarded up houses. Also

12. TV Commercials - Can be expensive to produce and play on the air but the exposure can be well worth the costs if done right.

13. Radio Commercials - Cost much less than a TV Commercial and it’s important to keep the commercial short, informative and right to the point.

14. Billboards - They’re not as expensive as you would think and can be great exposure.

15. Mobile Billboards - Can be put on public transportation vehicles.

16. Local Seminars & Clubs - Can be great exposure to the local community. Interact with people at these events or even host your own and provide information on the local real estate market.

17. Local Print Advertising – Local publications, newspapers and magazines can be an affordable way to get your message out to a certain part of town.

18. Direct Mail - Crafting a letter and or postcard and mailing them to targeted lists – Probates, Pre-Foreclosures etc.

19. Networking With Professionals - It’s important to build your real estate network with professionals – people who work with real estate or work with people with real estate. Accountants, Lawyers, Appraisers, Realtors etc.

20. Department Of Code Enforcement – These are the people who will usually contact you for posting bandit signs but they also know which properties in town are condemned.

21. Process Servers - They’re the bearers of bad news because they usually distribute legal documents. They can distribute notices to tenants who are being evicted among many other things.

22. Insurance Companies - Fire damaged and un-insurable properties can be a source of profitable deals.

23. Property Management Companies - These companies could know ahead of time if a landlord is selling a property, if there are problem tenants and a problem property.

24. Title Companies - Come in contact with investors all the time.

24. Tax Sales - You can sometimes buy properties at Tax Sales for a fraction of what their actually worth. You can also collect a high interest rate when the delinquent taxes are paid off.

25. Bank Owned - With foreclosure rates rising at all time highs and banks now taking back property the smart investor with the right strategy can purchase these bank owned properties at deep discounts.

26. Absentee Owners – People who own a property but don’t live there and live somewhere else. The tax bill is being forwarded to an address. Many of them are landlords and many of these landlords can have problem properties and tenants. Send them a letter!

27. Estate, Moving And Garage Sales - Look in the local newspaper and online classified ad websites for these listings.

28. Auctions - It’s tougher to find deals at auctions because everyone now knows about them but you can meet other real estate investors who may need to sell property in the future or know other people selling property. It never hurts to network!

29. MLS - Look for listings with buzzwords like handyman special, repairs needed and properties that have been on the market for a long time.

30. HUD Properties - Check with the government for HUD (US Department Of Housing And Urban Development)

31. Word Of Mouth Advertising - Providing a quality and friendly service to those you come in contact with can pay huge dividends in the future when they refer you to someone else.

The “Motivated Seller” is quite possibly the most used real estate investing buzz word of all time. If you’ve spent anytime in the real estate investing business you know what I’m talking about.

If you’re just starting out then it’s time you get to know the motivated seller.

What’s A Motivated Seller?
A motivated seller is someone who has a “problem.” There are many types of problems a seller can have. They may be going through the foreclosure process, divorce, probate, they may be out of town owners on a vacant property etc. etc.

Quite frankly the list of problems someone can have is a long one and too depressing to think of – just know that they have a piece of property, they’ve fallen on hard times and they need to sell their house immediately.

The Secret To A Great Deal
For you to make a profit on a property regardless of your exit strategy you need to get the property under contract at a significant discount.

A motivated seller is much more willing to sell their property for a lot less because they need to get out. You want to find those individuals who needed to sell their house yesterday and provide the necessary solutions.

What If They’re Not Motivated?
It’s tough to get someone who’s not motivated to sell their property to sell it to you at a deep discount. The homeowner with a property listed on the market at the full retail price and has no problem holding out for months to get their price is not motivated.

They will be extremely tough to negotiate with and it’ll potentially be a waste of time. You’re looking for those individuals who needed to sell yesterday.

What’s The Best Way To Find Motivated Sellers?
The best way to find a motivated seller is to have them find you! If you have a seller calling you because they saw one of your ads, boy are they motivated!

Over time you’re going to build a marketing strategy that’ll bring in leads day in and day out. When you;re first starting out however I recommend you learn before you spend money on advertising. You need to understand real estate wholesaling and investing before you start advertising.

What If I Can’t Afford Advertising?
It’s important to advertise your business using both free and paid methods. But, the most important way to advertise your business is to build your network and create relationships. Once you start networking and building relationships you’ll see your profits grow exponetially!

Some of the best ways to find motivated sellers won’t cost a penny while some methods like mailing letters, newspaper ads and TV commercial will be expensive but the returns can be huge. It’s important to create a blend of methods that work for your business.

Track Your Motivated Sellers
When someone calls you with a house they want to sell always ask how they found you! I cringe when investors ignore this question during the telephone conversation. You will always want to focus your marketing efforts on methods that work.

Now that you know what The Motivated Seller is learn how to find them with 26 Ways To Find Motivated Sellers.

What I’m about to share with is one of the most powerful strategies for profiting with real estate. If you’re new to this and just getting started what I’m about to say next might sound like an absolute scam and an impossibility.

This was my initial reaction when I first learned about the strategy of wholesaling real estate – it sounded too good to be true. But once I gave it a chance, fully understood the concept and saw it in action I was a believer.

By the end of this article you’ll fully understand how to wholesale real estate and…

• How you can get started with little no risk, money and investing experience
• How to wholesale homes quickly for $10,000, $20,000, $30,0000 and more
• Why this IS NOT rehabbing or landlording
• Why wholesaling should be the backbone of your real estate investing business
• And more…

This powerful real estate investing strategy can be broken down into four main steps.

Find – As a wholesaler your priority is marketing for leads. Most of your time, energy and effort should be spent on lead generation. Without a property lead you have nothing to work with.

Evaluate – After you have that property lead you’ll evaluate this lead and decided whether it’s deal or not.

Secure – When you’re evaluation is complete and the lead would be a good deal you’ll secure it with a legal document.

Assign – Once the deal is secured you “assign your right to buy” to another investor – rehabber or landlord. This investor pays you an assignment fee for finding and negotiating the deal and the investor buys the property from the seller.

These four main steps are real estate wholesaling simplified.