IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN GIVE TIPS ON FINDING PROPERTIES THAT HAVE EQUITY? I HAVE A NUMBER OF INVESTORS WHO ARE SEEKING SUCH, BUT I'M A FAIRLY NEW AGENT AND DON'T HAVE A CLUE AS TO HOW TO LOCATE THEM. I WAS TOLD THAT MOST HUD PROPERTIES USUALLY HAVE SOME EQUITY. CAN ANYBODY HELPPPPPPP?????

Focus more on not letting so called "investors" spin your wheels. Is there someone who specializes in this field at your office?

Why do your "investors" want homes with equity?

That should be a trigger that they are probably wannabee investors not active investors in real estate in todays markets.

Do you understand how equity works. Do you understand how an owner having equity can work against investors? Do you understand how an owner that is upside down or having no or less than no equity may be a superior and easier acquisition for investors?

If you do not have these answers at the very tip of your tongue this instant... you do not need to be working with investors. You do not understand them or what investment is. Learn first then work the deals. This is not an effective area for a new agent to consider at all.

RC: Care to elaborate???
As far as I know, equity in a deal is great. The 3 people that I look up to in the world of real estate investing (know them personally and professionally), they love equity. One of them have gotten the properties for almost not much investment. The homeowners are way behind on their mortgages, and are too poor to even move out. He offered them a chunk of change, homeowners left. Another property, he brought the payments back to current, then turns around to lease back to the homeowners. Once the homeowners could get back on their feet, they left the property. These are substantial equity properties.

What am I missing that equity is a bad thing? Isnt what alot of us (even on our personal finances and homes) are striving to do?

Dee, you don't "find" deals with equity you create them by making offers. There is only ONE way to succeed investing in real estate and that is to see the things that other people don't see, and do the things other people won't do.

If a house is priced below its current value (including repairs, location, environmental and a host of other reasons) then everybody sees the opportunity and bids it up. As an investor you never want to be competing with anyone, you want to be the only prospect the seller has.

Take me for example. I buy from sellers CAN'T sell. They tried FSBO, they tried listing it with a realtor, but 6 months+ down the road they're left wondering "why me?" Many of them start out overpricing and by the time reality sets in it's too late, they have to get rid of it NOW.

My job is simply to let the seller know what I do. Then I wait for them to exhaust their alternatives. When they come to me they're frustrated and tired and ready to accept my terms without argument, which is priority #1 for me, I don't have the time or desire to negotiate or "sell".

The other group of sellers that I buy from see my offer as an opportunity to avoid all those months of stress before they happen.

Back to the short answer to your question. You "find" deals by making offers that work for you (or your investor) on properties that don't appear on the surface to be a deal at all.

I too am curious how you come to such conclusions.

While I know investors whose entire strategy is based around buying houses with little to no equity, I also know investors who proudly refer to themselves an “equity-investor.” And they won’t touch anything that doesn’t have a certain amount of equity going into the deal.

In fact, one friend of mine, who’s an “equity-investor” bought 130 houses last year. And his minimum criteria is over $50k equity per house. I wouldn’t call him a “wannabee,” nor would I say he’s “not active” in today’s market.

I agree. Investors have different criteria. I have an investor who will buy up to 6-7 homes per month as long as they have 10-20% equity. He has a long-term hold strategy and wants to buy below current estimated market value. The homes must cashflow.

Deemill, you can find homes with equity by seeking out and negotiating with motivated sellers. In this case, it seems that you may be better off sending a referral or partnering with a more experienced agent since you don't have any experience in this area.

The Millionaire Investor and other investment books can help. Investor-specific forums such as http://www.reiclub.com and http://www.thecreativeinvestor.com can help, but you need to take the time to make sure you are well-versed in at least basic aspects of investing to represent your clients.