I have a client who is looking to rehab a property and I'm having trouble finding anything for him by searching the MLS.

I have done a fair amount of reading about rehabbing on various online forums and books when I was thinking of rehabbing myself (I still may in the future), and in my head it seems like the deals are not going to show up in the MLS. When I was reading about rehabbing, people would use bird dogs and wholesalers.

How can I, as an agent, help my buyer to find a rehab property? Who can I contact? I have showed him a couple of homes that i thought were good candidates, but he is looking for a smaller project. He wants a paint and carpet type deal for his first attempt.

I am worried that even if I were able to find him something, he does not have realistic ideas about how it will work. For instance, I showed a property that needed a lot of work that I thought could be done for approx. 25,000 and he thought it would take at least 40,000 to complete. Maybe he was right, but I don't think that he is being frugal enough in his ideas on construction if that makes sense. I don't think he has done any research on rehabbing.

So, what should I do and where should I look? I would like to find him something that makes him money because I want to get the repeat business, but so far this is very, very draining.

Sounds like you are just learning the ropes on dealing with investors.

I learned long ago if you list the properties that everyone wants to buy you get paid,that is where the money is at!Taking around investors putting in tens of offers only to havemost of them rejected is spinning your wheels.

You first need to ask him how much he wants to make on each deal,don't forget if it is for re-sale purposes(flipping)he will get hit with 35 percent captial gains,If he holds the property for a year that would go down to 15 percent and or he could exchange into another property.The way you get your money before that is too refinance after the repairs and take the profit out,you would still get taxed ont he gain so you would need to exchange the gain into another property to avoid the captial gains taxes.


Just looking for carpet and paint to fix up,if that is the case you might as well dump the investor now.Troubled homeowners,lenders,institutional banks all want top dollar.When we do bpo's on properties the bank wants to know if it should be marketed to investors or owner occupieds,almost every day of the week regular buyers will snatch up homes that only need carpet and paint and pay close to asking price and fix up as they go along,a rehabber cannot do this and make money.

You need to explain to the investor that to get it for a good price he will have to buy properties that regular buyers would not purchase or are not able to get financing on,these are the properties you get at a big discount.


Banks and desperate sellers do not like contingencies,cash and a quick closing is what they care about.

Check in Texas to see if it is a judical or non-judicial state.If it is a Judicial state you can check the lis pendens index to find homeowners in trouble,in a judicial process the lender has to sue "give legal notice" and file papers in court to get approval from the judge to foreclose,this can usually be found in your local clerk recorders office.

If it is a non-judicial state look for a "Notice of Default" filed by the lender in the records.Some states require a filing of nod for non-judical others do not,check your state statutes or call a foreclosure attorney to find out.If nothing is filed you would have to wait for the newspaper advertisement which by then a million people will be all over the property.

In that curcumstance you would look up people in probate,people filing for divorce,people filing bankruptcy to get your leads on deals,also look for homes that are not well kept a sure sign of a troubled property.

You could also rund ads in local classifieds.If you get a deal under contract that is really good you can make much more than your regular commission by assigning to the highest bidder (investor).Remember there are thousands of agents looking for deals,have the property locked under contract or listed and you will get paid.

good luck

Back when flippers could actually hope to resell properties, I had good luck farming out of state, out of area sellers. Direct mail is my thing so I got the farms from the title co and pulled out the out of area property owners.

In my area, flipping is over for now.

Flipping by the amature may be over in your area but this will have little effect on professional investors that fix and flip for a living. Pros are going to by houses that are far too nasty for the average amature. The nastier the property the more money to be made!

Oh how I wish that were true. I do believe it is a very localized phenom.

We have pros stuck w/good properties for mos at a time.

Cali's market is overinflated and is dropping hard now that investors are not fueling speculation and inflated prices.The problem in Cali buying at a discount is even if you get it cheap a few months down the road after the rehab and you have it ready for market,the market has actually depreciated.Cali,mass,and some areas of florida ar elike this right now.

If you were rehabbing there you would have to factor in a depreciation of 10 percent when you buy to compensate and still profit in the declining market.

super,
I agree 100% and my point is the pro's are still going to make a profit because the pro's are willing to buy the properties that average flippers would never consider and they are experienced in putting the least in the property to get the max return. The Cali market and others were being driven by speculators. Investors tend to still buy regardless of the market conditions. As those prices plummet seasoned investors are waiting in the wings to make a killing.

I have one like that now that hopefully is finally going to be sold if the current escrow doesn't implode . . .

Investor bought as a complete train wreck, yknow the kind where the roof is on the living room floor. Did a superfast, excellent rehab it's now turnkey.

And been sittin for mos, priced well, great property. Too much inventory, too few buyers.

And this was listed in more MLS's than our local.

Several price drops later, I think we're finally good to go.

Keep your fingers crossed.

I also think your "client" is looking to get on a train that left several month (18 in my area) ago. Wannabee investors doing rehabs is now a dangerous business because they do not have an understanding of what they are doing in the rehab or what the actual market is for the property when completed.. if ever completed.

Real investors have a much better understanding and are still making money but with often longer DOM's than they like. Most are selective enough that they have multiple exit plans available while most wannabees can only hope to sale ASAP or they are killed with additional cost and debt servicing.

Since both you and your client lack the actual knowledge to be effective with lower risks, you would probably be best served if you simply sent the client to a knowledgeable agent as a referral or have an agent agree to allow you to shadow them a few time to allow you to learn the process. This is now less realistic because these knowledgeable agents typically do not wish to develop competition but some will or you can develop a payback process in fee sharing on other properties in exchange for mentoring.

My what a thoroughly offensive posting that was.

You know nothing about our market, my business nor my client nor our local buying population.

I'm sure this attitude serves you well dealing w/people.

I don't need to slam others here to make myself look like an xpert.