How To Find Off-Market Property Deals

If you are in the market for a home but not seeing a lot of options, you are not alone. Inventory levels in some areas are at a 1 month supply - generally we like to see at least a 3-5 month supply. Just recently, we had a buyer identify a FSBO on Zillow in a hot Arlington community and we were able to reach out to the sellers and put together a deal. Another client regularly drove their target neighborhoods and saw a coming soon sign, we got a hold of the agent and arranged a pre-market showing and were able to secure the home before it hit the MLS. 

 

So how can you find these types of deals? Fortunately, there are 3 simple strategies that we use and that you can also use to locate these types of properties. 

 

 

1. "Make Me Move" & "For Sale by Owner" Feature on Zillow. An overlooked feature on Zillow is to search areas in the "Make Me Move" category where sellers will put up a price for them to move. Keep in mind everything is negotiable as well. 

 

2. DRIVE! Make it a habit to drive around your target neighborhoods and look out for signs, PODS, and contractors doing work. The extra hours of daylight will certainly help after work! Take photos of any signs you see or addresses that look like they might work and send them to us. 

 

3. Estate Sales. If you browse around Craigslist or see neighborhood signs for Estate Sales there are sometimes great deals to be had there. Not only is the seller looking to sell off items from the house but many times they will actually want to sell the property itself. 

 

4. Review Expired/Withdrawn Listings: Reach out to us for a list of all homes that were pulled off the market over the last year in your target area, and lets see if any of those might work for you. 

 

We are always on the lookout for good off-market deals like these for our clients. If you come across anything that might have potential, let us know and we will work together to get the deal done.