If you want to buy a home to profit off of it, be sure to buy a low-priced one. Low-priced real estate investments have the ideal return on investment (ROI). By keeping your costs low, you’ll be able to make sure your home is profitable. we’ve outlined a few tips on how to find cheap properties for sale.
7 Creative Ways To Find Cheap Properties For Sale
Whether you want to buy a home to “fix and flip” or to turn it into a real estate investment, here’re the 7 most creative ways that will help you to find cheap homes for sale.
#1 Look For Homes Still on the Market
Sellers want to sell their homes fast. So, if their home is still on the market months after they listed it, they’ll likely lower the price for the first one to make an offer. This is particularly true for people who need to move ASAP. When “window-shopping” for deals, look at the number of days it has been on the MLS. If it has been there for far too long, the seller will be at the point where they’ll sell it at a low price.
Note that not all homes that have been on the MLS for too long are good deals. There may be other reasons why the seller hasn’t been able to sell their home. For example, maybe it’s so expensive that you wouldn’t be able to recoup your capital with the costs to fix it up. Or maybe the home isn’t in the best neighborhood, so it would be difficult to attract tenants and buyers. However, you can attract your tenants through proper listing and advertisement.
#2 Look For “As-Is” Homes
“As-is” homes are, as the name suggests, sold as-is. The homeowner doesn’t have the time to improve the property to increase value, but they want to sell it stat, too. What they do is sell it at a low price in the hopes that people will want to purchase it with the goal of fixing it up.
Be careful when you buy as-is homes, as they won’t be in the best condition. As-is homes need a lot of repairs. For that reason, it would be best to partner with a property management company that can inspect the property. They can tell whether not the home is worth the time (as well as the cost) to conduct a fix-and-flip.
#3 Look For Off-Market Homes
Off-market homes are homes that aren’t on the MLS. You won’t be able to find them on websites such as Zillow, either. You will, however, be able to find them by word-of-mouth.
Let your network know that you want to buy a home. Your friends (or your friends’ friends) will know someone who knows someone with an off-market home. You can contact these people and offer to purchase their property, even when they haven’t listed it yet.
Tie up with quality property investment services to help you find off-market homes. They can use their connections with real estate professionals to help you secure the cheapest deals. Chances are that they have clients that want to sell their properties ASAP, too.
#4 Participate in Auctions
Find local foreclosures. These are properties that the bank owns and bids likely start low. The list of properties for foreclosure will likely be posted weeks before the auction itself. For that reason, it’s would be best to inspect the property beforehand. That way, you won’t have to wonder what the home’s interiors look like – it’s not uncommon for foreclosed homes to be in dire need of repairs.
The con to auctions is that you will need to pay with cash. You will likely be asked to pay ten percent of the amount that you bid, and the rest within a month of the auction. With that said, be prepared to buy the property with cash and set a budget. It’s not uncommon for auctioneers to bid more than what they said they’d bid.
#5 Sort Listings By Price
On websites such as Zillow and Realtor.com, set the properties to sort from the cheapest price. That way, the first properties you’ll see are the cheapest properties for sale. This is a simple tip that can save you hundreds of hours. Who knows? Someone else might be selling that $300,000 single-family home that you set your sights on for a mere $180,000.
Here are a few of the best websites for homebuyers:
- Zillow
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- Trulia
- com
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#6 Window-Shop ‘Til Your Drop
As a rule of thumb, don’t buy the first property that you find. You should “window-shop” to get a good grasp of prices in your area. That way, you can set a baseline for your budget, and protect yourself from being fooled by sellers. The key to knowing what’s considered cheap is to know what’s considered expensive.
Ask your property management agent to make a list of properties on the market. Compare the prices of similar properties – when one property’s price sticks out, take that as a sign that it might not be the best one. Chances are, the property has damage that the owner doesn’t want you to know about.
#7 Buy Away From the Suburbs
There’s a low chance of finding cheap properties in the city. If price is your pain point, concentrate on communities outside the city. As a rule of thumb, the farther you are from the main cities, the cheaper the prices will be.
If you want to purchase a property in Florida, you’ll find cheap properties in these places:
This isn’t to say that you won’t be able to find cheap properties in urban areas. They are rare, but you will be able to find them with a bit of dedication. You can increase your chances if you partner with a property management firm.
Looking For Cheap Properties in South Florida?
Here we shared everything about how you could find cheap properties for sale. If you need further assistance the experts at Luxury Property Care are here to help. We’ve been in the business for years, and we’ve established links with real estate professionals to allow us to secure unbeatable deals for you. We’ll scour the market for low-priced real estate investments so you don’t have to.
Contact us at (561) 944 – 2992 or complete our contact form for more information.
