Methods of finding underpriced real estate

[CardMinger]

In recent posts I have seen a lot of people discuss buying real estate at 75% of value etc. I know this is not easy but was hoping some of you wouldnt mind sharing some of the methods that you use to find real estate atthese kinds of discounts.

As a quick disclaimer I am actually looking to buy and own and not to flip (I would flip if it was profitable right away but that is not my main plan). I am interested in some kind of "fixer upper" as I wan't to learn at least a little bit about the process etc of fixing up property and want to give a shot to trying to do some of the work on my own.

Any tips would be really helpfull!

Thanks a lot,
CM

[Fishhead24]

Read this forum and zillow.com

[maxtower]

The key to this is to find a motivated seller. No thinking (even the dummies have some agent advising them) person is going to lose 25% of market value without a reason to do so. I have read one way to do this is come up with your requirements for real estate. Find a bunch of listings that basically match your requirements. Shoot off an offer to each one that is substantially below the list price. Maybe 30-35% below market. Most people will blow you off. One or two might come back with a counter offer. Those people are your motivated sellers since they obviously don't have any better offers, and they are interested in you simply because you made some kind of offer. To do this effectively, you can't really spend time looking at each house. Its a numbers game. You are just trying to find out who is motivated with the least amount of effort on your part.

[gordongecko]

Finding a motivated seller isnt THAT easy, but it can be pretty simple. Basicaly you want a property that is in some form of distress. facing foreclosure, low equity (so cant afford an agent), divorce, death, etc. Those are the properties that usaly have the best potential and the most motivated sellers.

[CardMinger]

Has anyone ever had success buying houses at auction or anything like that? Any specific methods you guys have employed to find home nearning foreclosure?

CM

[SurferEd]

[ QUOTE ]
Read this forum and zillow.com

[/ QUOTE ]

Zillow is a joke. When I bought my first condo, I plugged in the address to Zillow and according to its processing, I'd instantly made $130K. The comps with Zillow are usually off by 15% or more. Be very careful if you are relying on Zillow.

[Phresh]

A decent method is to search for FSBO ads and let them age for a month before calling them. If they're still on the market the chances are they're more motivated to sell.