It’s rather striking to contrast your post against the derisive and predominately doomsday posts from a year ago. Another example of the contrarian adage – Buy when there is blood on the streets, even if the blood is your own. Anyone paying attention would have noticed most home valuation metrics were well into historical norms by late 2008. The only question was the amount of overcorrection and corresponding timescale. The takeaway is don’t be afraid to leave the herd when numbers start to make sense as this is how real wealth is made more often than it is lost. Imagine home shopping in late 2008 – total leverage over seller, little competition, pick of the litter home, low rates, in effect the perfect storm.
Here are some suggestions.
(1)Don’t mention your realtor. Sellers traditionally pay the commission and no one you approach is going to pay your realtor. You will have to pay your realtor or attorney to review the deal in the background transparent to the seller.
(2)Look for homes for rent in your target neighborhood. With a little research, you can determine who is distressed. Start a casual conversation and eventually mention you are renting, but want to buy when the market stabilizes. At the end of the conversation, say you really like the house and ask if he would consider selling.
(3)Compile a list of expired listings. Go to the houses you like on Sunday, preferably with wife and kids. Say you’re out house hunting, found their expired listing, and decided to stop by to ask if they are considering relisting in the near future. Pay close attention to body language and go from there. Be polite, non-threatening and passive in your words and tone.
(4)Many communities have their own private or personalized website to facilitate communication of events, resource sharing, etc. Introduce yourself there and say my family really likes the neighborhood and would like to live there. Contact me directly if you are considering selling and save on the commission.
(5)If you happen to live in your target neighborhood, networking is the way to go. Attend the local church, get involved in school and extracurricular activities if you have kids.
(6)As a last resort, scour craigslist for people renting individual bedrooms or search the assessors site for late property tax payments. Odds of someone biting are very low, but it doesn’t hurt to try.
