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As property investors, we all need to find great property deals and opportunities don’t we? So, today, I wanted to share just seven of the ways in which we could go about looking for property deals without leaving home, in what I am calling the Property Sourcing 101. I will share a top tip to accompany each method.
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Resources mentioned
The Property Bee Rightmove app
YPN reader question: Am I on the Danger List...and should I defend?
The Property Voice Podcast Listener Survey
Your Property Network Magazine – how to subscribe and read my regular monthly column
Today’s must do’s
Set up 1 or even 7 channels to source your next property deal from the list below.
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Transcription of the show
Hello and welcome to another edition of The Property Voice Podcast, my name is Richard Brown and as always it is a pleasure to have you join me again on the show today.
Here’s what we have got coming up in today’s show. As property investors, we all need to find great property deal opportunities don’t we? So, today, I wanted to share just seven of the ways in which we could go about looking for property deals without leaving home in what I am calling the property sourcing 101. I will share a top tip to accompany each of the methods shared…so, let’s get cracking!
Property Chatter
Deal sourcing 101
As I said, we all need to find good property deals. Here are no less than seven simple steps we can take to source great property deals. The examples I will share in a minute do not specify a particular type of deal or strategy, however, this list addresses a couple of variations. Most rely on you setting a pre-set geographical area to search initially at least initially. I will also share a top tip for each method shared in this whistle-stop tour of property deal sourcing without leaving home.
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The Estate Agent mailing
Perhaps one of the simplest ways to get a list of potential property deals is to contact all the local estate agents in the areas you wish to target. Agents love to add people to their database, so they should be happy to talk to you. You can either look up the estate agents in a local area and then contact them individually.
Top tip: If you want to make life really simple, you can also get them to contact you with this simple tip. Just go to Zoopla and select your desired area, such as say Slough. List all properties. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. There you will see an email contact form already filled out ready to be sent to every agent listing property in that area. Neat eh? It would probably be a good idea to do a slightly narrower search before doing this, or at least change the standard text to make the message to the EA sound like you know what you want 😉
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The portal search method
Set up alerts in the main property portals that meet your general criteria, undertake a load of viewings and a large % of offers. OK, so this does actually involve leaving home…eventually!
Top tip: always follow-up even if sold subject to contract as around a third of all agreed purchases fall over during the process. Note, this applies to many of the ideas mentioned, not just this one obviously. Ideally, have a simple diary system to check back into any properties that you offered on that then went SSTC with another buyer.
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The motivated seller alert
Create alerts for properties that have had a price reduction and / or have been on the market for a long time. Most of these can be identified through the main portals, which are Rightmove, Zoopla & OnTheMarket). Create an account with each one and set up several searches in each one to cover the majority of the market.
Top tip: set up Property Bee to track the notes recorded about a property to get a history of any price changes or offers accepted or sales fallen through using Rightmove and the Firefox browser.
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Find refurbs & small development projects
Top tip: If you are specifically looking for refurbs and development type projects, then set up an account with Renovate Alerts to identify properties in need of upgrade, modernisation or planning.
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The 'digital' direct to vendor approach
Set up a scanning system in Gumtree & DIY property sales sites to target private sellers.
Top tip: If you want to stand out from the crowd, then consider a personalised letter to the property owner. You can sometimes find the contact name and address (such as for a landlord) of the property owner by looking up the property’s EPC (for the address) or if you find the address, you can find their name along with any different correspondence address by undertaking a land registry search for £3
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The 'bargain hunter' / 'Homes Under The Hammer' approach
You can either set up an alert in one of the portals for auction property or…
Top tip: Set up an account with EI Group and search upcoming auction listings across the country. Look for listings with an out of area auctioneer for your target area to reduce the competition in the room.
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The passive / armchair investor approach
Pay a reputable deal sourcer or buyer’s agent to find you a deal that fits your criteria.
Top tip: make sure any professional sourcer is registered with an ombudsman service and is properly insured.
There are others ways of sourcing great property deals, however, that should be enough to get most people going and used to assessing qualified opportunities
The results approach is to take committed action by setting up one or more of these sourcing systems today. Some will suit some people & specific strategies better than others, so keep that in mind.
The smart results approach, however, in this competitive environment is to be highly targeted and personal in your approach where possible! It’s what the marketers would call one-to-one marketing…on a known names basis ideally.
I would be interested to hear about your sourcing ideas…what is working well for you? Drop me a line, podcast@thepropertyvoice.net to share won’t you.
Your Voice
I just wanted to build a little on the theme of the Danger List that I mentioned in last week’s show.
If you remember, I mentioned Brian, who wrote to me after last month’s YPN article. Well, I shared our exchange of correspondence on the blog. However, I am also about to record a very short video to flesh that out a little further. So, if you fancy taking in content through a visual format, not just an audio one, then make sure you head over to the blog post that is linked in the show notes. You will also be able to find it on The Property Voice YouTube channel as well. At least you will be able to put a face to the voice, if nothing else 😉
Finally, please don’t forget to complete The Property Voice podcast feedback survey…I do this for you, so make sure I know what you want! The link is in the show notes, or just ping me a quick email podcast@thepropertyvoice.net and I will send you the link directly.
OK, that’s me for another week, I hope you enjoyed the property sourcing 101 piece today. Now though, I just want to say, thank you very much for joining me on the show today and until next time on The Property Voice Podcast…it’s ciao ciao!