How do I recognize a creative finance opportunity?
This is a familiar question I often get, which is funny because there are always opportunities for creative financing.
But I get it – usually, deals don’t just walk up to you and say, “hello, here I am!” You’ll actually have to go out and find them.
New real estate investors are literally, starting from scratch, without any relationships or partnerships created. And if you’ve never been in this space before, this can be challenging and frustrating.
I’ve spoken a lot on how to find subto and seller finance deals, but what if you have one already?
How do you know if it’s an opportunity for creative finance?
How to Recognize Creative Finance Opportunities
So how do you recognize a creative finance opportunity?
What does it look like?
Well, I’ve mentioned before that these types of deals start with a distressed seller, who needs to get rid of their property for whatever reason.
In some cases, the seller has tried going the traditional route of putting up their home on the MLS or going through a realtor, but the house hasn’t sold.
Sometimes, a seller needs to be out of the home quickly. But either way, time is of the essence and the seller MUST sell!
A big thing I advocate is validating and questioning a seller.
What that means is that I actively listen to what the seller is telling me, because ultimately the initial response is not always the real seller problem.
A seller will tell you all day long that they need to sell their home, but it’s only when you actively listen, validate what they’re telling you, and then ask further questions that you’ll get to the actual reason of why they’re selling.
This is the first step in recognizing a creative finance opportunity – talking to the seller!
But Pace, what if I get a deal from a wholesaler or a realtor?
That’s fine, but you still need to talk to the seller, even if the wholesaler, realtor, or anyone else tells you about the situation.
You never want to put yourself in the seller’s head!
Listen to the seller’s pain points and then use creative financing to solve them.
Other Ways to Spot a Creative Finance Opportunity
If you can talk to the seller and get more information from them, that’s great – but what if you can’t talk to the seller?
Then go to your other resources of wholesalers, fix and flippers, and realtors. Oftentimes, these guys will have deals they don’t know what to do with.
These are also opportunities to see if the seller is willing to do creative finance, so make sure you explain not only how that works, but how it solves their problem.
But Pace, what if I don’t have relationships with wholesalers, fix and flippers, or realtors?
You can still find opportunities in two more ways – the MLS or driving for dollars.
The MLS will always, always, have amazing listings. In fact, my partner Cody managed to find 120 for sale properties on the MLS just as a hobby!
Check this out:
It took him all of 5, maybe 10 minutes to pull up the listings, during our Sunday Service. Now, if you don’t want to be stuck at home all day, you can always drive for dollars.
That means you drive around looking for distressed houses:
Outside paneling doesn’t look great on the outside
Landscaping hasn’t been done in a long time
Boarded up windows, doors, etc.
You can either approach the homeowner directly or if you want to learn more, start asking around the neighborhood – you’ll learn more about the property while you’re out.
Once you start recognizing these opportunities, they’ll become second nature, and you’ll be doing deals like crazy!
If you’re struggling to find those opportunities, or you want some help with the deals you have, you know the drill – come join the community, and let’s do some deals together!