{"id":18324,"date":"2025-06-20T16:46:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T16:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourhouseforsale.com\/?p=18324"},"modified":"2026-02-20T17:51:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T17:51:45","slug":"buying-real-estate-thats-not-for-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourhouseforsale.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/20\/buying-real-estate-thats-not-for-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying Real Estate That\u2019s Not For Sale"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Buying real estate can start with a look in the newspaper, a visit to a broker, or a search online. These are all good ways to find your next investment property. You\u2019re looking at the same properties as every other investor, of course, so it\u2019s not always easy to beat the competition to a great buy.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A better way to find good real estate investments is to look for properties that aren\u2019t yet for sale, and make an offer. I bought my first home this way. I put an ad in the paper stating what I was looking for, and soon had a call from an old couple that had been thinking about selling. I bought their place at a good price, and they saved a broker\u2019s commission.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Buying investment real estate that isn\u2019t for sale starts with a three step search process. First decide what you are looking for. Single family rentals or apartment buildings? Then start looking for properties that fit your criteria. Then contact the owners.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Buying Real Estate From Non-Sellers<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Don\u2019t limit yourself to \u201cfixer-uppers\u201d or other \u201cproblem\u201d properties that seem more likely to have owners willing to sell. Many owners of investment real estate have thought of selling, so you can start with almost any building you like. You never know beforehand if or why a landlord is ready to call it quits. You find out by asking.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Tact is necessary here. Call the owner and tell him you\u2019re an investor, not a broker. Let him know that you like what you see. Tell him you can have an offer ready in a week if he\u2019s interested. If he\u2019s not interested, thank him politely and hang up, but send him your card or a letter. Many investors have bought from owners that changed their minds.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0If there is some interest, explain that you are an investor, so your offer will have to be based on your return on investment. This means you\u2019ll need to see the books. Specifically, you\u2019ll need to see the rent roll, listing the units and what they rent for, plus current occupancy, and operating expenses for the last year.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Have a confidentiality agreement ready before you call. Let the owner know that you\u2019ll sign it and deliver it to him before you see the books. He may not want to let the tenants know he\u2019s thinking of selling, so inspecting the units may have to wait until you make an offer. Just make an acceptable inspection a contingency in the offer.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Why buy investment properties this way? No competition and no sales commission means you may get a better price. Also, instead of waiting for that perfect property to be listed for sale, you just find it now. Why wait until it\u2019s for sale before buying real estate?<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Buying real estate can start with a look in the newspaper, a visit to a broker, or a search online. These are all good ways to find your next investment property. You\u2019re looking at the same properties as every other investor, of course, so it\u2019s not always easy to beat the competition to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buying-real-estate"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Buying Real Estate That\u2019s Not For Sale - OurHouseForSale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ourhouseforsale.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/20\/buying-real-estate-thats-not-for-sale\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buying Real Estate That\u2019s Not For Sale - OurHouseForSale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Buying real estate can start with a look in the newspaper, a visit to a broker, or a search online. 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