The Secrets of Finding Motivated Property Sellers

by Steve Pyefinch & Baggy Tiwana

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Contents1. Introduction................................................................................................................................................................2

2. Web Scrape Strategy...................................................................................................................................................2

2. Contacting Landlords on Gumtree..............................................................................................................................8

3. The Unsold Auction Strategy.....................................................................................................................................10

4. Contacting Spare Room Landlord's............................................................................................................................13

5. Contacting HMO Landlord's via a letter.....................................................................................................................14

6. The TemptMe Strategy..............................................................................................................................................15

7. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................................18

8. Contact Information..................................................................................................................................................18

1. Introduction

Thank you for downloading this ebook, we hope you use these sourcing methods to secure your next deal.

90% of the properties are sold via estate agents, but they very rarely put you in front of the seller. These methods in this ebook give you direct contact to the seller. That way you may be able to come up with a discounted property or a creative solution to buying the property e.g. Exchange Delayed Completion, Lease Option, Purchase Lease Option etc.

When your finding more deals than you can buy, feel free to contact us to sell the property on your behalf and we will split the profits.

2. Web Scrape Strategy

A lot vendors always want top ‘dollar’ for their properties and estate agents encourage that – these practices widely criticised in the tabloids. Estate agents will take on the property with the vendors’ vanity in mind. The times undertook an analysis of 200,000 (April 2019). Those agents that significantly overvalued properties were most likely to attract homeowners.

After a period of no viewings and subsequently no sales – the agents advised on reducing the price of the property by 10%, equating on average to £56,000. The largest estate agents are worst offenders taking commissions of £5,500 compared to £2,200 that ‘successful’ agents were charging.

The vanity of many sellers is fuelled by the flattery of estate agents in getting properties on their books through over valuations.

So, what does that mean for The Property Buyer?

It’s an opportunity to capitalise at expense of vendor and the estate agent!

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The goal here is to identify property that has been on the market more than 3 months and great if you just want to work in particular postal code areas. This is probably a strategy that all buyers need to start with or even adopt as core tenement. Many successful property buyers and landlords usually buy in areas that they know and understand. The added value is that people get to know who you are and what you do, raising the prospect of ‘word of mouth’ deals.

Start this strategy by going to

http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ppd

In the Postcode field enter the initial part of the postcode e.g. DE23, then check all the tick boxes as above and search ‘all’.

Then press Show Results

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In many cases the data returned is so large you will need to download to your computer.

When choosing the data down load select ‘get selected results as a CSV’

On downloading the data open the file in Excel or your preferred spreadsheet.

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Your ‘raw’ data file will look something like this and needs to be setup so that you can use it to start your lead generation.

You need only to keep the data set in the area highlighted red and set out the headings for ease of use in the following manner:

‘Filter’ the data set and add a number of new columns:

Rightmove Listing Letter Sent Comments

Sort the date out ‘High to Low’ so that you see the most recent sale at the top, this will be obvious once you start doing your research.

Open up a browser page with Rightmove.co.uk and search the postcode you are looking to target property, in this case DE23 and search for sale

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Check STC box and Press 'Find properties'. Once the search is completed sort by ‘Oldest Listing’.

Once the search is completed look for the oldest listed property or one you think is a good target to source. The search brings up properties that appear not sold for over one year!

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The next stage is to identify the house number of the property. Taking the first property example we click ‘Bainbridge Road’.

We know that this property sold in 2006 at £75,000. Armed with this we go back to the spreadsheet we created from land registry and carry two searchs.

The search shows that the property for sale is No 1 Bainbridge Street DE23 6SX.

The strategy to secure the property entails getting in contact with the vendor. There are several ways of dong this;

1. Call at the property – tell them your interested in buying it2. Send a cold letter – without their name3. Cold letter with the name of the vendor (the title register should have details of the owner, you can

download a copy of the Title register using the following link; https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry)

Once you have got in ‘contact’ with the vendor, ensure you have all their contact details and add these to Trello.com. If they are not interested in sellng you the property now they may do it in the future and you automate these processes.

For for more information on what or what to do with a Trello Board and Automation go The Property Buyers Course

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2. Contacting Landlords on Gumtree

This is a strategy that targets property owners who advertise their properties to rent on Gumtree. This strategy is ideal for the Rent to Rent and/or the Lease Option Strategy. The aim is for a call or a meeting with the owner to see what they want.

Got to https://www.gumtree.com

If you haven't already got a Gumtree account you will need to create one.

Search 'property for rent' and select your area or postcode e.g. Nottingham

Amend the search criteria by selecting 'Private'

Select the advert and 'Reveal' the phone number.

Phone the number to ask the landlord to build up rapport.

Alternatively you can send an email and/or a text message stating the following;

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Hi, would you consider renting your property on a long term basis for a guaranteed monthly rent? Regards Joe Bloggs

You can vary the above the message to ask if they have any properties for sale.

In some cases you will need to keep sending the SMA and emails up to 7 times to get a response.

You may wish to invest in a PA to carry out the above tasks.

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3. The Unsold Auction Strategy

The best time to buy a property at auction is when the property hasn't sold as the vendor will be more motivated to do a deal. So I recommend using this strategy after the auction has finished.

Start this strategy by going to the website that lists every auction in the UK;

https://www.eigpropertyauctions.co.uk/

You will need to register your details with the site.Select Search Auctions

Select Unsold Lots

A list of all unsold lots are displayed.

You can filter by Region e.g. East Midlands

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When you have found a property you are interested in select the 'Legal Documents' Please note, some auction houses do not display the Legal Documents.

You will then be asked to Authorise

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With the address information (blacked out above) you can send the owner a letter. You may be able to find a phone number for the owner by searching online, or if the owner lives locally you could even knock on their door.

Below is an example of a letter to send...

Your StreetYour TownYour CityYour Post Code

Dear xxx

I hope you don’t mind me writing to you as I noticed your property didn't sell at auction.

We are happy to market your property to our database with over 100,000 investors.

Do let me know if this is of interest and we can arrange an informal but confidential chat. I may be able to help in some way.

Kind Regards,

Joe Bloggstel: 0115 97200000email: joebloggs@yourcompany.co.ukwww.yourcompany.co.uk

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4. Contacting Spare Room Landlord's

This is a strategy that targets HMO landlords that do not live in the property. The aim is for a meeting with the landlord to see if they will rent the property to you for a long term or even sell the property.

Got to https://www.spareroom.co.uk

If you haven't already got an account, create one.

Search rooms for rent and select your area or postcode e.g. NG1

Amend the search criteria by selecting Miscellaneous 'No agents' and Household Options 'Live out Landlord', then apply filters.

Where the adverts are 'Free to Contact' email and/or send a text message stating the following;

Hi, would you consider renting your property on a long term basis for a guaranteed monthly rent? Regards Joe Bloggs

You can vary the above the message to ask if they have any properties for sale.

In some cases you will need to keep sending the text and emails up to 7 times to get a response.

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5. Contacting HMO Landlord's via a letter

Benefits: People can ignore emails and text messages but they always open letters. Many landlords are looking to sell due to the recent tax changes and regulations brought in by local councils.

Firstly you will need to obtain the list of landlords that have HMO's in your chosen area.

Go to your chosen's council's website to see if the list is available online

If not you will need to send an email to the council asking them to send you the latest HMO landlord list.

An example of an email to send the council is...

Dear xxx Council,

Under Section 232 of the Housing Act 2004, Please supply me with a copy of the HMO register for Dudley along with the names and address of the owner.

I am entitled to this within 20 days under the Freedom of Information act.

Failure to supply will result in a formal complaint to the Information Commissioners Office.

Yours faithfully,

XXX

The landlord list will need to be sorted so that there are no duplicates.

You may wish to remove the properties that are in company names.

Write a letter that attracts the attention of the landlord. Remember to include your contact details.

Some people prefer to handwrite each envelope and add a stamp, for lower costs there are online services that send the letters such as http://www.docmail.co.uk

In some cases you will need to resend the letter up to 7 times to get a response.

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6. The TemptMe Strategy

Zoopla has a feature that allows homeowners to advertise their properties without using an estate agent. The advantage for property sources is to contact the sellers directly to see if there is a deal.

Start this strategy by going to https://www.zoopla.co.uk/

Then enter a town, city or initial part of the postcode in the House prices & values and press Search.

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On the following page a green house icon is displayed with a number inside (this displays the number of properties listed).

Select the View Homes button next to the green house.

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The following page is now displayed.

If you hover over the ? next to the price the following text appears; The TemptMe Price is the magic number that an owner may be willing to consider.

Send a letter to the addresses displayed. If you do not get a response on the first attempt I would advise sending another letter in two weeks time. If still no response after the second attempt I would send a final letter again two weeks later. Most people don't respond when they receive the first letter, be persistent.

To save time and money writing letters I would recommend using http://www.docmail.co.uk. The cost of a second class delivered letter is 48p. Another low cost option is to purchase stamps off eBay. Stamps bought can be bought for big discounts. There is no need to spend extra on first class stamps.

The following is an example letter (feel free to cut and paste for your benefit). There is no right or wrong content within a letter. All we want is the vendor to contact us. From my experience less information often leads to more people contacting you, keep it simple. And remember the more letters you send, the greater chance of a response - it's a numbers game!

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Your StreetYour TownYour CityYour Post Code

Dear Homeowner

I hope you don't mind me contacting you directly but I noticed your house is advertised on the Zoopla TemptMe function.

I am interested in buying a house in that area. If you are still considering selling your house please contact me on xxx xxxxxx.

Kind Regards

Mrs A Buyer

7. Conclusion

The more effort you put into marketing, the greater the rewards. These methods should not break the bank. Don't give up, consistency beats clever.

8. Contact Information

Please send any feedback to; steven@thepropertybuyers.co.uk

Feel free to connect with me on Facebook (Steven Pyefinch)

If you wish to book a free 15 minute consultation use the following link;

https://stevenpyefinch.as.me/

Happy sourcing - Steve & Baggy

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