When working in a hot market, you know you’ve got to be fast to have a chance to close a good deal. But behind that rush of excitement, some not-so-great facts are hidden. For once, you need to hurry because the supply is scarce, you lack time to analyze the deal, and you might end up overpaying or owning a property with serious problems you didn’t spot beforehand. These are more than enough reasons for real estate investors to search for a secondary stock of properties, a pipeline of deals with more reasonable prices and without that amount of competition.
But does it exist? The answer is yes, and it’s just a few clicks away! We’re talking about off market listings, of course. If you ever worked with off market properties, you surely know that they can be found just by driving around – in fact, we told you all about that here. Nevertheless, that method is not entirely convenient for investors since it doesn’t provide consistency. Sure, you might find a distressed homeowner in need of selling, but you’ll be relying on luck, which sadly is highly irregular.
Therefore, the smart option is to invest a few bucks on a subscription and receive leads on a daily basis. And that’s precisely what we do at Real Estate IQ! We have the best listings in the market, with multiple types of leads, that arrive at your inbox every day, from Monday to Friday. We’ve already talked about our Off Market Leads in Florida and Atlanta, and now it’s time to discuss off market properties in Texas!
12 leads to invest in off market properties in Texas
When you subscribe to an off market list, you want to make sure you’re getting the freshest information and the best kind of leads. Although you’ll most likely become an expert at dealing with one or two types of motivated sellers, it’s crucial to have variety. This way, you can analyze the data and pick the most substantial leads in your area. Plus, you are prepared if they are suddenly affected – like what happened with the evictions and foreclosure moratorium.
At Real Estate IQ, we selected 10 types of off market properties in Texas for you to choose from. They are all relevant leads to work with, and they are mined directly from the courthouses by our research team so that you can forget about intermediaries. We gather the data, analyze it, and send it to you, typically one to two days after the paperwork is filed in court. Thus, you can reach motivated sellers before anyone else!
So, without further ado, here are the ten leads that will get you the best off market properties in Texas:
- Pre-foreclosure* – This list contains people who are in trouble because they can’t pay their mortgages. Sometimes they’re only a few months behind and can resolve the problem; others just stretch the situation with renegotiations but end up back on the foreclosure list.
- Appointment of Substitute Trustee* – This is a pre-pre-foreclosure list because mortgage companies need to appoint a local trustee to complete the foreclosure process. Properties often appear here 4-6 weeks before hitting the pre-foreclosure list.
- Probate and heirship* – If you choose these two types of leads, you’ll be working with people who have lost someone and inherited property. Timing is crucial here, as heirs might still be grieving. We recommend patience and consistency: it could take a few months or even a year to close a deal. If you want to know more about dealing with these leads, you can check out this mini-tutorial with the ABC of working with probate leads and this quick guide on working with inheritance properties in Texas.
- Evictions* – In here, you’ll find people who are behind their rent and is about to get kicked out.
- Tax Sales* – These are properties where people owe a tax debt, so the county forecloses on their homes. It’s essential to flag them and contact the owners before selling as you can offer to pay off their debt, for example.
- Delinquent Taxes – Unlike tax sales, this list gathers cases where people owe a tax debt, but the county has not foreclosed.
- Code Violations – This is like driving for dollars but without leaving your office chair. These leads consist of properties that somehow don’t abide by the area rules (i.e., overgrown grass, broken rooks, trash piling up in the front). Sometimes, this is due to the fact that the owners aren’t able to take care of the house and be better off moving somewhere else.
- Divorce* – This is where you work with divorcing couples who want to sell their properties and divide their assets.
- Loan Modifications* – This list compiles loan modifications requests accepted for the first time. Although, in some cases, people can improve their situation, 80% of loan modifications fail. So, it’s a pretty exciting list to select leads, contact them, and follow up a few months later.
Each of these lists contains much helpful information – like the property characteristics (bedrooms, bathrooms, square feet, garage, pool, and year built), estimated equity, equity percentage, and legal description. Don’t forget that you can see every piece of data included in our off market properties in Texas in this mini-tutorial.
But this does not solve all your problems – though it comes close. One of the difficulties that may appear when working with off market properties is locating owners. For that reason, having a skip tracing service is priceless. And our Premium Off Market Leads comes with phones and addresses built-in! Along with the property information, the leads marked with an asterisk include:
- Up to 5 cell phone numbers
- Up to 5 landline numbers
- Up to 5 email addresses
- The contact information of a close relative
- Flags for bankruptcy and deceased
Key takeaways
Real estate investors should have the best tools in the market to run their businesses. Tools that provide them with trustworthy information, multiple sources of leads, and the possibility to close the most profitable deals. Otherwise, they’re bound to seek deals by driving for dollars or depending on the market to find something at a reasonable price before it disappears.
Off market properties are an excellent way to ensure all that – and avoid, for instance, the 33.5% year-over-year price gain in Q3 in Austin-Round Rock, Texas. If you want to know more about our products, don’t hesitate to ask for a free one-on-one consultation!
Disclaimer: The blog articles are intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in the content is designed to be legal or financial advice.
