Reaching out to the homeowner directly gives you the opportunity to jump on properties that aren’t listed, says Torres, who now helps struggling property investors on CNBC’s “The Deed“: “When you’re getting in the business, if you can buy homes that aren’t listed and not on the market, that’s where the really good deals are.”
In terms of which homeowners to contact, you should be looking to buy properties in up-and-coming neighborhoods — or, in the “sweet spot” between the hot spot and the fringe, he says. But don’t just pick a location by triangulating on a map. It’s equally important to visit the neighborhood and get a feel for it during the morning, the middle of the day and at night.
“A big mistake is not to spend the time there,” Torres tells CNBC. “Just to go there during the day, when you are at work — I think that’s the wrong thing to do. It’s really not good if you do that because you end up buying something and end up finding out that at night it’s a totally different environment in the neighborhood.”
“You have got to evaluate the entire area,” he continues. “You have to look at all of it.”
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