Bruce Norris is a house flipper in San Bernadino. His retired now but used to buy 100-200 houses every year.
I used to take all his courses. Guy was a genius and loved sharing, and here's the best thing I learned from him.
Bruce needed to find boatloads of houses every year, for CHEAP. And over the years, he tried everything to find them, including:
- Fake hand-written yellow letters mailed to houses
- 5,000 postcards a month to out of state owners
- “We Buy Houses” signs on freeway off-ramps
- Three full-time cold callers
He figured out quickly what worked and what didn't to find real estate deals, and he even figured out what worked better at different points in the market cycle. For example, at the bottom of market, calling banks for foreclosure lists was a top strategy, but a waste of time at the top (no foreclosures).
But despite years of experimentation, his #1 source of deals never changed, and was the #1 top strategy in rising markets, falling, tops, and bottoms. This strategy actually provided more than half his deal-flow every year.
He called it “Day One MLS.”
That is, grabbing deals the second they come on the market, taking advantage of the following: ignorant out-of-area agents, poor or incorrect marketing, bad or non-existent photos. Or just motivated sellers who will take whatever first offer comes in.
Notice, it's not “MLS”. DAY ONE MLS: You. Must. Be. Fast.
See a deal? Drive by NOW. Write the offer NOW. Tie it up NOW. By now we mean NOW.
You can't believe how many underpriced homes get accidentally listed, and how many dummy sellers just take the first offer they get.
Text or call me to find out the second new homes come on the market.