How to find motivated sellers from fire damaged properties, busboy makes over 47 grand on ONE deal. 

Fire Damaged Properties

This is part of a larger post on 100 FREE ways to motivated sellers here.

On one flip an investor of mine made almost $50,000, on a single small flip.  In high school he was a busboy so he told me I should say that, so if a busboy can do it anybody can do it.  It was his biggest flip ever. 

So how’d I find him the deal?  Through fire damaged properties.  You want to stay on these deals because almost NO investors have heard of this or do it the right way.

Here are seven ways to find deals in the fire damaged properties.

You don’t need to do all of these, I’ve had mixed success as I’ll explain with each one.

1.) Fireman and Local Firefighters

Usually each county in America and each township will have a tight list of fire damage properties or at least calls and properties that have been damaged by fires.  You can work with the fireman and hire them as bird dogs OR you can work with a volunteer or charity group of theirs.  Or you can set one up.

I set one up so that I can have them go out door to door every two weeks to all the properties and neighborhoods in my areas.  They get a lot of credibility as firemen whose groups “buy and restore houses to rebuild neighborhoods and communities”. 

The firemen is my best source of these deals so far.

It is also the most fun because groups like firemen are usually not aware of many good fund raising opportunities so this is GOLD for them.  They also get to know their communities better so that helps too.

2.) Insurance Agents, Adjusters, etc.

There are a few different ways to work insurance agents.  In this case when a seller files a claim and gets a bunch of money, or maybe doesn’t get any because the insurance company is shady, you can be introduced.

I haven’t gotten many deals like this but I have one of my “Badass Bird Dogs” who got a good deal from this last week.  The insurance will say to their client “You know I have a friend who buys and sells houses and if you want before you move forward or do any work you can see what kind of cash offer you can for your home today as-is…?”

3.)  Twitter and Google Alerts

You can type in any phrase or term on Google and get alerts for it.  Like “Johnson County Fire” for example.  That will keep you on top of any fires your local media talks about if Google picks up the story.

You can do the same thing with your fire departments Twitter account.  If they are regularly updating or posting then they reply to calls, they you can know automatically each time a new fire is being reported.  You can part of the first responder team but in a financial sense to put out any financial fires.

4.)  Neighbors and People in the Community

Let everybody know that, among other things, you will pay cash for fire damaged properties.  So when the you, the firemen, your bird dogs, etc. are out in these areas make sure that this is known.

This has been one of my best sources for deals and you will get the drop on everybody else because you will be the first to know about these deals.

5.)  Realtors and Mortgage Brokers

They will hear about people wanting to sell or new updates to the loans, filings, major damage, etc.  A good realtor can stay on top of this and have good deals for you ready to go.  Usually though your best deals will come from other sources unless this is a hungry agent.  We have also done classes to train agents on how to find and sell fire damaged properties, so that can be  lead generator too.

6.)  Search the MLS

I guess when I say a “hungry agent” I’m really lowering the bar because all they have to do to get started is search the MLS for “fire” or “fire damaged”.  I prefer “fire” because it will pull up the fire sale discounted properties too.

Remember to search for your local board of realtors because like in Indy they may have a free search of the MLS available.

7.)  Fire Restoration Companies

If you don’t find a good fire restoration company near you, you can always start one.  Relax, all this really takes is creating a landing page lol.  I’ve used a few signs that said “Fire Restoration” and we’ve done deals but it was not consistent. 

It is best to find good local people and work with them and then if you do “start one” (create a landing page that says “Fire Restoration”) then you can drive ppc traffic to it and send business to the handymen and fixer uppers.

Also check out my post about working with contractors and handymen for motivated sellers because they can be a great source of deals as well as good for the research on the property too.  You will need to do assess the work correctly, you need an expert that knows what they’re doing.

The SMOKE damage is often worse than the fire damage

In a fire it is the smoke that kills more people than the actual fire.  It can also do a lot more damage to the property and the structures.  You don’t have to do this with just houses, I have flipped a few office building and commercial properties too.  I get the leads the same way.

You can do residential AND commercial properties

Just make sure you take care of your buyers and you’ve done your research on the repairs.  You can search for local “We buy fire damaged houses” people and then connect and network with those investors even if they are just selling leads.

Follow the policies, RAD and stay passionate and you’ll do great.

Thanks so much guys!

~ Indy Anna

Love (at) BigReia (dot) com

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Make the Universe Smile.

~ Indy Anna
Love (at) BigReia.com
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