Minnesota Real Estate Investors Association, Inc.

Finding the Right Real Estate Leads and Deals in Any Economy, Regardless of Interest Rates and House Prices

Real estate investing has long been one of the most reliable ways to build wealth. But with constant shifts in the economy—whether rising interest rates, fluctuating house prices, or changing market conditions—it can sometimes feel like a challenge to find the right deals. The good news is that it’s possible to succeed in any economy, and you don’t need to let interest rates or housing market trends throw you off track.

Whether you’re just starting out or have years of experience under your belt, there are proven strategies you can use to consistently find the right leads and deals. In this blog, we’ll explore how to find deals in any economy and how you can adapt your approach to continue profiting from real estate, no matter what the market throws at you.

1. Focus on the Fundamentals: Motivated Sellers Don’t Care About Interest Rates

While interest rates and house prices often make the headlines, motivated sellers are the heart of any real estate deal—and they don’t care about the current economic trends. Motivated sellers are people who need to sell their property for reasons beyond market conditions. They might be facing financial hardship, going through a divorce, relocating, or dealing with a di
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Unlocking Success in Real Estate: Creative Leads for New Investors with MnREIA

Real estate investment is an exciting and lucrative venture—but for many new investors, it can seem daunting. With so many options, from traditional buying and selling to flipping homes and rental properties, where do you even start? One of the most important lessons any investor can learn early on is that creative leads are the key to finding profitable deals.

If you’re a beginner looking to jump into real estate, the idea of finding properties that offer true value might seem overwhelming. But don't worry! There are countless creative strategies you can use to find leads and set yourself up for success. In fact, creative leads are often what separate average investors from the truly successful ones.

Let’s explore some of the most effective ways new investors can tap into creative leads, find opportunities that others may overlook, and start building their real estate portfolios—especially when you partner with organizations like MnREIA (Minnesota Real Estate Investors Association) to accelerate your growth.

1. Look Beyond the MLS: The Power of Off-Market Deals

As a new investor, it’s tempting to focus all your efforts on properties listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)—but here’s the truth: competition on the MLS can be fier
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Navigating the Real Estate Market: How Creative Financing and Finding Motivated Sellers Can Help You Thrive

The real estate market is constantly evolving, and while many investors are concerned about where the market is headed, it’s important to realize that there are always opportunities, no matter what direction things are moving. Whether the market is booming or facing challenges, you can still succeed by using the right strategies. One of the most effective ways to navigate the market—especially in uncertain times—is through creative financing and finding motivated sellers. Let’s dive into what you can expect from the market and how these strategies can help you thrive.

What to Expect from the Real Estate Market

Real estate markets can fluctuate for a variety of reasons, including changes in interest rates, shifts in supply and demand, economic downturns, and external factors like global events or political changes. While it's true that a market crash or downturn may be inevitable at some point, it’s also important to remember that real estate is a long-term game. Markets might dip, but they also rise again. What’s crucial is how you respond to market changes and how you structure your deals to capitalize on opportunities.

In times of uncertainty, many investors fear the worst. But if you can train yourself to read the market correctly and act strategically, you ca
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Seller financing is a term that covers a lot of different things. But it basically is a process to purchase or control a property without needing all cash of getting a loan to pay the seller off. Seller financing can be a useful tool in a tight credit market. It allows sellers to move a home faster and get a sizable return on the investment. And buyers may benefit from less stringent qualifying and down payment requirements, more flexible rates, and better loan terms on a home that otherwise might be out of reach.

In a seller financing transaction, the seller takes on the role of the lender. Instead of giving cash to the seller, the seller extends enough credit to the buyer for the purchase price of the home, minus any down payment.

Seller financing can be done in many different ways and with multiple options in the same transaction. The most common form of seller financing is with a Contract for Deed (AKA Agreement for Deed or Land Contract), but there are many alternative options available, including Lease Options, Subject-To and wrap around mortgages.

A Contract for Deed is simple to understand, you make monthly mortgage payments to the seller directly rather than getting a loan from bank or private lender. Let’s say you agree to pay the seller $100,000 and they agree to a Contract for Deed at a 6% in
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“Get Off Your Butt and go Buy a House.”  This is a statement I had heard years ago from an old friend when I was complaining about being a broke struggling want to be investor, so I listened to her and did it. That was back in the late 90’s and it was a good ride for many years.  But the last few years have been tough on a lot of real estate investors, me included.  Many of us had to hunker down, retrench and then recover from our battle wounds.  The length of recover was/is directly proportional to the magnitude of your original symptoms.  Some people unfortunately didn’t have the financial or emotional strength to weather the storm which I completely understand as I was almost one of them.  But now it is time to look forward and plan for the future rather than having to deal with repercussions from the past. 

I understand that there will still be a few things we all need to deal with from the past few years as we move forward, but move forward we must, and this is the year to do it.  Even though last year was a relatively good year for real estate investing, it was still a tough year for many investors because of all the competition and the lack of inventory on the market.  I personally struggled finding rehabs as well.  Between my partner and me, we looked at over 400 properties, make close to 200 offers and only got one MLS offer accepted.  Looking back, off all the properties that we made offers on that sold, they were all in multiple offer situations.  Even though we had plenty of cash to buy and always offered quick closings without contingencies, we were always out bid with very similar offers.  Many of those other properties that didn’t sell are still on the market and still overpriced. 
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Obviously it is, but how is it changing and what direction are we headed is the question most people are asking themselves these days. Some of the old school investors/realtors will relate to this article, but for most of you, this will seem like a radical new approach to real estate. You see, the changes I am going to be talking about or nothing more that real estate cycles coming back around full swing.

Over the last ten years or so, all you needed was a pulse and a few months to build appreciation in order to make money in real estate. That has changed drastically, today not only do you need a pulse, you also need a creative thinking brain. However, just having a pulse will not get you a mortgage anymore. In fact, I think the only way to get a mortgage today is to prove that you absolutely don’t need it, and then you have at least a fighting chance to get past underwriting.

Over the past two years, the real estate market has been going through a market correction, because of the over inflation of housing prices. Most of these properties have been either short sales or foreclosed upon by the banks and put back on the market at reduced prices. In many areas, prices have begun to stabilize and the new market values have been established. The first time home buyers tax credit helped boast these sales and stabilize prices. However, access to financing is getting harder and interest rates are expected to increase over the next few years. This will help to bring down prices of the surrounding properties over the next few years. 
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In this era of opportunity for the real estate investors it is important that you develop a healthy understanding of your local REIA (real estate investor association), fellow investors, and your business.

There is no better place to find such a large number of real estate investor in which to network and construct deals with than at the meetings and events of your local REIA. Business without a REIA would make it more difficult for investors to develop because these REIAs provide the links necessary for fledgling investors to start off wholesaling, for seasoned investors to rehab and Lease Option, and for those with properties to run them by other investors who have a buyer’s list. Another benefit of the REIAs are their vendors, they support the club and offer services such as legal, accounting, consulting but the real gem here is that these vendors are at the very least familiar with our line of business!

There are a lot of good lawyers out there, but even the best lawyers don’t know everything, the lawyers that show up at your local REIAs are the lawyers you are looking for because they have an understanding of what you are trying to do, what your business really is! Without this source you would end up spending and wasting a lot of time chasing lame referrals and making cold calls from the yellow pages to firms that don’t really have a vested interest in maintaining the kind of reputation that the lawyers a
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Since real estate values have plummeted, Subject-To deals have been harder to do because most of the time, the mortgage balance from the seller is higher than the property values creating a situation that if we took over the sellers property and started making payments on their existing mortgages, then we would end up with a property that we could not make cash flow or even resell without having to pay down the mortgages ourselves.

While some lenders were accepting short sales, most lenders were waiting for their bail out from the government. Since that never happened, some lenders have been more susceptible to short sales. While short sales have been our only way to deal with over leveraged properties, we were forced to resell the properties to pay off the short sale. Which meant that Sub2 deals were not taking place which is why according to the National Association of Realtors®, about 50% of all transactions in the 4th Quarter of 2008 were either Foreclosures or Short Sale.

According to Bloomberg “ Citigroup Inc.’s agreement to back legislation that lets bankruptcy judges cut mortgage rates for at-risk borrowers drew criticism from ban
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It’s that time of year again, when we sit down and reflect on the previous year and look forward to the year ahead of us. This past year has been filled with extreme swings in the economy and our emotions. For some people 2008 was a great year and for others it was a nightmare. I have been caught right in the middle of both, so I guess for me, everything evened out and it was a year that makes me look back and ask, what the heck happened. I had some winners and some losers. The losers of course came in the last quarter of the year and I did pretty well during the first 3 quarters of the year. Some might look back with discouragement and frustration. I however am looking ahead with a clear determination to make 2009 the best year ever.

With the shake up in the credit markets and the stock markets, I see huge potential for 2009 in real estate. I believe we have hit the bottom, for the most part. A new president and administration will take office on January 20, 2009 and they have made it clear that they are focused on stimulating the economy. Again, for some this will be good and for others it will be bad. For real estate investors, this will be very good. Just like when the real estate market was hot, the economy seemed unstoppable and real estate prices climbed to artificially high prices, the collapse of the credit and financial markets has artificially lowered real estate prices below the point of where they normally would have settled at.
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