This will be the final post in my Finding Deals By Building Relationships segment. Finding deals this way is actually free and by far the best way to find properties consistently.

- Once you build the relationships you will have more potential deals coming your way!

Property Management Companies

Property management companies are a great tool if you have a lot of properties that you would like to be rented out and build a monthly cash flow. They will find your tenants, take care of the maintenance and they will collect the rent on your behalf among many other time saving things. They have a huge database of property owners.

You want to build a relationship with the company and the people who run these property management companies. They will know well before the owner of the property if the property should indeed be sold. They will know about problem tenants, a problem house that is getting worse and worse but to you as a wholesaler these are all the qualifications for the perfect deal.

Once you have that good relationship you will be able to network with the landlords of these properties which can potentially lead to a deal.

Title Companies

Just like property management companies, title companies are in constant contact with investors on a daily basis. What are the chances that the title companies know investors who want to unload some properties? If you have a good relationship with a title company, there is a big chance that they will bring lead after lead right to you.

Landlords Who Run Classified Ads In The Rent Section

When you look in the newspaper you will see classified ads for people selling their property. You can also find classified ads for people who are renting a property. You may ask yourself why would I want to look at the rent section, I am not looking to rent a property?

You have to think out of the box for this one. The people who have placed these ads are likely to be landlords that are holding onto several properties. You should call them and start to build a relationship with them. You also want to find out if they have any properties for sale!

This is the main reason you are calling them. Maybe they are having problems with a tenant, the property is distressed or maybe they are an out of area owner. The possibilities are endless but you will never know unless you call them.

Foreclosure Auctions

I go to foreclosure auctions to network. I dont go to foreclosure auctions to buy property. There will be a lot of hot shot and big time investors purchasing property there and it is your time to get to know them. These people have two benefits to you.

First off they are purchasing property so they are your cash buyers for the future who you can wholesale properties to in the future. Secondly they may have to start selling off their properties in the future. Some of them may retire or they may fall on hard times, but eventually they will need to sell their property. If you have built a good relationship with them now it will pay dividends in the future.

Bird Dogs

Bird dogs are the best way to expand your network. Bird dogs can be both people who want to want to get into real estate investing or people who just want to make extra income. If you really want to have great bird dogs you will have to educate them about the basics. At the same time they will be educating you because they will be providing you information about your area. Bird dogs will point you to the vacant, boarded up, unwanted homes. They may also bring other types of motivated sellers to you.

Bird dogs do not have any legal risks, they do not put any properties under contract and they do not fix up houses. What they do is simply point out these houses to you. A bird dog gets paid a finders fee when you close and complete a deal on a property that they pointed out to you. You are allowed to pay them any amount of money you want. The going rate seems to range from $250 - $1,500 which depends on the size of the deal.

The more bird dogs you have the better and stronger your network will be. It doesnt matter how many bird dogs you have because they dont get paid unless you make money by closing on a property. I mentioned in the previous section that everyone you come in contact with should get both your business card and your bird dog card. My business card explains that I buy and sell houses while my bird dog cards explains that you can make $500 by simply telling me about a property.

My best bird dog is the mailman. Some of the other people who can be key bird dogs to your network are the following

FED EX, DHL, UPS package and letter carriers.

Landscapers

Carpet cleaners

Pool service companies

Newspaper delivery person

Contractors, plumbers, home repair handymen

Anyone that you can think of that drives around your area.