The Best Tool to Find Off Market Properties

Off market properties are elusive. That’s what makes them all the more appealing to both experienced and beginner real estate investors.

But you’d think that in this day and age, with all of the real estate technology available, finding off market properties wouldn’t be so difficult, right? 

So why is it that a lot of articles talking about how to find off market properties are still telling you to ask around in your network or rely on word of mouth (WOM)? Some also suggest Driving for Dollars. This can actually be a good way to search for off market deals in your local housing market. But what if you want to invest in real estate in another city or state? There has to be another way. 

As it turns out, there is. Of all the ways to find off market properties, the best is to use a real estate investment tool like Mashvisor. Stick with me as I introduce you to what Mashvisor can do for the real estate investor who wants to find properties that are off market.

Related: What Are Off Market Properties? How Can You Find One?

Finding Off Market Properties with Mashvisor

Mashvisor is well-known as a real estate investor website that allows you to find and analyze investment properties for sale using nationwide traditional and Airbnb property data. But what a lot of people don’t know is that Mashvisor also has tools that help real estate investors find off market properties:

1. The Mashvisor Property Marketplace
2. Mashboard

Let’s take a closer look at how each of these real estate investment tools can help you in your journey to find and analyze off market homes.

The Mashvisor Property Marketplace

One of the ways to find off market real estate is by searching for:

• Foreclosed homes
• Short sale properties
• Bank owned homes
• Auctioned homes

You have so many avenues available to you to find these types of investment properties. You can keep track of public records and newspapers, visit different real estate auction websites, or even certain government websites. But what typically happens when you use these investment property search methods is that you are left on your own when it comes to the analysis. 

Investment property analysis is a key part of finding off market properties that will generate a good return on investment (ROI). You will need to get access to real estate market data in order to make sure the off market property for sale is located in a good neighborhood. You will also need data to determine the rental income, cash flow, cap rate, cash on cash return, and occupancy rate if you’re following the rental property investment strategy. 

Even though you’ll face less competition when buying off market properties as opposed to working with the MLS, that doesn’t mean you will face no competition. What I mean is that you cannot spend months trying to gather this property information in order to ensure you have a good real estate investment on your hands. In that time, another real estate investor is sure to make an offer and snatch up the off market investment property you were eyeing. And that real estate investor probably found the property in the Mashvisor Property Marketplace.

The Mashvisor Property Marketplace features a wide array of foreclosures, short sales, and REO properties from around the US housing market. Here is a glimpse into this unique real estate marketplace:

What you may have noticed is that the Mashvisor Property Marketplace won’t just tell you the address and listing price like many other websites. Instead, you’ll be able to see a quick ROI analysis. This includes the forecasted cash on cash return for the off market property if it were rented out traditionally or on Airbnb. Instantly, you’ll be able to rule out any off market residential income properties that won’t make a good return on investment. 

And the Mashvisor Property Marketplace makes it easy to find the exact off market property that you’re looking for thanks to the investment property search filters that are made available to you. These include:

• Location: You can search for off market real estate deals in multiple cities at once
• Miles: If you’re searching in one real estate market, you can decide how far you wish to look from that city
• Budget: There’s no reason to view investment properties that are out of your budget! Set the filter to exclude them.
• Rental Strategy: Off market properties can make for great Airbnb rentals so you need a way to be able to find an off market property based on your rental strategy of choice- Airbnb or traditional.
• Type of Investment Property: Mashvisor has all types of off market properties including single family, condo/coop, and off market multi family for sale.
• Number of Bedrooms/Bathrooms: Find exactly the number of rooms you’re looking for in an investment property.
• Cash on Cash Return: What kind of cash on cash return do you want? You can filter out properties with low cash on cash return.
• Cap Rate: Want to find high cap rate off market properties for sale? Then be sure to set this filter.
• Listing Type: As mentioned, Mashvisor has a wide selection of off market real estate. To narrow the scope, you can filter properties based on the following listing types:
  • Non MLS
  • Foreclosures
  • Needs Repairs (If you’re looking for off market distressed properties)
  • Tenant Occupied

Once you set the filters based on your criteria, you’ll now have to choose among the available off market listings. Again, Mashvisor will not leave you to worry about this on your own. Every off market listing in the Property Marketplace can be analyzed using our Investment Property Calculator. So while you can narrow down your options using the initial cash on cash return estimates displayed on each Property Card, you will be able to make a final decision on which off market property to buy using the Calculator. This real estate analysis tool will provide you with the following metrics for off market investment properties:

• Rental Income
• Rental Property Expenses
• Cash Flow
• Cash on Cash Return (use the integrated Mortgage Calculator to see the true Cash on Cash Return if you’re using a loan)
• Cap Rate
• Occupancy Rate
• Traditional vs Airbnb Rental Strategy Comparison
• Real Estate Comps
• Real Estate Investment Payback Balance

So if you do start your search for off market real estate in the Mashvisor Property Marketplace, you’re sure to end up with a profitable investment property. And it won’t take as long as any of the other traditional routes of finding off market properties. Want to know how quickly you’ll find a great real estate investment opportunity? Visit the Mashvisor Property Marketplace now and find out for yourself.

Mashboard

Although they aren’t always keen on revealing their secrets, it turns out that experienced real estate investors go about finding and investing in off market properties in a different way. Rather than go for properties in some stage of foreclosure, they pinpoint homeowners in a good real estate market and then pump up their marketing efforts to reach out to these owners, make an offer, and convince them to sell. 

Again, this is another method that is listed in those articles on how to find off market properties. They will tell you to drive around, jot down addresses, and maybe use direct mail marketing to try to find deals. But I’ve already pointed out the flaw in this strategy. Investors shouldn’t tie themselves to the areas where they can physically drive around and see addresses.

In order to find the best off market properties, you need access to homeowners all across the nation. And that’s what Mashboard gives you. Even without an address, you can get homeowner data in the location of your choice. Here’s a quick look at how to find out who owns a property using this tool:

Sign up for Mashvisor and visit your Mashboard. Click Add Owner List:

Next, set the filters to narrow down the homeowner information that you’ll get:

These filters include:

• Address
• City
• State
• Zip Code
• Property Type
• Year Built
• Sales Data
• Contact Data

You can choose to get homeowner addresses, emails, and phone numbers along with names. Once you set the filters, Mashboard will notify you when your report is ready! You can even use the integrated email and SMS system to start getting in touch with homeowners right away. 

Related: How to Find Out Who Owns a Property for Off Market Deals

So, Is Mashvisor Really the Best Tool for Finding Off Market Real Estate?

There really is only one way to find out if Mashvisor is really the best tool for finding off market properties. And that’s to Click Here to Start Your 7-Day Free Trial.