Good deals in a buyer's market (two ways to find them)

A few days ago we downloaded from the South Central Wisconsin MLS all of the email addresses for agents with a single family home listing in Dane County. This amounted to almost 1,000 email addresses. Then we sent an email on behalf of an investor letting these agents know what our investor is looking for.

We've received a ton of responses, and they are still coming in. Most of the properties that we have learned about don't fit this investor's needs, but there are a few in our list that we will be looking at more closely.

There are two advantages to the mass email approach that are worth noting. First, for some properties we receive a lot of information that isn't available from the online listing. In some cases the client has given the listing agent permission to share his level of motivation, or the client has given his agent permission to share how low he is willing to go with price. Another nice advantage is we now have a large network of agents that is keeping us in mind as other properties become available in the future.

Over the next several weeks we'll share some properties that show some promise for the buyer that is looking for a good deal. And today we'll start with two duplexes located at 3010-3012 and 3014-3016 Union Street on Madison's East Side. Both buildings are listed at $117,000 with rents on each unit at $600 and higher. Run some numbers on these properties and you'll see they look pretty good, pretty quick. Also keep in mind if you plan to owner occupy a duplex, you could be eligible for the enhanced tax credit.

We learned about these two properties because we have an automated search set up that sends us an email anytime a new multifamily listing enters the Dane County market, as well as anytime an existing listing undergoes a price change. These two properties recently underwent huge price reductions, which is why we're sharing them with you right now.

Have a happy and safe holiday,

Dan Miller, Realtor, Certified Distressed Property Expert, Keller Williams Realty and DaneCountyMarket.com