It’s no secret that many of today’s properties are considered ‘distressed’. The percentage of homes that are vacant, in preforeclosure, headed to an auction or repossessed by banks as REO properties is not news — but it’s still staggering. Obviously some states have weathered the storm more than others. Hawaii has dropped out of the top ten states in America for foreclosure rates, but we’re still up there.
The flip side of the current state of the housing market is that it creates tremendous opportunities for investors and buyers who are ready to step off the sidelines and take action. Investors everywhere are marketing for different kinds of leads — preforeclosure, REO, divorce, probate, tax liens and more — hoping to grab a single family house, townhouse or condo with upfront equity or positive cash flow with additional hopes of future price appreciation.
However, for investors looking to flip houses as wholesale deals, it’s very important to have an actively growing real estate buyers list, especially cash buyers. If you put a great deal under contract but can’t assign or wholesale it to an end buyer, you won’t make much money in real estate. While there are many ways to grow your buyers list — squeeze pages, direct mail, networking — many wholesalers are ignoring a potential gold mine of cash buyers ready to invest in good real estate deals here in Hawaii: foreign markets.
