The Investor Tipping Point | The Zebra Blog

The Investor Tipping Point

Several weeks ago, I introduced the idea of The Tipping Point – that moment in time when it becomes more advantageous for a seller to sell than to stay in his or her home. In areas where markets have inventory shortages, making more homeowners aware that their tipping point may be near is critical for encouraging homeowners to make a move and you will drum up more inventory as a result.

There is a second Tipping Point opportunity that comes to a head in March and April each year, meaning we are in prime season right now! This is the Investor Tipping Point. This means we are switching gears from talking about a homeowner who lives in his or her home and instead are looking at:

  • Non-owner-occupied properties
  • Vacation properties (rentals or those utilized by the owner)
  • Duplex, Triplexes and Multi-family

Tax season causes investors to scrutinize their investment portfolio. Perhaps there are challenges with the investment on either the income or expense side – perhaps the rental income isn’t rolling in as predicted with several months of vacancy, perhaps the investor has had too many out-of-pocket maintenance issues and is ready to move on, maybe the vacation property sat vacant for most of the year, or perhaps the deductions are just not offsetting the investor’s income. Whatever the reason, if an investment isn’t performing as expected AND the investor happens to receive information from a real estate professional indicating that properties like their investment are in high demand and others like it are commanding x price point, the Tipping Point may arrive for that investor.

You don’t need to speak investor in order to serve many of these clients if they are just selling their vacation rental, single family property, or condo. However, if they plan on investing in other property and want to analyze cap rates or perform a 1031 Exchange,  then I encourage you to work with an agent who is familiar with working and analyzing these types of properties.

How do you find and connect with these types of clients? It takes a little bit of work, but the potential benefits are huge.

How to Get Started

Step 1: Target Properties
Take a look at your area and determine if you want to target a certain area or want to be more general and target certain types of properties. For example, if you have a recreational area close by with vacation properties, then you may decide to just focus on those properties. However, if you have a college in your town and want to focus on non-owner-occupied college rentals, you can do that too. You may even decide to target urban condo properties that are being used as vacation rentals. In any case, I would start with one type of property or area and polish your system before taking on too many different types or areas.

Step 2: Get Your List
Either work with a Title and Escrow company, a print and mail company, or even look into the tax records available to you to develop your address and target property list.

Step 3: Create Your Letters
I encourage you to create a customized letter for each property you have targeted. This can be done via mail merge or you can customize each manually.

Don’t wait around and miss the opportunity created by this time of year. Your region’s Investor Tipping Point moment won’t be around for too long, so take action now!

But Denise, I Need Letter Content!

You’re in luck, I have four Absentee Owner Tipping Point letters available to Club Zebra PRO members in my Vault.

  1. Investor Tipping Point Letter and Information
  2. The Power of Leverage Letter and Information
  3. Letter and content on 1031 Exchanges
  4. Letter regarding area sold summary

Not a member? Join Club Zebra PRO. It’s just $9.95 for the first month, $24.95 each month thereafter.

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