How to Find Investment Properties: 9 Proven Deal Sources

How to Find Investment Properties: 9 Proven Deal Sources

How to Find Investment Properties: 9 Proven Deal Sources

Finding investment properties isn't about discovering some secret source nobody knows about.

It's about working the right channels consistently and understanding what volume actually looks like.

After 8 years of flipping houses and closing 150+ properties, I can tell you this: most investors quit before they ever figure out the formula. Not because the sources don't work, but because they underestimate what it takes to make them work.

This guide covers 9 proven sources for finding investment properties—what works, what doesn't, and the reality of what it takes to generate consistent deal flow.

The Competition You're Up Against

Before diving into specific sources, you need to understand today's market.

When I started working with agents back in 2017, hardly anyone was doing serious agent outreach. We bought houses easily without crazy amounts of work.

Then Pace Morby started talking about agent outreach a few years ago. Everything changed. EVERYONE is working agents now. The saturation is real.

Today at The von Group, we have to do literally 100x the volume we did back then just to separate ourselves from everyone else calling, emailing, and texting agents.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

Team of 5 full-time acquisition specialists working 40-50 hours per week each building relationships with agents.

2,500 agent contacts per day across Atlanta and surrounding markets.

30-40 property underwriting per day to analyze incoming leads.

30+ offers per week submitted across multiple channels.

Buy rate: 1 out of 100+ leads that come in actually becomes a deal.

I personally work 65-80 hours per week on acquisitions. My team adds another 176 hours per week. That's over 240 hours per week total dedicated to finding properties.

You're competing with companies like ours. Some Atlanta companies have teams of 40+ people all doing the same thing.

I'm not telling you this to discourage you. I'm telling you so you have realistic expectations. Too many investors quit because they think something's wrong with them when really they just don't understand the volume required.

You have two paths: build the volume yourself, or partner with someone who already has.

Source 1—Real Estate Agent Relationships

Our experience: 70-80% of our deals

This is our primary source, but it's also the most competitive.

Here's what most investors get wrong: they send generic messages. "Hey, I'm looking for my next fixer upper. Got anything coming soon?"

That doesn't work anymore.

Your messaging and approach must separate you from the hundreds of other investors reaching out to the same agents. I won't give away our complete strategy, but understand this: incentives matter, relationships matter, and consistency matters more than clever one-off tactics.

Why it works:

Agents see properties before they hit the MLS. They know which sellers are motivated, which homes need work, and which deals have potential.

The volume reality:

Early on, I thought making 30-40 calls per day would be enough. After 3 months of me and one employee hitting that number consistently, we weren't buying enough houses.

We bumped it to 200 calls per day between two people. Our deal flow skyrocketed.

That's the Alex Hormozi principle from Acquisition.com: "Do More." You think you're hustling, but successful people in your space are doing 10x what you're doing.

Working with an agent to find off-market deals explains how to structure these relationships properly.

Source 2—MLS Strategic Searches

Our experience: 10% of our deals

The MLS still produces deals if you search smarter than retail buyers.

Effective search strategies:

Use keyword filters for "investor special," "handyman special," "TLC needed," "sold as-is," or "estate sale."

Filter by days on market—homes sitting 60+ days often have motivated sellers.

Track price reductions. Properties that have dropped 10%+ signal willingness to negotiate.

Set up instant alerts so you see new listings before competitors.

Why speed matters:

You can lose a deal because you waited 30 minutes to send an offer. I've seen it happen dozens of times.

A few years ago, an agent sent me a deal in Decatur over a weekend when I wasn't available. By Monday, my coworker—who got the same lead—had already locked it under contract. That was a paycheck I lost purely due to response time.

Build systems that let you move fast, or accept that you'll miss opportunities.

How to find fixer upper homes covers additional MLS tactics.

Source 3—Wholesaler Networks

Our experience: 10% of our deals

Working with wholesalers can be effective, but you need to understand what you're getting.

Just because someone's a wholesaler doesn't mean they know how to find good deals or recognize one when they see it. We sort through hundreds of wholesale leads to find one that actually has solid numbers.

Someone like us at The von Group—we're real investors ourselves. We flip houses, buy rentals, renovate properties, and manage the entire process. That knowledge separates us substantially from wholesalers who've never actually done a renovation.

How to work with wholesalers:

Get on 5-10 buyer lists through local REIAs, Facebook groups, and investor meetups.

Respond fast when they send deals. Wholesalers remember reliable buyers.

Always run your own numbers. Don't trust their profit projections.

The key question:

Is this wholesaler an actual investor, or just someone passing deals? That difference matters tremendously when evaluating their analysis.

Wholesale real estate deals explains how to vet wholesale properties.

Source 4—Direct Mail Campaigns

Direct mail targets specific property owners: vacant properties, code violations, tax delinquencies, high-equity owners, absentee owners, inherited properties.

Send monthly. Expect 1-3% response rates. Most deals come from the 3rd, 5th, or 10th contact—not the first.

The scientific method approach:

Here's the reality: your first campaign probably won't work. You're doing multiple things wrong and you don't know which ones yet.

You need to use the scientific method.

Example:

Observation: You send 1,000 mailers to vacant properties. Zero responses.

Hypothesis: Maybe the list is bad. Or the message isn't compelling. Or 1,000 isn't enough volume.

Test: Send 2,000 mailers with a different message to tax-delinquent properties instead.

Results: Did you get responses? Better or worse than attempt one?

Adjust: If improved, keep that variable and test something else (handwritten envelopes vs. printed). If not, try a different change.

There are thousands of variables: the list, the message, design, frequency, offer, call-to-action.

It can take a long time and significant money before you dial in what works. Maybe you need 5,000 mailers to get one deal. Maybe 10,000. You won't know until you test.

Why it works (eventually):

Once you find the formula, direct mail scales. But it requires capital and patience upfront.

Source 5—Driving for Dollars

Physically drive neighborhoods noting properties with visible distress: overgrown lawns, boarded windows, piled mail, peeling paint, damaged roofs.

Take photos, note addresses, look up owners via county records or services like PropStream or DealMachine. Reach out via mail, phone, or door knock.

Why it works:

You find properties other investors miss because they're not on the ground.

The tradeoff:

Time-intensive. You could drive for hours and only find a handful of leads. But it's free (except gas and time), making it accessible for investors without marketing budgets.

Source 6—Probate and Estate Sales

Heirs who inherit properties often want to liquidate quickly. They don't want the property, can't afford maintenance, or live out of state.

Find probate listings through county court filings (public record), probate attorneys, or estate sale companies.

The challenge:

Probate is slow—6 to 12+ months. But competition is lighter and deals are often below market for patient investors.

Source 7—Networking and Referrals

Build relationships with other investors, contractors, inspectors, property managers, and lenders.

Why it works:

Contractors see distressed homes before anyone else. They hear about upcoming projects and overwhelmed owners.

Other investors pass on deals that don't fit their criteria but might fit yours.

Property managers know which landlords are tired of the business.

Where to network in Atlanta:

Atlanta REIA and Georgia REIA are solid options. Yes, there's some course selling that happens, but there are genuinely knowledgeable people who actually do deals. I know them personally—they're smart, experienced, and worth learning from.

My take: why pay for a course when you can buy an actual deal that makes you money and learn by doing? You're investing in an asset (the house) versus just education where you still have to find a deal afterward.

Source 8—Contractor and Inspector Referrals

Contractors and inspectors work multiple properties weekly. They see distressed homes and overwhelmed owners before properties hit the market.

Build relationships with contractors in your target areas. Let them know you buy fixer uppers. Many will refer opportunities, especially if they get the renovation work.

Why it works:

Direct access to sellers before listings. Less competition. Sellers often trust contractor referrals.

Source 9—Foreclosure Listings (With Major Caveats)

Foreclosures sound appealing but rarely deliver for most investors.

I've analyzed hundreds of foreclosure listings over 8 years. Never closed one. Not because the properties were bad, but because the process doesn't work for small-to-mid-size investors who need speed and strong returns.

Banks overprice REO properties and won't negotiate. Pre-foreclosures fall apart because sellers wait until it's too late. Courthouse auctions require all-cash and you're competing with institutional buyers.

Foreclosed homes for sale explains in detail why this source wastes time.

What Doesn't Work: PPC and Meta Ads

The worst source for me has been pay-per-click and Meta ads to find houses.

A lot of people do great with them, but they're mostly wholesalers doing novations. A novation is when a wholesaler contracts a house for $200k, then lists it on the MLS for $250k while still under contract. They sell to a retail buyer using owner-occupied financing and pocket the spread.

That works for wholesalers who can make money on deals without enough margin for fix-and-flips.

Since we focus exclusively on flips, we've found the best sources are volume marketing to agents, wholesalers, and working the MLS.

The Biggest Mistakes Investors Make

Mistake 1: Not enough volume

You think you're doing a lot. You're not.

Most investors underestimate required volume by 10x or more.

Mistake 2: No systems for speed

This is both a numbers game and a speed game.

You lose deals because you waited 30 minutes while someone else moved in 5. Build systems or accept missed opportunities.

Mistake 3: Spreading too thin

Trying all 9 sources at once means you're not doing any of them well. Pick 2-3 and execute consistently for 90 days before adding more.

How to Prioritize These Sources

If you have money but limited time:

Leverage capital for leads: direct mail campaigns, wholesaler relationships, partnerships with companies like The von Group that bring vetted deals.

If you have time but limited money:

Focus on cold calling and networking. But understand you're competing with teams spending 240+ hours per week doing the same thing. They're more experienced and can move faster.

Be prepared to work like crazy for longer than you expect before closing your first deal.

I'm not saying this to discourage you. I'm saying it because too many investors quit thinking something's wrong with them when really they just don't understand what's required.

Have the right expectations. Get to work. Don't quit.

Real Example: Why Experience Matters

Let me show you the difference between underwriting on a spreadsheet versus actually knowing markets.

Our last flip at 5759 Albans Way in Lithonia is a perfect case study.

When we got it under contract, we offered it to our investor network first. We believed it could sell for $325k with proper renovation and marketing.

None of our investors wanted it. They all thought it would sell under $300k and renovation would cost $100k.

We bought it ourselves.

Our actual renovation: $58k (not $100k). The house turned out beautiful.

When we listed, there were 18 active competing listings in the neighborhood—usually a terrible sign.

But we put our marketing to the test. Within 2 weeks: 4 offers. We accepted one at $354k.

The appraisal came back at $345k. We negotiated with the buyer to waive their appraisal contingency by addressing inspection items they wanted fixed. They covered the $9k difference.

We closed at $354k—$29k over appraisal and $54k higher than our experienced investors predicted.

That's the difference between someone who actually flips houses versus someone running numbers without market knowledge.

The Underwriting Reality

A full underwrite—estimating ARV, calculating rehab on our budget sheet, determining final offer price—takes me 15-20 minutes after 8 years and over 10,000 underwriting experiences.

When you start out, expect 60+ minutes per property.

If you need to analyze 100 properties to find one deal (our ratio), that's 100 hours of work at beginner speed.

Most investors don't have that kind of time. That's why working with someone who's already built the system makes sense.

When we send a deal to our investors, it's been rigorously underwritten by someone who knows the neighborhoods intimately—someone who knows a comp 0.2 miles away could sell for $200k more solely because of the street it's on.

Most investors, almost all wholesalers, and even most agents don't know these details like we do.

Atlanta Market Insights

We buy most of our houses inside the perimeter. Some investors don't prefer those areas, but we love them.

We get fantastic profit margins there. Once you really know the neighborhoods and streets, you know exactly what a house can sell for and which finishes are in high demand. That's why we excel there.

But we also do deals in the suburbs—anywhere within an hour of Atlanta: south like Fayetteville, north like Acworth or Marietta, west like Douglasville, east like Lilburn.

Right now we're closing a flip in Lilburn next to Mountain Park. We have a flip in Belvedere Park in Decatur getting staged. Another in Center Hill in Southwest Atlanta. And we just bought one in Dallas on December 29th.

We go wherever the numbers make sense within our service radius from Grant Park.

The Bottom Line

Finding investment properties comes down to three things:

Volume: Analyze hundreds to find one deal. No shortcuts.

Speed: Deals go to whoever moves fastest.

Systems: Processes for sourcing, analyzing, and closing quickly.

You can build this yourself. It requires 200+ hours per week, a team, months of testing, and significant capital before seeing consistent results.

Or you work with someone who's already built the machine and sorts through hundreds of properties weekly to find the ones with real profit margins.

Ready to Skip the Grind and Get Vetted Deals?

The von Group provides off-market properties with transparent pricing and proven margins. We've closed 150+ deals since 2024 doing the volume most investors can't.

When we send you a deal, it's been rigorously underwritten by someone with 8 years of experience who actually flips houses.

Get access to vetted investment properties here.

Need financing? Check our financing resources to connect with hard money lenders.