Top 10 Ways to Find a Dallas Real Estate Bargain

In today’s market, the play of the day is finding a real estate bargain. You can’t walk out your front door without hearing about Foreclosures, Short Sales or any number of distressed properties. Most of this is coming from people trying to sell you their “special” list of properties.

Dallas Texas real estate is no different than any other city in the U.S. except that it doesn’t have nearly the number of these homes as do places like Las Vegas, California and Florida. (I’ve linked to this before, but I love colored maps. Here’s MSN’s Interactive Foreclosure Map.) Even if you don’t consider foreclosures, you can still find a real estate bargain. So for that reason, I’ve written Top 10 Ways to Find a Dallas Real Estate Bargain.

10. Above Normal Appreciation
What if you can’t purchase a home below it’s current market value but… can purchase a home that will appreciate at a faster rate than everyone else once you own it? Then that’s a deal too! Like any task that includes predicting the future, this is a tough job. Having a wealth of experience and a long-term view can make this possible but it’s often easier said than done.

9. Property Infringement
There are times when the government comes in and requires a property owner to sell a portion of their land via eminent domain. Usually this is for a road, highway or airport expansion of some sort. These sellers are anxious to sell before the work crews come and buyers can usually get quite a bargain. Just remember to do all of your due diligence beforehand, so that you fully understand the extent of the government work and are happy with that outcome before purchasing one of these homes.

8. City to City
Most people do not have the luxury to choose where they live due to job requirements. But if you are one of the lucky ones, selecting a city with great bang for your buck home prices, then you can land yourself a real estate bargain. Dallas made MSN’s 2008 MSN Real Estate best bargain markets and is still looking good in 2009.

7. Looking Ahead
In every city there are hot spots. Certain neighborhoods are more desirable than others. This changes over time, but a good Realtor® with experience can tell you which areas are currently drawing the most interest. For example, in Louisville, Kentucky, the Highlands extremely popular with younger home buyers. If you’re looking to find a real estate bargain, do not purchase a home in this area, you won’t get a deal. Instead, you’ll likely overpay. But a wise shopper will look at the surrounding neighborhoods to see where the hot trend might spread once everything has bought up in the first area.

6. Uniformed Sellers
For the most part, For Sale by Owners (FSBO) properties don’t meet with much success. I wrote a piece called Top 10 Things to Consider When Contemplating a FSBO that highlights some of the difficulties that FSBO’s encounter.

Every good Realtor® will tell you that the most important thing in selling a home is setting the proper asking price at the start. FSBO’s usually don’t accomplish this task. Usually they’ll overprice it, which only hurts their chances with the smaller number of people who’ll see their home. But every once in awhile, they’ll under price their home. That’s where a bargain can be found for the astute buyer.

5. Auction Properties
Going to a real estate auction might seem a bit strange to many, but there deals to be had if you’ve done your homework. Generally speaking, these properties have some kind of problem that kept them from being sold in the traditional manner.

4. Non-Trendy Styles
Dallas is a fairly progressive city, but even so there are styles that currently “all the rage.” Be on the lookout for homes that aren’t currently “hot” as they are great candidates for bargain hunters and chances are you’ll be able to purchase this property at or below it’s true value.

3. Relocation Nightmares
For a home seller, a relocation can be a monstrous event. For the home buyer, it can be a wonderful opportunity. Nothing pushes negotiating in the buyer’s favor like a seller who needs to be in Topeka by the first day of the next month. Their loss is almost always your gain.

2. Days on Market
Days on Market (DoM) is the total number of days that a particular property has been for sale. It just stands to reason that the longer the seller has been trying to sell, the more anxious he or she is to get it sold. These kind of sellers are much more likely to drop their asking price even further if someone (anyone!) will come and take this property off their hands. If that doesn’t sound like a bargain waiting to happen, I don’t know what does.

1. Fixer Uppers
Fixer Uppers are sometimes called Handyman Specials because whoever buys this house is most certainly going to need some work done on it before it’s ready to be lived in. Spotting these properties isn’t too difficult at most real estate agents will identify these properties as such in their listing descriptions. I would throw “As Is” properties into this category as well.

Due to the fact that in today’s market most buyers want “move in ready” homes, these fixer uppers generally are discarded from their search list. That means some lucky buyer, who has properly inspected the home’s structure and other vitals, is likely going to get one heck of a deal!

It’s important to note that while I’ve given you the best ways to find a bargain, finding them can still be tough. I wholeheartedly recommend that you take full advantage of your Realtor® to help you track down the deals.

Author: Tre Pryor, a lifelong resident of Louisville, and a Realtor® with Rick Shaw Realtors. He uses his extensive Internet expertise to help his real estate clients realize superior results with Louisville KY Real Estate. Mr. Pryor is also the Editor-in-Chief of the LouisvilleHomesBlog.com, the city’s top blog for targeted real estate news and advice for home buyers and sellers in the Louisville area.