METHOD NO. 1

By far the most productive method, you will find, is

persistent advertising. Besides watching the ads of properties for sale, you should place a small ad, using no display or large type. This is an important rule. When a buyer uses large ads or ads that have too much "anxiousness and push" about them, or even when they are written too professionally, they lose their effectiveness.

The average owner of a property does not want to deal with professionals. The reasons are obvious. The owner is in the same category in this regard as the fellow who sells a used car.

He is convinced that if he sells it to a dealer he will get a price far below the price he could have obtained if he had sold it to a "private party." Further, it offends his pride. Except for those rare cases where a seller is in a desperate position and must sell at once, and for any price, he will shy away from people who, he suspects, are real estate dealers. That is, dealers why buy properties at distress prices and sell them for full market value.

That is why a large ad or one which promises "fast action" or "pay top price" or "cash waiting" or "quick action" is usually unproductive. The seller is made to feel as if he is selling to a pawn-broker or to a junkdealer - and for a price accordingly.

The ads should be placed in your local newspaper, and once begun, changed as to wording from time to time. But resolve to persist. Stick with it or don't begin it. Remember you are buying what you will have to "live with" for a long time. It is you who are holding out your hand with the money. That will bring many to your door in time. Some of these will have good properties to offer, others, junk. You are not in any hurry. That, too, is a potent factor on your side.

So run these ads about once or twice a week for a year or so as a starter. They should go into a classification, if available, of Real Estate Wanted.

METHOD NO. 2

In Method No. 2, we phone or write all the realty brokers in the area. You will find them in the yellow pages of your phone book.

METHOD NO. 3

This method involves several simple means of spreading the word to the various areas where your properties might be. A phone call or note to the mortgage officer of the various banks in your area will alert them to the fact that you are a prospective buyer. They often have some that have been foreclosed, or, in some cases, the bank is trustee-manager of some of them for an estate. It does no harm in any case to tell them you are in the market.

Then there's the tour-and-look way. You should drive around, up one street and down the other. A "for sale" sign on a building will tell you it is on the market. Often you will see property in a good neighborhood, but in neglected condition. Just jot down the number. Then ask a tenant to tell you who owns the building. If you cannot get the information from the tenants, a call to the assessor, or the tax collector will usually elicit the information. If both of those are blind alleys, you will find that there is an address at the water department where the bills are sent. These means have never failed me in finding the owner for a direct deal.

When you reach the owner, ask him if he is interested in selling. If not, leave your name and address. If yes is the answer, you now get the facts and figures and you are making a start.

Any of these methods will result in suitable rental properties for you to buy.