This text is introduced by PropStream.
After I first began actual property investing, I assumed securing cash for a deal can be the toughest factor. (I imply, it nonetheless isn’t straightforward.) I shortly discovered that cash isn’t the issue if you discover a slam-dunk deal. Now, discovering that deal is definitely probably the most difficult a part of the enterprise.
For many years, discovering offers meant driving for dollars, poring over courthouse filings, or spending countless hours cold-calling homeowners who might or might not be enthusiastic about promoting. In 2026, traders who thrive are those that mix hustle with progressive expertise.
This is the place PropStream adjustments the sport. What as soon as took weeks of handbook analysis can now be achieved in minutes.
Traders can stack filters to construct extremely focused lead lists, then run instantaneous comps to verify potential revenue margins. From there, skip tracing supplies direct contact info, and automatic mailers or digital campaigns will be triggered proper contained in the system. PropStream consolidates your entire lead technology course of right into a single, seamless workflow.
Your essential query is: How do you uncover properties that really suit your funding model?
The reply lies in going after the segments of the market the place motivation is already in-built. Listed below are 20 distinct lead varieties value concentrating on proper now, every paired with sensible steerage on leverage them in your funding technique.
1. Auctions
Foreclosures filings and scheduled gross sales flag public sale properties for traders.
Finest use
Determine properties approaching public sale, assessment official filings, and run comps to set your bidding technique earlier than attending a sale.
2. Financial institution Owned (REO)
If a property fails to promote at public sale, it usually reverts to financial institution possession.
Finest use
Pull REO properties immediately, confirm financial institution or lender possession, and join with asset managers to barter bulk or discounted purchases.
3. Chapter
Lively chapter filings usually level to distressed homeowners.
Finest use
Goal Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcies, and cross-reference with fairness ranges to seek out homeowners most definitely to promote beneath stress.
4. Money Consumers
These are severe consumers, best for wholesalers.
Finest use
Construct a listing of latest money transactions, segmented by location, and add these consumers to your most popular contact checklist for fast flips.
5. Divorce
Divorces usually require the sale of marital property.
Finest use
Generate lists of divorce-related properties, and attain out with gives designed to offer certainty and pace throughout a sophisticated course of.
6. Failed Listings
Expired MLS listings are a transparent sign of motivation.
Finest use
Method sellers whose houses have didn’t promote on the MLS with various options, comparable to all-cash gives or quicker closing timelines.
7. Flippers
Traders who purchase and relist properties inside two years are thought of energetic flippers.
Finest use
Observe native flippers to determine developments, pull comps, and discover potential partnerships or wholesale alternatives.
8. Free and Clear Properties
These properties carry no mortgage debt.
Finest use
Give attention to free-and-clear homeowners who can promote with out lender involvement, making negotiations extra simple and closings quicker.
9. Excessive Fairness
Equity-rich properties give sellers flexibility.
Finest use
Goal high-equity homeowners who might settle for below-market gives or artistic financing choices, as they’ll nonetheless stroll away with a revenue.
10. Liens
Tax and mechanic liens create monetary stress.
Finest use
Prioritize homeowners with a number of liens, and supply to alleviate them of the burden with fast money gross sales.
11. On Market
Lively or contingent MLS listings nonetheless supply alternatives.
Finest use
Monitor listings with prolonged market occasions or worth reductions and construction artistic gives, comparable to subject-to financing.
12. Pre-Foreclosures
These are properties in default, however not but up for public sale.
Finest use
Contact homeowners as quickly as default notices seem, offering them with choices earlier than they lose the property to foreclosures.
13. Pre-Probate
Possession adjustments as a consequence of dying can create distinctive alternatives.
Finest use
Attain heirs early with data-backed gives, emphasizing pace, simplicity, and aid from the effort of probate.
14. Senior House owners
House owners with a long time of possession usually look to downsize.
Finest use
Method senior homeowners respectfully with options that assist them money out or transition into smaller dwelling preparations.
15. Tax Delinquency
Unpaid taxes are a transparent motivator.
Finest use
Give attention to properties with a number of years of unpaid taxes, and current gives earlier than the county initiates lien gross sales or auctions.
16. Drained Landlords
Longtime rental property homeowners are sometimes burned out.
Finest use
Spotlight hassle-free exits and 1031 exchange alternatives for landlords prepared to maneuver on from tenant administration.
17. Upside-Down Properties
When debt exceeds worth, homeowners are left with a troublesome determination.
Finest use
Pursue quick sale methods or artistic financing preparations to assist homeowners underwater on their mortgage.
18. Vacant Properties
Vacant houses deteriorate shortly and put stress on homeowners.
Finest use
Skip-trace absentee homeowners and supply fast buy options earlier than the property turns into too expensive to take care of.
19. Vacant Land
Undeveloped parcels can grow to be new offers.
Finest use
Analyze zoning, lot dimension, and placement to determine parcels with growth or land- banking potential.
20. Zombie Properties
Vacant + pre-foreclosure = zombie property.
Finest use
Pursue these distinctive alternatives earlier than they’re repossessed and added to bank-owned inventories.
Closing Ideas
Each actual property investor wrestles with the identical basic problem of producing a gentle stream of offers. With out constant deal move, there isn’t any pipeline to nurture, gives to make, or closings to have fun. Traders who can systematically determine motivated sellers and transfer decisively will at all times keep forward of the competitors.
Information platforms like PropStream remove outdated guesswork by turning thousands and thousands of scattered property data into actionable insights. Meaning extra clever concentrating on, quicker evaluations, and extra worthwhile choices—all in much less time.
The perfect use of your power will not be chasing random leads or ready for referrals. It focuses on the appropriate properties in the appropriate markets, at exactly the appropriate time. Grasp that self-discipline, and the deal move stops being your greatest problem and turns into your most vital benefit.
