Here are the inside secrets from a pro real estate investor, Bill Cook, in finding motivated sellers.  You can view his site by going to: http://www.bartowrealestate.com

The "secret" to finding motivated sellers is this: There ain't no secret – it just takes a lot of hard work!

Think of it this way: What is the secret to finding gold? There's no secret to that either. You get a pan, go to a riverbed and start panning for gold. When you first start panning, it's kind of fun. 
But six or seven hours later, when you're hot, wet, your back hurts, and you'd rather be anywhere else than bent over in a streambed, trying to find gold is no fun at all!

I know, I know – what about all those guys on TV who tell you how easy real estate investing is? What about all the millions they claim you can make in a snap? Think about it for a second. Exactly what business are those "gurus" in? Is it real estate investing – or are they selling real estate investing courses?

Back in the California gold rush days, who made the big, easy money – The miners out panning for gold or the scallywags who sold worthless claims to those poor suckers?

Don't get me wrong. There are GREAT real estate investing teachers out there – Pete Fortunato, Dyches Boddiford, John Schaub and John Adams, to name but a few. At the same time, for every great teacher, there must be about 100 scallywags who wouldn't know a real estate investing deal if it bit them on the bottom!

Here's how to find motivated sellers:

First, make sure everyone around knows that you buy houses.

Second, print some cheap business cards that say what you do and continually pass them out around town.

Third, get a cheap set of magnetic signs that say what you do and put them on both sides of your car.

Fourth – and this is the technique that scares most folks to death – stop at every house you see with a "For Sale" sign in the yard, pull in, knock on the door and ask Pete Fortunato's famous question: "Why are you selling a nice place like this?"

You probably think most homeowners will get angry, hurl insults at you and finish off by slamming the door in your face! This couldn't be further from the truth. Most sellers LOVE having someone – anyone – show an interest in buying their house. 

Fact is, I've been knocking on sellers' doors for more than 15 years. In all that time, I can't remember anyone slamming a door in my face!

Fifth, call the folks who have a "For Rent" or "For Sale" ad in your local paper.

Sixth, link up with a top-notch realtor who understands how to work with real estate investors. Realtors, because of their FMLS system, are able to help you find motivated sellers.

Hope these six hints help to make you a better, more successful real estate investor.

"Bill and Kim Cook live in Adairsville, Georgia and have been successfully investing in real estate since 1995. Since 2003, they've written a weekly real estate investing newspaper column."