Where to Find Motivated Seller Leads in October 2026?
Where Do Investors Find Motivated Seller Leads?
It's the question every real estate investor asks:
"Where do I go to find motivated seller leads?"
The answer usually isn't a property type or a lead source. It's a location. So we're breaking down the top 10 counties for motivated seller activity in October 2026, and the economic and housing pressures pushing homeowners to sell in each one.
This month we're also looking at both sides of the deal: supply (where sellers are) and demand (where investors are). Where those two don't line up, there's opportunity.
Cook County, IL (312 Leads)
The average home value in Cook County is $334,930, up 4.6% from last year, and around 45% of homes sell below the listing price. On paper, this is a hot market: the median sale price hit $396,338 in July, up 8.6% year over year. That's exactly why Cook County's seller activity stands out this month.
Why Motivated Sellers Are Increasing:
- The second installment of 2025 property taxes was due October 1, and 1.8 million bills went out just a month before. Any balance left after the deadline now picks up a 0.75% monthly penalty. For homeowners who couldn't pay in full, the clock is already running.
- Homeowners are carrying more of the load. Homeowners collectively are paying 5.3% more this year, an extra $593.4 million countywide. When the bill grows faster than the paycheck, keeping the house stops making sense.
- Rising values don't help a homeowner who can't afford to stay. For owners sitting on equity but short on cash, a fast cash sale lets them walk away with that equity instead of watching penalties eat into it.
Get Motivated Seller Leads in Cook County Now.
Wayne County, MI (307 Leads)
The average home value in Wayne County is $178,627, roughly flat from last year. It's one of the most affordable large markets in the country, and homes still go pending fast. Wayne drops one spot this month but remains a top-two market for motivated sellers.
Why Motivated Sellers Are Increasing:
- Wayne County's October tax-foreclosure auction is live right now. Online bidding opened October 13 and closes October 21 to 22. Properties that didn't sell in September have rolled into this round.
- Properties that hit the auction are sold "as is" with no warranties. For any owner behind on taxes, selling before the county does is the difference between walking away with cash and walking away with nothing.
- Michigan's auto sector is still under pressure from tariffs and production cuts, and that strain reaches deep into Wayne County's supplier and manufacturing workforce.
Get Motivated Seller Leads in Wayne County Now.
Maricopa County, AZ (232 Leads)
The Greater Phoenix median sale price was $450,000 in September, exactly where it was a year ago. Prices are flat, but the balance of power isn't. Close to six in ten homes are selling under asking, and more than a quarter of listings have cut their price.
Why Motivated Sellers Are Increasing:
- Supply keeps building. Months of supply hit 4.45 in September with 25,251 active listings, the second straight month in balanced territory. Last month we flagged the first crossing of the four-month line. This month confirms it wasn't a blip.
- Buyers are stepping back. Pending sales plunged 40.1% year over year in September as mortgage rates topped 7%. Fewer contracts means listings sit longer, and longer means more price cuts.
- The gap between asking and getting is widening. New listings went up at a $475,000 median while homes actually sold at $450,000. Sellers who need to move before the holidays can't afford to wait for the market to meet their price.
Get Motivated Seller Leads in Maricopa County Now.
Riverside County, CA (185 Leads)
Riverside is one of the biggest movers on this month's list. The median sold price is down 5.5% year over year to $582,600, and homes sold dropped by roughly a quarter compared to last September.
Why Motivated Sellers Are Increasing:
- Distress is stacking up. Riverside County has 1,673 homes in pre-foreclosure and ranks #2 of California's 58 counties for active pre-foreclosures. Another 362 are already scheduled for auction, and more than 45,000 properties are tax-delinquent.
- California's new property tax bills land this month, with the first installment due November 1. For owners already behind, a fresh bill on top of a falling home value is a tough combination.
- Fewer buyers, softer prices, and a long foreclosure pipeline put pressure on sellers to act before their equity shrinks further. A cash sale gives them certainty in a market that's offering very little of it.
Get Motivated Seller Leads in Riverside County Now.
Broward County, FL (184 Leads)
The median sale price in Broward County is $518,000, down 0.9% from last year, with 6.5 months of supply. Sellers are collecting about 93% of asking. Broward is really two markets: single-family homes are holding up, while condos are not.
Why Motivated Sellers Are Increasing:
- Condo inventory sits at 9.9 months of supply, a clear buyer's market, and condo transactions fell 9.3% year over year in August. Owners trying to sell a condo are competing with a lot of other owners trying to do the same.
- Florida's post-Surfside reserve and inspection laws are still forcing associations to issue special assessments and raise HOA fees. Some reach five or six figures per unit.
- Add in rising insurance premiums and property taxes, and many owners would rather take a fair cash offer than carry a unit through another assessment cycle.
Get Motivated Seller Leads in Broward County Now.
Miami-Dade County, FL (174 Leads)
The median Miami-Dade condo price slipped to $408,000, down slightly from last year. Homes now take a median of 87 days to sell. Like Broward, Miami-Dade is two markets in one, and the condo side is where the pressure sits.
Why Motivated Sellers Are Increasing:
- Miami-Dade carries 12.1 months of condo inventory, the deepest condo overhang in South Florida. Anything above nine months is a buyer's market.
- Older buildings are still working through post-Surfside milestone inspections and reserve requirements. Special assessments are landing on owners now, and buildings that can't get conventional financing are left with a buyer pool made up mostly of cash buyers.
- Florida continues to lead the nation in foreclosure rate, driven by higher mortgage payments, property taxes, and insurance premiums all rising at once.
Get Motivated Seller Leads in Miami-Dade County Now.
Orange County, FL (174 Leads)
The average home value in Orange County is $414,726, down 1.2% from last year. 22.8% of active listings have taken a price cut, sale-to-list is sitting around 97.4%, and days on market have climbed three years in a row. Orange is also the #1 county for investor activity this month, so sellers are there and so is the competition.
Why Motivated Sellers Are Increasing:
- Across the Orlando metro, nearly half of active listings have reduced their asking price, with homes averaging 123 days on market.
- Builders are competing hard with incentives that resale sellers can't match, and vacation-home areas are showing the most distress.
- Rising insurance costs and affordability pressure are pushing owners who need to sell to price for today's market, not 2022's. For those who can't wait four months for the right buyer, a cash offer closes the gap.
Get Motivated Seller Leads in Orange County Now.
Philadelphia, PA (173 Leads)
The average home value in Philadelphia is $233,681, and around half of homes sell below asking. Philadelphia holds steady on our list for a second straight month.
Why Motivated Sellers Are Increasing:
- The window to fight a higher assessment has closed. The formal appeal deadline with the Board of Revision of Taxes was October 5, and 2027 tax bills start mailing December 1. Owners who missed it are locked into whatever the city decided.
- Citywide reassessments hit some neighborhoods much harder than the median, with thousands of homeowners seeing their assessed values jump 50% or more.
- For households on a fixed income, a bigger bill arriving right after the holidays is a reason to sell now, while they still control the timeline.
Get Motivated Seller Leads in Philadelphia County Now.
Horry County, SC (151 Leads)
Horry County, home to Myrtle Beach, is a new name on our list this month. The median single-family price held flat at $397,000 in September, but the condo side of the market tells a different story: condo prices fell 8.2% and condo sales dropped 17.4%.
Why Motivated Sellers Are Increasing:
- Condo inventory is at 8.2 months, firmly a buyer's market, and the typical condo now sits 131 days before selling, up 17 days in a single month.
- Inventory is rising across Horry County as more sellers list, while mortgage rates near 7% make buyers pickier.
- Much of the Grand Strand is second homes and vacation rentals. When insurance, HOA fees, and slower rental seasons squeeze the numbers, owners who don't live there are often the first to want out, and a cash buyer is the cleanest exit.
Get Motivated Seller Leads in Horry County Now.
Pinellas County, FL (151 Leads)
The median single-family home in Pinellas sold for $464,950 in August, up 6.9% from last year. Look beneath that number, though, and sales under $400,000 fell by about a quarter. Entry-level owners are the ones feeling it.
Why Motivated Sellers Are Increasing:
- Pinellas is still rebuilding from Helene and Milton. Recovery reports put housing damage at $3.52 billion across more than 19,000 homes. The county's main homeowner rebuild program had 2,554 applications, but only 2 homes were completed as of June 30. Owners stuck waiting on repairs are prime candidates for an as-is cash sale.
- Rates jumped in September. The Fed raised its benchmark rate on September 16, and the 30-year mortgage hit 7.03% on September 24. That adds hundreds of dollars a month for buyers and shrinks the pool of financed offers.
- More deadlines are stacking up. Federal flood insurance is only extended through December 11, property tax bills mail in early November, and Florida votes on a property tax amendment November 3. Uncertainty pushes some owners to sell now rather than wait.
Get Motivated Seller Leads in Pinellas County Now.
Top 10 Counties Where Real Estate Investors Are Most Active in October 2026
Our October data highlights the top 10 counties where our investors have been most active over the last 90 days. These markets are drawing seasoned investors because of local dynamics and steady access to motivated sellers.
- Orange, FL
- Dallas, TX
- Hillsborough, FL
- Harris, TX
- Maricopa, AZ
- Los Angeles, CA
- Franklin, OH
- Riverside, CA
- Cuyahoga, OH
- Fulton, GA
Where the Demand Gap Is
Put the two lists side by side and the opportunity jumps out. Cook County and Wayne County generated the most seller leads in the country this month, yet neither ranks among the top 17 counties for investor activity. Miami-Dade, Philadelphia, Horry, and Pinellas are in the same position.
More sellers and fewer investors means less competition for every deal. If you buy in any of these markets, now is the time to claim your spot.
Orange, Maricopa, and Riverside show up on both lists. Seller volume is strong there, but so is the competition.
See Availability in Your Area.
Data sourced from MotivatedSellers.com platform data (seller leads and active investors), Zillow (home values), Redfin and local MLS reports (days on market and sale prices), county treasurer and assessor offices, and current regional market reports. All figures reflect September–October 2026 data. Verify individual figures before use in offers or presentations. - I need it similar to the previous blog format - heres the log in to the strapi - webapp@blog.motivatedsellers.com webapp@blog.motivatedsellers.com https://blog.motivatedsellers.com/admin/content-manager/collection-types/api::post.post?sort=id:DESC
