I am about to share with you how to sell your wholesale deals super fast by using your existing buyers list. If you have not been building your real estate investor buyers list since day one, then shame on you! You absolutely must do that from the very beginning because quality comes from quantity… the more people you have on your buyers list the better the chances are that you will find a buyer that is interested in your deal.
So, here is how to sell your wholesale deal super fast with your real estate investor buyers list:
First, personally call your top half dozen investors. This is your short list… the people that are, from what you can tell, the most serious or most active real estate investors you know. Call them so that you can personally tell them about your deal. The 80/20 rule tells us that most of your deals will go to a small number of investors. So, this is the most likely place for your deals to be sold. With a big enough list of buyers, your top half dozen should be serious investors, ready to buy great deals immediately based on what you tell them on the phone (subject to them verifying your information of course).
Second, you should blast out information about your deal to your entire list. I strongly recommend doing all three of the following: e-mail, voice blast and fax blast.
For e-mail use a service (download our Special Report free on the providers we recommend when you sign up for our mailing list). Do NOT use your regular e-mail account placing all the e-mails in the TO field. Do NOT use your regular e-mail account placing all the e-mails in the CC field. Do NOT use your regular e-mail account placing all the e-mails in the BCC field. I wrote these three sentences separately to make it clear that you should not use your regular e-mail regardless of whether you use the TO, CC or BCC field. Just don’t do it. Spend the $20 per month that a real e-mail blast service will charge to comply with applicable e-mail laws and to make sure that you get maximum delivery rates. In fact, the service we primarily recommend now is completely free if your list is less than 500 investors so there is no excuse.
For the fax blast, I use a service like MyFax.com or eFax.com, but most investors I know do not have fax numbers to blast out deals to, so this is a much smaller list.
To do a voice blast, which sends a recorded message out to a group of investors that you have a telephone number for, you can use a service like GroupCast.com. You record a message about the deal and it will deliver that message to your investor buyer list live or to their voicemail.
Using these three methods and a good-sized buyers list that you have been growing from the beginning, you can expect to get great wholesale deals sold quickly. If your deal does not sell after your blast, it may not be a good enough deal and you may need to go back to the seller to renegotiate or you may need to retail the deal to an end buyer and not an investor.
Until my next post,
James
P.S. Do not under-estimate the importance of building a list of wholesale deal buyers BEFORE or while you are finding deals. We stress this to our Real Estate Investor Bronze Members and give them great tools for doing it quickly and efficiently.
I am a huge fan of using poor methods (where you have more time than money) to build your buyers list at first, but at some point you will realize that spending a little money on marketing to build a list of serious buyers is well worth the expense. That’s when you should seriously consider using direct mail postcards to quickly and cost effectively build your buyers list.
First, I want to tell you that I and many other marketing savvy investors have built huge buyers lists with this method. It is not theory. It is a proven method to generate a list of buyers. Here’s how to do it.
You need to get a mailing list of investors. The list you want is the Absentee Owner list, which is comprised of owners that have their tax bill sent to an address other than the address of the property that they own. This usually means that they are not living in the property and are probably investors.
So, where do you get this list? Right now, I get mine from public record data via my Multiple Listing Service (MLS) subscription, since I am an inactive licensed real estate broker associate here in Colorado. However, before I had my license, I did not have access to the MLS and I got it from alternative sources. I have also used a subscription service like RealQuest. If you don’t want to commit to paying the monthly fee for RealQuest you can also use a mailing list broker. Current Real Estate Investor Bronze Members can contact me for a current recommendation on what list broker I recommend when you are ready to purchase the list.
Once you have your list, you need a service that will allow you to upload your list and the message that you want printed on your postcard. This service should then print, address, and mail your postcards for you. Trust me when I say that you DO NOT want to do this yourself. It is cheap to have companies do this for you – but very time and labor intensive to do it manually. I have personally used the US Postal Service Click 2 Mail service and have been extremely happy with them. You should strongly consider using them.
I recommend you use a small 4 by 6 post card. You might see a bump in response from using a yellow card stock, which tends to cost a little more, but you will still get a good response from just using white with black text. You don’t need to use fancy colors, photos, glossy paper or image advertising. I use a “typewriter” font message to my list of investors.
What does my message say? I’ve tried various messages over the years and many different mailings. If you have a particularly great deal (or have one you can borrow with permission), you can send out a message telling your list some very basic info about the deal and ask them to call you.
On the call, you can tell them about the deal, but be sure to tell them that you come across great deals for investors all the time, and ask them what they are looking for. Listen very, very carefully as they tell you what they want in a deal. These are the types of deals you must find to become a successful wholesaler. Once they tell you what they are looking for in a deal, then ask them if you can notify them of great deals as you, and other investors you work with, find them. With their permission, you can then add them to your buyers list.
Until my next post,
James
P.S. Real Estate Investor Bronze Members can get access to a wealth of additional training materials including access to my actual postcard for building an immensely profitable wholesale buyers list plus much, much more.
In previous articles, I discussed various ways to find buyers and build a buyers list when you are wholesaling houses to other investors. I told you why it was critical for you to start building a buyers list immediately and to keep building it every day.
In this article, I will discuss a very specific way to build a buyers list that is both easy and immensely profitable: replying to ads.
There are basically two different types of ads that you should reply to. The first one should be obvious: people advertising that they buy houses. The second one is a little more subtle: people advertising houses for rent.
While your exact approach will vary depending on your personality, here is what I would do when contacting these types of leads. There are two different approaches to use depending on whether you are responding to an ad to buy or to rent.
Before I start, I want to point out that there is a preferred order to how you contact people: face-to-face is better than telephone and telephone is better than direct mail and direct mail is better than e-mail. Now, there are exceptions to this (like when it is not practical or possible to call), but that’s a topic for another article.
If the person advertising that they are looking for properties to buy had their telephone number listed, I would call them. In the call I would tell them that I am an investor who finds great deals for other investors (that’s a wholesaler in case you missed the rewording). Ask them what types of houses they are looking for. Then carefully take down exactly the criteria they require for their deals. Listen closely because they will be telling you what type of deals you need to find to collect your wholesale fee. If they tell you that they want a 30% discount, minus the cost of any repairs, then realize that to make a profit, you will need to find a deal that is discounted enough to meet their criteria and include YOUR wholesale fee.
Then, I would ask them, “Can I send you the deals that I and other investors I work with find?” This is where, with their permission, you get them on your buyers list. If you are involved with our wholesaling program, you can add them using your buyers list link, which will both add them to your list AND gain you points redeemable for additional resources in your Wholesaler Control Panel.
Now, let’s look at the second group: people advertising houses for rent. The approach is similar, but different. I would call them and tell them that I am also an investor in that city and that I just wanted to introduce myself. I would ask them if they are looking to sell any of their rental properties (sometimes you encounter a reluctant landlord that has been stuck with a house that they can’t sell). I would also ask if they are looking to buy any additional rental properties. If they are, tell them that you also find great deals for other investors and proceed to ask them what their criteria is for buying houses. Again, listen carefully as they tell you the types of deals you need to find to get paid. Then with their permission, add them to your buyers list.
This really is how simple it is to build a buyers list by replying to ads that other investors are posting. Don’t forget to post your own ads so that other investors can find you and add you to their buyers list.
Until my next post,
James
P.S. For additional training and free consulting for taking your real estate investing and wholesaling business to the next level I strongly encourage you to sign up for our Real Estate Investor Bronze Membership which gives you access to over 100 real estate courses, systems, checklists, forms, on-going live training and free consulting.
As you probably know already, building a list of investor buyers is a critically important first step to wholesaling real estate. CraigsList is an awesome and free tool that you can use to build your buyers list. Often people see one or two of the many ways you can use CraigsList for building a buyers list, but in this article I will share with you some of my better strategies for building a huge buyers list using nothing but CraigsList.
Post Your Deals
First, you can post your deals that are for sale to get inquiries from investors, and then ask them if they want to be added to your buyers list. This approach is frequently how wholesalers go about building their list. I will add one little twist for those who do not have deals of their own that they can market… ask other investors if you can help them market their deals at no charge. Then, with their permission, you can market their deal, talk to more investors and build your list at the same time.
Inquire About Deals
Second, you can inquire about deals that other investors have posted. Don’t be afraid to ask for more information about another investor’s deal. Find out what makes it a great deal. Find out what sort of discounts investors are getting for various types of houses. Find out what cash flow is like in your market. Doing this, you will educate yourself about your local market while building your real estate investor buyers list.
Contact Owners With Property For Rent
Third, you can contact investors that have properties for rent. Many people overlook this great way of meeting new investors and building their list. What is so great about people that have property for rent? They’re investors already. You know they’ve got at least one investment property and that makes them a better quality buyer than just someone inquiring about your deal.
One nice thing about building a buyers list based on investors that actually own property – like those who have property for sale or rent – is that you know they are serious investors that have purchased at least one piece of real estate before. You will find that many of your buyers who inquire about deals may be novice or first-time investors. Keep them on your list, but given the choice between first-time investors and investors that already own property, I’d rather have experienced investors on my list.
Place Ads For Real Estate Wanted
Fourth, place ads for real estate wanted. Not only might you find a deal, but other investors might call you to add you to their buyers list and you can add them to yours.
Place Ads For Real Estate Services
Fifth, place ads for real estate services. If you are offering to buy houses or find deals for people, then consider also putting an ad in the real estate services section as a bird-dog or wholesaler and attract more buyers to your list in that way as well.
Get Creative Building Your Buyers List
Sixth, get creative. For example, I post ads in the “Free Stuff” section and give away a real estate course and list of deals. You can get creative too.
Using these six methods, you could easily build a buyers list of 300 people in a month in a modest sized city. To get 300 in a month, you’d need to hit 10 per day if you worked 30 days in a month to do it. Here’s a quick run down with estimates for number of buyers added:
- Post 1 ad per day of your own deal or another investor’s deal that you have permission to market (3 different properties posted 1 each day and repeating every third day). Adds 1 to 2 buyers per day.
- Post 1 ad every 3 days in real estate wanted. Adds 1 or 2 buyers per week.
- Post 1 ad every 3 days in real estate services. Adds 1 or 2 buyers per week.
- Post 1 ad in “Free Stuff” to give away a real estate course and property list every 3 days. Adds 1 or 2 buyers per day.
- Call 10 for rent ads per day. Adds 3 to 7 buyers per day.
- Call 10 deals for sale ads per day. Adds 2 to 3 buyers per day.
With that marketing mix, you should be able to add approximately 10 new real estate investor buyers to your list each day in order to grow a handsome sized list.
Until my next post,
James
P.S. We have extensive training materials available for those that really want to take their real estate investing and wholesaling businesses to the next level. Sign up today for Real Estate Investor Bronze Membership and download over 100 real estate courses, get access to our systems, checklists, forms and marketing materials plus get on-going live training and free consulting sessions.
One of the most important things you can do, as a real estate investor who plans to wholesale property, is to build a buyers list starting right now.
Don’t wait until you have a property under contract to start building a list of potential investors and retail buyers that will be interested in deals that you find. Building a buyers list takes time and/or costs money. Why not save some money and start building your list using low or no cost methods (what I refer to as methods for poor folks) and then spend money to build your list only when you have an actual deal that you need to sell?
Here’s how to start building a buyers list using low and no cost methods:
Post Ads on Free Classified Ad Websites
Posting a number of different ads on free classified ad websites can start the process of growing your buyers list. Plus, this method is relatively easy to do (once you learn how), costs no money on most websites, and you will see almost immediate results in most cases.
What types of ads can you run? You can run generic ads looking for investors who are trying to find deals, ads seeking partners to team up with you on deals, ads for specific deals you have, and ads giving away a free real estate course or a list of distressed properties. These are just a few examples; with a little creativity, you could come up with many more.
I go into greater detail on the mechanics of how to post ads on CraigsList, the largest classified ad website, in another article.
Reply To Ads on Classified Ad Websites and in Newspapers
The nice thing about classified ad websites is that on the popular ones, you’re not alone. There are other investors posting ads to sell their deals or rent out their properties. Why not give them a call or drop them an e-mail to introduce yourself to them. Find out if they are looking for more deals and ask them if you can add them to your list of potential buyers to notify when you have a great deal. You can also do similar things with people who have posted ads in newspapers.
Network at Your Local Real Estate Group or on On-line Forums
Find out where investors hang out. Visit your local real estate investor club or association and meet other investors. Go to on-line discussion groups where investors are chatting and make new contacts there. Find investors that are blogging about their investing and make friends with them. If you have more time than money, these methods will help you both learn about investing strategies from other investors and build your buyers list.
Direct Mail Investors
A way that I use to quickly reach thousands of investors in my local market is direct mail. I get a list of investors that have recently purchased a house (often called the Absentee Owner List because the owner of the property is not living there) and mail them a postcard about a particular deal I have or about getting together to discuss investing. While this method has cost me about 32 cents per person mailed (including postage and printing), it has been a great way to instantly expand my investor network with people that have actually bought a house as an investment (and not those merely interested in buying a house).
The above methods are just a few ways that you can start building your buyers list. I recommend you start implementing one – or better yet, all – of these methods immediately to start building your list in anticipation of having a great deal to send out.
Until my next post,
James
P.S. For complete step-by-step training on how to operate a successful real estate investing wholesaling business I encourage you to sign up for our Real Estate Investor Bronze Membership which will give you access to over 100 of our real estate courses, on-going training plus free consulting sessions to work on your real estate investing business.
I wrote a post earlier about how active duty military members automatically qualify for our financial aid program and while I was writing it I was thinking about some of the benefits that active duty military members that actually take advantage of our offer would have over other new real estate investors that are interested in wholesaling properties for quick cash.
One of the biggest benefits is that a properly motivated active duty military member could (and should) at a minimum setup their real estate investing website or websites and start growing their list of real estate investor wholesale buyers. If I were still active duty military and looking at starting to invest in real estate and specifically to wholesale property for the immediate income benefits and experience gained by doing so I would immediately start building my list of potential real estate investor buyers. This is the list of investors that you would send any properties that you find to.
WARNING: The time to start building your wholesale buyers list is NOT after you’ve found a property to wholesale.
With your real estate investing website and email list management in place, you can start actively looking for and growing your list of other real estate investors. How? Well, I discuss a variety of ways in our training material for Real Estate Investor Bronze Members and during consulting sessions, but here are four ideas:
- Start contacting folks that have properties for sale that seem like investors and ask them if they might be interested in wholesale properties that you find. If they give you permission to add them to your notification list then add them. You can find these folks on sites like CraigsList where they would be listing properties they have for rent or for sale to other investors.
- Start networking at your local real estate investor group and asking them if they would be interested.
- As you go out looking at potential investment properties you will undoubtedly come across other real estate investors. Ask them if they’d be interested as well.
- I am a huge fan or direct mail and would also recommend mailing lists of real estate investors in your area.
Realize that the more investors you have on your list of wholesale buyers the easier it will be for you to sell your deal once you do find it and get it under contract. Having a strong list of 100 real estate investors in your local market will make your life a lot easier when you are trying to profitably liquidate your wholesale deals.
Until my next post,
P.S. Two more quick side points… first, realize that building a list of real estate investors like this requires care. I recommend tapping into our existing RSS feed as a source of articles to share with your real estate investors on an automatic basis. This allows you to keep top of mind awareness with your list while providing them quality articles for real estate investors that you don’t have to write or even remember to do. You just set it up once and it is all done for you by your email list management service and us.
Secondly, if you recommend good products or services to your list of real estate investors you can make additional money for taking the time to put this list together. For example, with the Learn To Be Rich affiliate program, you can refer real estate investors to sign up for the Real Estate Investor Bronze Membership and earn a hefty on-going part of their monthly membership fee.
