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How to Start Investing In Real Estate Doing The Things Nobody Else Wants To Do

Mike LaCava
4 min read
How to Start Investing In Real Estate Doing The Things Nobody Else Wants To Do

Getting deals is challenging these days.

All that means is you have to be like Avis and Try Harder.

And if you’re new to real estate investing, real estate wholesaling is one of those ways to try harder by doing the things other people are unwilling to do.

Real estate wholesaling is ideal for beginners or people who do not have enough money to kick-start their real estate investing career. There are many ways to go about real estate wholesaling; some of which may not be conventional. Today I will focus on the unconventional ways.

What Kind Of Property Does A Real Estate Wholesaler Look For?

Have you ever come across listed property with the words “sold as is?” In most cases, those words mean exactly that; sold as is. The lender or the banker is usually in another state and has not done any repairs to the property.

In most situations, homeowners who are unable to pay their mortgage sometimes intentionally destroy the property or simply do not take care of the property. This is the kind of property that wholesalers look for.

The 3 Ways Of Finding Real Estate Deals

1. Cold Calling

People hate cold calling but cold calling when wholesaling can be your friend.

Cold calling is a technique that many would be wholesalers are afraid of trying out because they fear the unknown. The worst thing that can happen when you pick up the phone to call a property owner is that they might hang up on you.

If this happens, you can always call them back and say “we must’ve gotten disconnected”. Your persistence will show just how determined you are but remember there’s a thin line between being persistent and being annoying. Use your best judgment to avoid creating the impression that you are a prick.

You should be prepared psychologically for rejection because the more people you call, the higher the number of rejections you are likely to get.

However, you will also increase your chances of getting great deals through cold calling.

A great cold calling strategy is to call vacant home owners. You can find their contacts at the Town Hall Registry of Deeds website. Once you find their phone number, call them and ask them if they are interested in selling their home.

Most people have no idea that they have other options other than foreclosure. You can increase your chances of landing a deal by informing them of any other options.

Related: Just Get in the Chicken Suit: Our Marketing Campaign Begins!

2. Door Knocking

While this is definitely the most time-consuming process, it’s the most effective of all. Fro new wholesalers, doing it this way is a great way for you to stand out from other wholesalers – simply because most of them just don’t do this!

The reason why it is effective is because it involves making personal contact with the seller. If you do not want to meet the seller directly, you could send someone else to do the job for you. You can agree to give them a 20% cut for every deal that goes through. This is super effective as the both of you are incentivized.

When you go about your door-knocking, I always advise people to leave some kind of leave behind with the property owner. A leave behind is a small book that contains testimonials from your previous clients, a little something about your business, who you are, etc. This is a great way to show sellers you are serious and you have credibility.

Make sure it has your phone number, your email, your name and your business name. This way, when the seller is ready and willing, they can contact you back.

Sometimes, it’s better to go door knocking with a partner. A female-male combination usually increases your chances of making a connection with the seller. As mentioned before, this is a time-consuming process so you need to keep track of places you have visited to avoid revisiting the same places and wasting time.

3. Farming The Area

Farming the area starts with picking a target market. Next, drive by that neighborhood and look for run down homes.

Make sure to bring a pen and a notebook with you to note down the addresses. From there, head back to the office and do an extensive research on those property addresses.

Once you have all the information, you can follow-up with a cold call or do some door knocking. You never know; you might just find a vacant, run down property with a motivated seller.

One of the best ways to do this is to drive home from wherever you are in a slightly different route that you normally go. Don’t worry about getting lost because the GPS on your phone will get you back on track quickly.

If you are looking to leave your job and house flip or invest in real estate full-time, this is an ideal way of utilizing your daily commute to further your real estate investing aspirations is one fell swoop.

Related: Closing Deals is ALL About the Follow-Up

Conclusion

When you utilize these three techniques, you can and will find real estate deals that other wholesalers might miss out on. Wholesaling is not easy and it does take some time but the payoff is worth it.

The plain fact is that most people want to get into real estate investing never actually get started. If you set yourself apart from the other wholesalers and do the things that others either won’t or simply aren’t willing to do, your real estate career will most likely kick off to a good start.

Do you know of any other real estate wholesaling strategies that can land you great deals? I’d love to know what you think. If you’ve made it this far, please leave a comment below and let your opinion be known!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.