BiggerPockets

28 ways to build a buyers list

1. Craigslist.com - You look in 3 different places on Craigslist. First you check Housing, "real estate for sale" in your city and look for the We buy Houses, Sell home in 5 days, and Stop foreclosure ads. While there, check out anyone who is offering creative financing or lease options as they are likely to be investors (Or one of the ten smart agents ) Second, you check the Real Estate Services and look for same ads as already mentioned. Third, and this is one of the best where you don't get all the people from your REIA club, you call the Housing apts/housing and look for homes for rent and ask them if they are interested in acquiring property at a huge discount.
2. check the archives for your city name where people are talking about deals in your city or looking for partners. Next, click on their name and it will give you their email address. Many on [REMOVED] use false email addresses since it gets scraped a lot. If this happens, just google their name and city in google to try and get their phone number or email address.
3. The search engines, Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com - Type in sell (your city) home fast and also We buy Houses in (your city). The first two ads (usually highlighted in a light color) and the entire list on the right are paying to be there. Some are national services that generate leads. Navigate the sites (don't click on these as it just costs them money, retype their url ) to see if they give you the local affiliate or if not then fill out the form and see who contacts you. All the other ads are local people who have taken the time to build a website and get ranked. Usually, these are serious buyers
4. Facebook - Type in real estate investor in the search box. It will bring you anyone in your area first who has this as their job. Obviously, you need to have an account and get a few friends that are real estate investors in your city. Then check on their friends information to see if they are also investors. Eventually people will try to friend you that are real estate investors. You can figure this out because the system tells you how many mutual friends you have with their name and picture. When you request someone to be a friend or they request you, send along a message asking them to get on your list.
5. Twitter - very similar to Facebook except you can build your own background. Make sure if you do this, you put a place where you capture email addresses. Again follow some prominent national and local real estate investors and see who is following them and check them out to see if they live in your area. Try to build a list of followers and follow a number of people. It is like friends on facebook. If you tweet interesting information, people will appreciate it and retweet your content and this will bring you more followers who you can try and convert to your list.
6. BiggerPockets.com - they have local groups. People have their website addresses in their signatures many times and also their city. Again search the site for your city name. See who is talking about things. You can also post things here looking for partners or money. Also, go to the Networking button, and half way down, there is a drop down box for searching for investors in your state. Most pictures that show up also have their city included.
7. Local REIA websites - For instance Manareia.com for Bradenton and SuncoastReia.com for the Tampa Bay area. You might also google (your city) real estate association, club, investors meeting. Once on the site many have their board of directors and how to contact them. Many also have newsletters where wholesalers and mentors advertise. Some might even have a member section.

For the rest of the list go to:
[LINK REMOVED, please place in signature]

Im just starting out with Wholesale investing. But a veteran also told me that, FOR HIM...the most effective way he built a buyer's list was to actually have a property. He explained that he would lock a property up without having any buyers. But when he would lock up a property and would list it for sale, he would take the name, number and preferences of every single person that called and add them to his buyers list.

Great post about how to build a buyers list Todd. I know as a new investor that is one of the biggest obstacles to overcome.I really enjoy the post made by so many successful investors, it definitely gets me motivated that I can do this too. This site has so much information it is almost overwhelming.

Thanks for the list Todd but your tile for your post says twenty eight, and you only posted seven of them?
Thomas

I guess the removed the link to the rest of the list. Here it is.

8. Homevestors.com - Click on Buy a House, click on the picture of your state, click on your city that comes up, then go up top and click on Contact Us. This will show all the Homevestors franchisees in your area with their name and phone number.
9. Activerain.com - this web site is a blogging service that primarily services realtors. However, just go to the search box and type "We buy Houses" your city and you will probably find a major player in your area.
10. Your hometown newspaper classified section - Look in the real estate wanted, real estate services and homes for sale sections. Again one of the absolute best ways is to call the For Rent ads trying to find landlords that want a discounted home.
11. Wear your ibuyhomes.com shirt or hat - This is my best method of all for getting people on my list that are not regulars at any seminar or reia club. I almost always wear something that has my ibuyhomes.com logo on it. If you don't have a great website name that tells you buy homes, just get some shirts embroidered with We Buy Homes for Cash on them. The shirts and cleaning are tax deductible.
12. Get on every wholesalers list - Especially the new ones that call and say they are wholesalers. Many times when they are just starting, they do not have an email contact system (like constantcontact.com that I use or icontact.com another good one ) and they put everyone in the email list instead of blind copying. I have got a lot of great names this way.
13. Seminar attendees - this is especially true if you live in a city like Orlando where every know speaker comes and gives presentations. I sometimes just go to lunch or after dinner and talk to people and hand out cards. I also go to pitch sessions, designed to get people to go to a more advanced boot camp. These are the ones advertising on tv, radio and the newspaper. They are looking for opportunity seekers. These newbies are great for your list as sometimes they pay more.
14. Your local REIA or club - go to this meeting and ask for cards of other people. Get to be known for something. Internet, sinkholes, probate, wholesaling, or whatever and offer advice to others. I try and stand out by wearing bright color clothes with my ibuyhomes.com logo. I also try and go to as many seminars, meetings and functions as possible. Usually there is a meeting after the meeting. Find out where this is and buy a regular a beer. When you become more advanced, try and be a speaker or have a seminar of your own. This is a phenomenal way to build a list.
15. Bandit signs - these are the 18" x 24" plastic signs you see on the side of the road. I keep a camera in my car and snap a picture of all signs that say "I Buy Homes" or Stop Foreclosure or whatever. You can also put out your own signs. Just write "Handyman Specials Cheap" with your phone number. Your phone will ring for sure. You can also get them printed at a local screen printing sign shop. Be sure to ask for references of the sign shops best We buy Houses customers.
16. Section 8 landlords - these landlords have been approved to have their homes be in the HUD low income housing providers. It is public record. You may have to make a public records request. You now have to go to a landlords meeting to get approved. Just go to that meeting and ask for cards and hand out cards.
17. Deeds - you can check the local registrar of deeds each week. Here in Florida, all deeds are recorded at the Clerk of the Courts office, except in Orange County where they are recorded at the Comptrollers office. You want to look at all the deeds each day or week and look for where the address of the buyer is different than that of the property. Write them a letter or call them.
18. Realtors - get an internet savvy realtor to get you a list of all properties that sold in the last month for CASH. If your area does not record properties fast at the Property Appraisers office then get the sales from two months ago. Search on the address and find the new owner. Also, you can contact these realtors and ask if they deal often with investors, if so, ask if they want to be on your preferred buyers list for realtors.
19. Foreclosure and Tax Deed sales at the Courthouse - these buyers are required to pay cash the same day as they bid on the property. They are serious buyers. This crowd is not usually nice to new faces, so just give out your card and ask if they have one as well. Go early or stay late, they will be totally concentrating during the actual auctions
20. Weekly classified papers - these are where the cheap investors advertise their properties for sale, rent and also place we buy houses ads. This is absolutely one of the best methods.
21. Hard money lenders - these guys know all the players. If you have a property, call them and ask if they have any buyers right now. They sometimes will send your deal out to their list. If someone contacts you, add them to your list. Most hard money lenders will also buy property from time to time. Get them all on your list.
22. Attend auctions - get on all the auctioneers mailing lists. Most of them advertise in the business section of the paper or on tv. When they have an auction, attend and give your card to anyone who bids on multiple properties. Those are the investors, not homeowners looking to get a good deal.
23. Get to know the self-directed ira companies - For instance, in Orlando Entrust has mingles put on for their clients. You can attend and get to know the investors.
24. Get to know the eviction attorneys in your town - Their clients might be interested in buying properties.
25. Stop in houses being rehabbed - Many times you can find the owners. If not, you can meet trades people who may give you the investors name or other investors they work for.
26. Title companies - This is where I found my last out of town buyer. I interviewed a couple of local title companies in the city where I had a deal. Investors usually don't like to use the large national plants as they are not as flexible. I asked if she would send my deal out to a few of her best investors. She said yes and also told me about a local real estate club that was not in the search engines yet.
27. Free Report - Create some great content and give it away like this report, make people give you their email address, phone and name to get the report. As of this time, I have 4 new people on my list since I announced this at the CFRI meeting.
28. Web site - Add a box to your website to collect wholesale buyers. I get about 2 a week that see my web site and opt in. This is easy with ConstantContact.com. You can see an example of this sign up box on www.ibuyhomes.com and scroll down a little ways, the title is "Join our Wholesale Buyer list" with an email form and go.

In general, I believe in having two different cards. One I use for REIA meeting and give out to investors. I have a separate card for homeowners. In both cases, make your card stand out from the crowd. Use a different color, nice graphic or cool font. I also separate my buying website and selling web site.


If you know of any ways I have left off, please contact me at Todd Hutcheson. There are more advanced ways if you are internet savvy, but I have tried to make this easy for the average real estate investor. You are free to publish this report on your blog, or use as a Free Report if you give me credit with my name and an active link to my website, [LINK REMOVED]

Awesome information Todd! You hit the nail on the head with these strategies.

Thank you Todd,for adding the rest of the your list.
Thomas

Great list! Do you know if anyone so far has put it together as a free report?

Absolutely!