Skip to content

Posted over 13 years ago

10 Quick Ways to Find Motivated Sellers

Britanny asked a great question over on my blog GoodFaithInvesting.com.  Britanny is new to real estate investing and is starting off by being a bird dog (property scout) for another investor.  She was looking for some ideas on how to find properties.  So here are the first 10 quick ways that came to mind!

10 Quick Ways to Find Motivated Sellers

  1. Drive around neighborhoods looking for For Sale By Owner (FSBO) signs — knock on the door and talk to the owners! They have a sign on the front lawn and essentially are inviting you to contact them so don’t be scared!
  2. Drive around neighborhoods looking for vacant houses or even homes that may be obviously occupied but look like a hot mess!  Write down the addresses, make notes on the properties, and then head on over to your computer and look up the owners in the public records and contact them.  I’ve heard of people even leaving post-it notes right there on the door encouraging the owner to contact them.
  3. Make 1000 business cards and tell everyone you can about what you’re doing so you can get leads.  I’ve also seen people leave business cards in all kinds of interesting places and I’m sure you have too!
  4. Leave flyers at unemployment offices….a lot of people there could be having trouble with their homes and may need a solution (a great ninja marketing tip from Greg Harris, the wholesale knockout king)
  5. Check the newspaper or your local “flyer” or PennySaver paper — yes, its an old school method but there could be old school sellers who use it when they need to sell. Doesn’t hurt to look since so many others are looking on Craigslist only!
  6. Speaking of Craiglist…use it. It’s free!  I’m personally yet to find a deal on Craigslist but I know plenty of people who have and I’m not giving up on it! Check out the Houses for Sale (by Owner) section as well as the Houses for Rent.
  7. Call the numbers on those For Rent signs around your city…talk to the landlords…they actually may consider selling.
  8. Referrals, referrals, referrals! Don’t forget referrals! (read my BiggerPockets article “Referrals: An Often Overlooked Way to Get Motivated Seller Leads” for more on this one)
  9. Buy leads from Listsource.com, USLeadsList.com, MelissaData.com or other sources and mail postcards or letters to them — there are a number of different motivated seller lead types that you can focus on!
  10. Be a walking billboard….have a nice polo shirt that says what you do! Or if its more your speed you can try a not-so-professional shirt and have an obnoxious attention grabbing t-shirt.  Different strokes for different folks!
Check out the actual post on my blog for some additional great ideas from those who commented.  Feel free to add some of your own too! 

Comments (4)

  1. Some great ideas thanks for sharing.


  2. Great ideas, Greg! I haven't done the shirts myself yet, but I'm not opposed to it ;-) Johnny P, no problem bud!


  3. Great info! Thanks for putting this together.


  4. I like your ideas Shae. The t shirt idea would be real cool, my teenager would do it. You might add to get a simple website with URL address that you own. Then get some deals made with your catchy URL and put them on your car. You can put them at the top of your windshield and back window if you don't want them on your door.