The Real Reason Top Investors Are Crushing It (And You're Not)

[Max Yuan]

Most real estate investors and wholesalers are fighting over the same stale leads that have been sitting on PropStream, Dealmachine, etc for months. Meanwhile, the sophisticated players have figured out the secret: being first.

Here's what separates the pros from everyone else - they don't wait for leads to show up on the big platforms. They hire virtual assistants (usually $500-1,000/month) to scrape fresh data daily from code violations, tax delinquencies, and other motivated seller sources. While you're calling someone for the 30th time, they're making the first call.

It's like having Bloomberg for real estate. Wall Street traders pay thousands for Bloomberg terminals because they get market data seconds before everyone else - and those seconds make millions. The same principle applies here: you get the same information everyone else will have, just weeks or months earlier.

Think about it: When was the last time you refreshed your filters on PropStream and saw genuinely NEW leads? Most of what you're seeing came from 4-6 months ago. In some markets, there might only be 23 new code violations in an entire month across the whole city.

The best wholesalers know this. That's why they pay VAs to get the data before it hits the mainstream platforms. 

Here's the uncomfortable truth: If you're good at this business, being the first call means you win the deal. If you're the 15th person to call, what exactly sets you apart from the other 14?

The question isn't whether you need better data - it's whether you want to keep competing with 100 other people calling from the same outdated lists, or if you want the unfair advantage of being first.

Are you paying virtual assistants to scrape your data right now? If so, I'd love to hear about your setup and what's working (or not working) for you.

[Greg Scott]

That is one way of finding off-market deals.  Your approach is probably better than what everyone else is doing.  I like just talking to people in my existing network. 

I bought an off-market 280-unit apartment with one phone call.  One of our leasing agents heard heard another apartment was up for sale because her relative worked there.  She told us.  I made one phone call.