Where Are the Good Leads?

Question

Our local MLS has gotten tight in the last several months and it is increasingly difficult to find properties to flip that fit within our formula. We are trying to think outside the box with postcards, yellow letters and randomly driving around looking for vacant run-down properties but that is time consuming and not terribly productive to date.

I would be interested in knowing where we can buy the best, most qualified leads.  Thanks in advance for sharing where you find leads and I am open to other suggestions as to how to make some quick purchases.

Appreciate your willingness to share your time and expertise.

May Emery · Answer

@Lisa Sumstine Mail is a good way to find off market leads, however the list is critical. You don't want to be sending to the same people everyone else is mailing to. It can be hard to stand out when someone gets multiple offers.

Consider mailing to people who aren’t on every other investor’s radar. Absentee Owners have been popular for a long time, and are apparently still somewhat effective (people are still mailing to them) but they are getting multiple offers to buy their home. It's hard to stand out.

There are some new owner-occupied segments with people who share motivating factors for selling their home.

Seniors with Long-time Ownership: often ready to downsize or transition to assistance.

Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS): Struggling financially and likely ready to cash in on their asset.

Both these categories have additional advantages in that they probably don’t haven’t been updated and may have deferred maintenance. They won’t be expecting the same money as their neighbors with the shiny new kitchen and fresh paint.

Will Barnard · Answer

The truth is, good leads require a solid time or financial investment, there is no easy street to them. Sites like listsource will sell off the same leads to many people creating similar competitiveness.

Doing what you are doing is a great way to locate off market leads, keep plugging away, it does not happen over night and as you get better at it, so will your results. You can also talk with every solid realtor in your market and  give them your criteria and ask them to send you any off market listings they get or listings they know are coming soon. Perhaps you can get in the door before everyone else. Offer for them to double end it which can be appetizing to some agents.

Ehsan Rishat · Answer

@Lisa Sumstine I stopped spending time on MLS since it's becoming very competitive day by day and it's not a good use of time to look for properties where hundreds of other investors are looking. If you want to stand out, then I suggest looking for off-market properties. Purchase a list from online sites like listsource and start sending direct mail if you want to get a deal quick.

Greg Dickerson · Answer

Depending on your budget you can do online marketing using PPC, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram etc

Some people are also doing well with tv ads and billboards.