Marketing on Craigslist
Hi all. I am beginning my investing career focusing on wholesaling. I already have a system of marketing in place where I utilize a voicemail system which tells a little about myself and what I do; it is in coherence with a bunch of post its that have information about what I do with the voicemail's number on it.
I want to start using Craigslist in addition to my post-it marketing also.
Some basic questions: What particular section do you advertise (ex: Just under the general "Housing Section.")
I know there are guidelines to follow, however, would a simple "Looking for buyers to purchase property @ 50-70% of ARV" work well?
Also, feel free to add in anything else which you may deem important for someone like myself to keep in mind as I begin marketing on Craigslist.
Happy Investing.
- Cody
I post on craigslist for buyers. I have received a few buyers contact from it but not a lot. But one day one of those buyers may buy my next big wholesale deal, so every new buyer contact I have is great!!
I'll show you exactly what I put on mine:
We are searching for buyers for great discounted house deals typically 40-65% off the ARV. These deals are great for the real estate investors who need a new project to rehab or landlords that need their next property to rent out. We do deals all over the Houston area.
Please feel free to email me or call me with your criteria and to add you to our investor list. We get new deals on a daily basis and need new investors to assign them to. We usually assign contracts and are looking for cash buyers or hard money. Conventional financing may be ok on some cases.
Call us at xxx.xxx.xxxx or join our investors list HERE (http://www.YOURWEBSITE.com)
But instead of having my website typed out like that it is actually linked from there
Thank you for your post Jason, I appreciate it.
I like your method. As of right now, I am focusing on building my buyers list and hopefully Craigslist will be a great asset for me to do that.
This may be a bit nit picky, but which section of Craigslist are you posting this?
Are you posting your ad to find buyers under the general "Housing," or "Real Estate for Sale," or "Housing Wanted?"
Craigslist may be good for certain things, but I have found a lot of scams on their site. Years ago it was a great place to advertise anything, mostly cars, trucks, etc... but be careful on Real Estate, you can spend alot of time answering questions to people who are just out to get your information or have nothing else to do but waste your tme... Happy Investing - There are sites out there that can help you, some for free too!
I agree with you on that point Sean. Craigslist certainly isn't the entity it used to be when it first was getting started. You said there are many good sites (to help build my buyer's list), would you be so kind as to inform me of these sites? :)
No problem.
I usually put the ad in real estate for sale, though I will put it in Housing wanted every once in a while for good measure.
Infact, I just had someone call me from my backpage.com ad just today looking for rental houses to buy.
Add him to my buyers list!!
I'm a big fan of craigslist and agree there is a fair amount of garbage/scams running about there but if you sift through you do get a good bang for your advertising dollar.
I've used backpage as well but never got the response.
That's really going to put a dent on Craigslist reputation for I don't see how something like this will 'police' itself on its own.
Here is my ad for craigslist. I get an enoumouse response from this ad. Not only that but it shows up on the 1st page of Google for my local area.
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Notice how you can click on the ad and it leads back to my site to collect the real estaet lead.
I think Craigslist is a huge asset because it is free and your posts are not only on Craigslist, but they also end up indexed in the search engines in a matter of hours. Sometimes you can actually get in the first page of google that day (you have to have a title with keywords that are not too competitive in order to get in the first page of google). You can advertise in the "real estate" section and also the "small biz" section. Both are free. You can post in both in one day, you just have to make the two ads a little different from one another.
Craigslist can be an extremely valuable resource. There are some agents in New York City who rely almost exclusively on Craiglist to market rental properties. The response received is usually depended upon the price of the rental. It seems to work best with the lower priced rentals, as the NY Times appears to appeal more to the higher end customer.
I love craigslist, I find most of my investors on there who are looking for birddogs, and I find motivated sellers and buyers. I work with investors who'll pay me if someone I refer to them sells, and work with some who pay me if I refer to someone who buys, so I go on craigslist to find these buyers and sellers. If you know where to look you can find endless amounts.
use the real estate services section of craigslist
Thats the truth. Its worse in some areas than others, as well. I know people that make a killing from craigslist ads, and others who have trouble getting any calls at all, because of the constant flow of ads.
Im to the point that I dont take many emails from craigslist. I make them call me. The agents/investors around here are slick, and pretend to be everything from wounded soldiers back from iraq, to homeless single mothers. Anything to find out my angle. I've had decent response on the sell side, though.
If you are running "we buy houses" type ads in the homes for sale section, your competition may flag you, depending on your area. They flag me all the time, though many times Im able to sneak it in. If that happens, just post in the real estate services section.
experthomeoffer,
Thanks for posting your ad. However, when I went to it today, 4/11/08, it had expired. Any chance you would be willing to post it again, so we can see it? thanks, Mike
Hi Mike,
As you know Craigs List only keeps ads running for a certain amount of time, that is why the link no longer showed.
Here is a link to another ad, http://boise.craigslist.org/rts/639624422.html
Notice how you can click on the link.
Please let me know if you have any quetions.
You have a good idea but look at what you set yourself up to fall victum to.You are wide open for agents and investors to flood you web-site and phone.Craigslist is good if you want to post a specific deal but to just put an open ended statement out there is a garunteed nightmare.You will be spending more of your time swatting away flys than working on deals.Why dont you try establishing your deals using signage and simple fllyers in your own town because there is a "Big market" right there in your city and all you have to do is tap into it.You are "Shot gunning" instead of using a more focused approach.How can you be successful nationwide if you have not made a name for yourself at home first.
GET THAT MONEY MAN!
Ramaon,
Thank you for you input but I have to say you are wrong. I have been using this technique to generate leads in my local area for a couple years now.
The ads are targeted, show up in the 1st page of Google for my local area, and when someone clicks on the link it takes them to a page that is specific for that area with key words included.
The system is all automated so I just receive the leads through e-mail. I also do not get many realtors submitting info unless they are looking for an offer on short sales or someone who needs to buy with cash because the property condition.
I do get some investors wholesale deals but the majority are people who need to sell their house quickly for one reason or another.
Hope this helps.
Nice add great concept. Do you mind if I duplicate it here in my area?
You may use the concept but not the same ad.
Please note that you are only seeing ½ of the ad system. There are tasks that need to be incorporated in order to get the ad to the top of Google for your local area and generate leads. I also post this add to multiple websites other than Craigs list and I will tell you Craigs list is not the best one. Also the site that the ad goes to needs to be set up to receive leads, and needs to be targeted for the local area of the ad.
If you are interested in using this exact ad and the rest of the system follow my profile to my investor page.
This is also only 1 ad, I use similar free marketing techniques to generate leads and have 9/10 organic listings on the 1st page of Google for my local area.
Hope this helps.
I love craigslist, there's so much you can get out of it!
Cool....I'll check it out.
I'll have to give this ad mentioned a try. Here is a copy of the ad I have used which has worked well for me and you all are happy to use.
Heading- $20000 / 3br - Investors wanted for 30K, 40K, & 50K houses
Body- Dear investors,
I have a number of properties in RI and the surrounding areas for investors. All of these houses are between $20,000 and $60,000, some need work and some do not. Houses are 1, 2, and 3 family houses. All houses are easy shows any day of the week. Contact An Urban Property for more details and which properties are currently available. Properties sell fast and can be closed in as little as 12 days. Contact Andrew Urban at xxx-xxx-xxxx or at [email protected].
I post this ad in the "for sale Real Estate- by owner" section.
Let me know what you think?
eBay is a great site for buyers and sellers. Buyers find the best deals through eBay and sellers use it to make quick sales on their items. One of the most important things to have in mind is a way to make your item stand out from the crowd. For the buyer, the first thing they see is the product presentation. If the presentation does not look attractive to the buyer, they will have less interest on your item and spend less time reading the listing.... therefore, less chance of selling your item. [SOLICITATION REMOVED]
Ditto here on the warnings regarding Craigslist. It is a good place to advertise because of the volume of participants, and the price is right. I have noticed anytime I use words like investor or investment I get flooded with scams and income "opportunities". If the response looks suspicious I never respond, as I have had friends innundated from similiar links.