best marketing for a limited budget

Marketing Your Property
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best marketing for a limited budget

Dan Miller
Washington, Washington D.C. · Member since 2008 · 91 posts · 2 votes

I'm a new investor and trying to figure out how to get the best bang for my limited buck. Let's say I have $500 a month that I can spend on marketing until I get my first deal completed. What is the best way to market (I'm looking to either wholesale ugly properties or lease option pretty ones).

My original thinking was:

a) get an answering service and a zero option for a live operator to capture leads (probably $75 per month on average)

b) bandit signs (buy 200) "we buy houses" at a cost of about $350 or so (one time expense). don't know if stakes are included or not (metal or wood?)

c) some limited and very targeted direct mail (no idea on costs to acquire a target list, such as out-of-state owners or expired listings, etc.).

d) hand out flyers/business cards that say "we buy houses" etc.

If you had $500 per month to spend, I think my original thinking would be over budget, not including the one-time expenses of bandit signs, but not sure. Where would I get the best bang for my buck?

Thanks!

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  • Jason Cummins
    Real Estate Investor · Katy, TX · Member since 2008 · 430 posts · 22 votes
    18y

    Pretty sure you are hitting the nail on the head. And let me tell you that $500/month is not that bad a marketing budget at all. I work with wholesalers in Houston who are paying way less than that a month.

    But I believe you are on the right track. Do exactly what you just said.

    0Reply
  • Brendan D.
    Wholesaler · Largo, MD · Member since 2008 · 98 posts · 11 votes
    18y
    Originally posted by "mills014":
    I'm a new investor and trying to figure out how to get the best bang for my limited buck. Let's say I have $500 a month that I can spend on marketing until I get my first deal completed. What is the best way to market (I'm looking to either wholesale ugly properties or lease option pretty ones).

    My original thinking was:

    a) get an answering service and a zero option for a live operator to capture leads (probably $75 per month on average)

    b) bandit signs (buy 200) "we buy houses" at a cost of about $350 or so (one time expense). don't know if stakes are included or not (metal or wood?)

    c) some limited and very targeted direct mail (no idea on costs to acquire a target list, such as out-of-state owners or expired listings, etc.).

    d) hand out flyers/business cards that say "we buy houses" etc.

    If you had $500 per month to spend, I think my original thinking would be over budget, not including the one-time expenses of bandit signs, but not sure. Where would I get the best bang for my buck?

    Thanks!

    Congrats! i'd say you're off to a good start. what you may want to do is find lower cost vendors.
    for example. my answering service is $49/mo.
    I get bandit signs 100 @ $130
    I can mail 500 postcards for $150 ( i compile the list myself so that's free)
    so far that's less than $300. To break things down further when you order the 100 signs, post 50 per week. or 25 per week, that way you will always have signs up. flyers are cheap.

    0Reply
  • John Schroeder
    Real Estate Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 14 posts · 3 votes
    18y

    A good way to get a mailing list for out of state owners, or absentee owners is to go to the country tax appraisors office and get the list from them. Ask them for a list of all the properties in your specified zipcodes that the tax bill is mailed to a different address then the property address.

    In most counties they will want to give you them on labels, but some are advanced and will give you a spreadsheet, or at the least a printed wideline report.

    They typically have this service avail for public notices, so if you ask the wrong person and they say "We dont have it"... keep asking. What i mean by public notice is... if you want to get a variance, or permit to build, etc... you have to mail all the local residents and notify them... and the county will provide that list (at a cost) so you can mail them.

    My county and contiguous counties in FL give you the entire tax roll data on a CD for $25. I know... crazy. But I have to filter it myself with another program, and its a nightmare if you arent a computer wiz, so its best to just ask for them to get you the list.

    Anyway, Im rambling here... I think you will have best luck by using direct mail and sending to the absentee owners list, but target properties in areas that you know you can buy/sell in... and send a minimum of 3 letters to the list. Take one months budget and just do that and see what happens. You might find that its all you need.

    And, until you get the hang of it, I would send the calls to your cell phone if you can. Get used to talking with them, and make all your mistakes fast (and you will make them)... then use the live operator when you get your system in place (save the money for now).

    Hope it helps... good luck!

    0Reply
  • Jason Hanson
    Real Estate Coach · Oakton, VA · Member since 2008 · 695 posts · 43 votes
    18y

    The best ways to get started on a limited budget are door knocking and direct mail.

    No one likes to talk about door knocking since everyone is "afraid" of it, but it's the cheapest and easiest way to get a deal. Also, most successful investors started out door knocking (they became successful because they did the things other people wouldn't.)

    Also, send out letters every month. Make sure your letters are highly targeted (my niche is landlords) and send out your letters every 60 days to the same list for a total of 7 times.

    Welcome to the business and good luck.

    Jason R. Hanson

    0Reply
  • Elizabeth Robbins
    Member since 2008 · 8 posts · 0 votes
    18y

    I have a wonderful suggestion for how you can effectively market yourself, I'd be glad to tell you about it in pm soon!

    0Reply
  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    18y
    Originally posted by "erobbins":
    I have a wonderful suggestion for how you can effectively market yourself, I'd be glad to tell you about it in pm soon!

    Elizabeth, can you please share your suggestions with all of us instead of soliciting PMs from the members? That way everyone benefits!

    Thanks

    Podcast Guest on Show #100
    0Reply
  • Rich Urban
    Real Estate Coach · Jensen Beach, FL · Member since 2008 · 45 posts · 5 votes
    18y

    Since you're on a tight budget...

    1. I'd say to go buy yourself 100 of the large blank signs from
    supercheapsigns dot com & go to Home Depot to grab a bundle of wood stakes. Take the blank signs and cut them in half & then write your message on their with a big magic marker. I've had more results with the hand written one's lately. I'm thinking it's because EVERYONE in my area uses the preprinted bandit signs...it stands out

    2. Primo_Coach has the right idea...when I started out, I had less money than you have to work with, and door knocking is what allowed me to jump into this thing. Go to the court house and look up the current foreclosures. You want "Final Judgments" that have 45 days or less. You can work the Lis Pendens, but these people aren't as motivated as the the one's that have been served a final judgment. Obviously, you want one's that have a good chunk of equity so don't mess with any houses that were refinanced or purchased in the last few years.

    3. Definitely make up business cards, this can be done very cheap online, just Google it. I think overnightprints dot com does pretty good stuff

    4. I would spend the rest of your money on mailings. I've had best results with "Absentee Owners". Visit your property appraisor's website and see if it allows you to search for non-owner occupants. If not, you'll have to pay for a service that does this for you. You could also go into the rougher areas looking for abandoned properties...write down the address and send them personalized letters.

    0Reply
  • Greg Willson
    Ormond Beach, AL · Member since 2008 · 11 posts · 0 votes
    18y

    Lot's of good feedback there.

    The only other thing I would do is use a call capture service so when someone calls, you hav their contact info.

    0Reply
  • Brian W.
    Real Estate Investor · OK · Member since 2008 · 81 posts · 2 votes
    18y

    500 bucks! - man I don't spend close to that much. you should be turning deals away right and left.

    I bet I spend $200 per month.

    -mostly direct mailings (multiple times to the same people, just once is wasted money)

    0Reply
  • Terry Royce
    Real Estate Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 619 posts · 75 votes
    18y

    sorry to bring up an old thread.

    But where do you get 100 Bandit signs for 130? Maybe the smaller ones, but if you are get 18x24's I need to know :D

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2008 · 691 posts · 12 votes
    18y

    Signwarehouse.com

    0Reply
  • Reginald Esteban
    Real Estate Investor · Washington · Member since 2008 · 22 posts · 0 votes
    18y

    You can get some free business cards for the cost of shipping from vistaprint.com.

    The offer is on the front page.

    0Reply
  • David G
    Flipper/Rehabber · Bremerton WA Portland, McMinnville OR · Member since 2008 · 29 posts · 2 votes
    18y

    For a small budget,

    For $0 upfront, you motivate bird-dogs to find you properties

    and you pay them $#### when you buy a house from their referral.

    Door-knocking is your best bet, then fliers.

    You can pay $0.05 to copy a flier. Less if you order Post-it notes.

    You can pass them out or

    you can pay $0.10/flyer for someone to pass them out.

    $450 would get you 3000 flyers on a door.

    0Reply
  • Reginald Esteban
    Real Estate Investor · Washington · Member since 2008 · 22 posts · 0 votes
    18y

    I've had better results with fliers when I wore business casual attire and handed them out to people in person. This was outside of a condo complex and I got 2 leads in about 15 minutes. People were coming home from work.

    I've had terrible results with fliers by putting them on people's cars in neighborhoods and in town centers. I put out 2500 and got 0 calls back.

    I used the same flier (we buy houses...etc.) for both scenarios.

    Reg

    0Reply
  • David G
    Flipper/Rehabber · Bremerton WA Portland, McMinnville OR · Member since 2008 · 29 posts · 2 votes
    18y

    Wow that's amazing that you got 0 calls.

    My guess is that you are either in a hot market or in a neighborhood with

    above median nice or newer houses. That is not the one to target.

    -David G

    0Reply
  • Timothy W.
    Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    18y

    I found I needed someone who would work full time to find me properties, would create all the marketing materials and distribute them for me, would do market research to find the best deals for me, would send me a database of available properties, would prepare all my closing paperwork for me and would wait until the deal closed to be paid so that it cost me nothing out of pocket to find this person. I found that person. It's called a realtor.

    The market's changed but 80% of the population hasn't caught on yet as to all the changes that have happened. What you used to have to do to get a deal - realtors are now doing for you. A good investors realtor will be savvy to investing and will do short sales, preforeclosure, REO, ect.... You simply have to find the right one and be firm about your criteria.

    Tim

    0Reply
  • Donte Mazyck
    Contractor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2008 · 178 posts · 14 votes
    18y
    Originally posted by Tim Wieneke:
    I found I needed someone who would work full time to find me properties, would create all the marketing materials and distribute them for me, would do market research to find the best deals for me, would send me a database of available properties, would prepare all my closing paperwork for me and would wait until the deal closed to be paid so that it cost me nothing out of pocket to find this person. I found that person. It's called a realtor.

    The market's changed but 80% of the population hasn't caught on yet as to all the changes that have happened. What you used to have to do to get a deal - realtors are now doing for you. A good investors realtor will be savvy to investing and will do short sales, preforeclosure, REO, ect.... You simply have to find the right one and be firm about your criteria.

    Tim

    Tim how are you using a realtor to find you deals, that you can't do on your own by going to realtor.com?
    0Reply
  • Dane Whales
    Member since 2008 · 55 posts · 0 votes
    18y

    5oo bucks is a lot,, you are on a right track,, you've got nice plan,,, for fliers i suggest that you give personally to people and not just stick it on cars and doors.

    0Reply
  • Terry Drake
    Real Estate Investor · Member since 2009 · 260 posts · 119 votes
    17y

    a bump for an informative thread

    0Reply
  • Tony Walker
    Real Estate Consultant · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2009 · 94 posts · 28 votes
    17y
    Originally posted by Dan Miller:
    I'm a new investor and trying to figure out how to get the best bang for my limited buck. Let's say I have $500 a month that I can spend on marketing until I get my first deal completed. What is the best way to market (I'm looking to either wholesale ugly properties or lease option pretty ones).

    My original thinking was:

    a) get an answering service and a zero option for a live operator to capture leads (probably $75 per month on average)

    b) bandit signs (buy 200) "we buy houses" at a cost of about $350 or so (one time expense). don't know if stakes are included or not (metal or wood?)

    c) some limited and very targeted direct mail (no idea on costs to acquire a target list, such as out-of-state owners or expired listings, etc.).

    d) hand out flyers/business cards that say "we buy houses" etc.

    If you had $500 per month to spend, I think my original thinking would be over budget, not including the one-time expenses of bandit signs, but not sure. Where would I get the best bang for my buck?

    Thanks!

    Or you can use Duncan Wierman"s lead harvester software
    for free. :D

    0Reply
  • Cary Donham
    Real Estate Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2009 · 63 posts · 19 votes
    17y

    All of the above mentioned techniques have worked and still work for me. No need to elborate as our peers here have said it all.

    I will say one thing about fliers..... I had them put on the doors of houses in the desired areas and I received calls months later because some will hang on to the flier until they are ready or their circumstances warrant the use of it.

    I guess I ened up elaborating after all but just don't give up on any marketing at first especially putting out signs or mailings of any kind. It can take a while for you to start reaping the benefits of the fruits of your labor.

    0Reply
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