How To FInd Buyers
I have been doing a lot of marketing these days, going to all the top real estate sites and I have come to realize that there are way too many people trying to sell something there than there are people looking to buy something. The question is, how do you locate your target market. This is the million dollar question. There is no website for only new investors looking to buy homes. The fact is that competition to sell is at an all time high. Here is my advice: You need to gain trust first in order to be a successful sales person. I have sold over 70 investment homes this year and it was not because I have all the answers. Make friends first, the rest will fall into place.
I agree!
Curt,
GREAT POINT! With the advancement of boot comps, seminars, webinars, etc. everyone has access to so many things they generally don't know where to start.
Hopefully, they eventually find me!
Joey
Curt,
You are right. Most of my clients were thru referrals, family members, friends, etc. People who knows me personally...
We have been using Google Adwords to find targeted buyers and it seems to work quite well.
Originally posted by Sean Terry:
We have been using Google Adwords to find targeted buyers and it seems to work quite well.
I've heard that's a good marketing strategy for finding buyers. I might just implement that into my system.
I've heard and read that Google Adwords can get expensive. I'm a new investor. Does it make sense for me, or new investor like myself, to sign up for Adwords?
What about using search-engine optimization? If you design you're site right, you may be able to get your site near the top of Google without Adwords. Has anyone does this with any success?
Reiwalf, search engine optimization is amazing. Our business is at the top of many searches with google.
Google Adwords is great. I can be expensive but if you do it right, it won't be. let me explain...
One of the main criteria Google is looking for when ranking your in S.E. and in Google Adwords is RELEVANCY.
If your website/landing page is not relevant to what the searcher is looking for, your rankings will fall and PPC costs increase.
Also, Adwords doesn't have to be expansive if you:
1. follow your campaigns
2. optimize them to be relevant
3. optimize your landing pages
4. target the keywords with 'exact terms'
5. figure out your ROI.
These are just a few items you need to watch. Let's look at #5. This is just for the sake of argument but If you end up getting a client at a rate of 1 client per 100 clicks and you make $5,000 on a house (small profit), you can pay $30 per click and still make a profit.
The great thing about real estate is that the profit margin is huge. You can make tens of thousands of dollars one one deal.
Good luck and let me know if you need any help.
Peter
Google Adwords is effective but it can get expensive. If you are just starting out and have very limited capital you can post ads on free classifieds websites (craigslist, backpage.com, etc) to find buyers. You just have to make sure to repost every time the ad expires so potential buyers repeatedly see your ads.
SEO is great. Just make sure you have the site and tags well thought out. It may be beneficial to hire someone to do it for you.
Networking with other investors is one of the best ways to find buyers. Join your local REI groups. If you see an ad of another investor somewhere call and introduce yourself. Make yourself known. Let everyone know what you do. The more people know what you do the more buyers and referrals you will get.
Aside from Google AdWords, it may help to look through various classifieds. They are popping up all over the place nowadays and while it may take a little time, you may be able to find some great leads through them.
For what it's worth, I also agree with the previous comments; developing a relationship with your clients will definitely boost your probability of success.
Originally posted by James M.:
For what it's worth, I also agree with the previous comments; developing a relationship with your clients will definitely boost your probability of success.
I couldn't agree more. I believe that if you can build a relationship with your clients, you position yourself in a much better way than your competition.
Also, don't forget to be transparent with your local market and your clients. They'll appreciate it and bring you more business.
Peter
Always start with a relationship....much more effective. The digitizing of the world as we know it should not be a reason or bate to dehumanize commerce of any type, if anything it should enhance it.
As far as adwords, and PPC campaigns in general, are a great way to not only target the right crowd but to test different segments of our markets, in this case and as per our topic, Real Estate. I've had profitable results with PPC in general and yes, adwords in particular....but that shouldnt come as a surprise to anyone, being that Google owns 70% of the search market.....take care!
Originally posted by Jose Alegre:Originally posted by reiwalf:
I've heard and read that Google Adwords can get expensive. I'm a new investor. Does it make sense for me, or new investor like myself, to sign up for Adwords?Hi Jose,
if you are new at Adwords, then I would be very careful on how you use it. Why? Because if you setup an account, create some basic campaigns (without proper optimization) and then don't watch them closely, you can loose a lot of money.
You see, there are a lot of different factors that play a role in Adwords including, relevancy, keywords, landing page optimization, position, timing and so on. I don't want to scare you or anyone else, but you need to watch your campaigns closely if you are going to use them.
What about using search-engine optimization? If you design you're site right, you may be able to get your site near the top of Google without Adwords. Has anyone does this with any success?
SEO is probably better between the two. Again, you need to know what to do. For instance, one of the most important of the good SEO plan is to put together a really good basket of keywords. And I'm not talking about keywords such as: "real estate" because you'll never get on the first page with that keywords. The competition is too big.So you need to start by targeting long tail keywords such as "sell my house in Los Angeles CA." Now this keywords gets less searches but it is much better than the previous keyword. Why? because it is a lot easier to get on the first page of Google and it is action oriented. What i mean by that is that whoever is searching that keyword, they probably want to sell their house in LA.
Either way, I have achieved many top rankings in Google for my site. For instance, I have position #1, #2, #3, #4, and #6 for one of my keywords. And that's out of almost 900,000 results.
Good luck,
Peter
Originally posted by Curt Davis:
Here is my advice: You need to gain trust first in order to be a successful sales person. I have sold over 70 investment homes this year and it was not because I have all the answers. Make friends first, the rest will fall into place.
Hi, This is very true. I agree that we need to gain trust from our customers to be a successful.
__________________
Sandra Paul
[REMOVED]
Curt I would say that 90 percent of my business comes from relationship and repeat customers and them telling someone else about how I conduct my business.
If you have been following the MADOFF SCANDAL they said that there was only an elite group that was allowed in to invest with MADOOFF. But, how that elite group was established was through the wealthy telling his wealthy friend and that is how they got in. This is what the MAYOR or EX MAYOR of Fort Lee, NJ was saying that he was referred by his wealthy colleague and that is how he got in.
SO RELATIONSHIP IS THE KEY.
Here are some web sites I use to locate buyers. Now remember just because you find them doesn't mean you can just email blast them. You have to interview them by phone and have a script prepared to cover the points that intrerest the buyer and yourself. Use a journal or Word Template and take notes.
Web Sites to Help Build a Buyer's List
craigslist.com
yahoogroups.com
backpage.com
lobo.com
vast.com
ebay.com
oodle.com
rent.com
kijiji.com
listsource.com
(allows you to rent or buy a list)
gosection8.com
postlets.com
socialserve.com
Perform Google search on keywords:
Motivated Seller, Moving, Divorce, Death, Job Loss, , REO, asset manager, preforeclosure, must sell
Subscribe to icontact.com to email blast your properties to your Buyer’s List.
Go to REIA Clubs, Chamber of Commerce meetings, go online, email to your list to locate other buyers, create separate lists for different types of buyers, buy software to locate buyers.
Also at REIA Clubs ask for help in locating Investor Friendly Title Companies.
Don't forget to talk to people tell everyone you know what you're looking for. If you bought business cards use them you should not have 200-300 cards in your desk. Also search ads and post ads on the free sites and social networking sites there's no shortage of deals for buyers. Most investors don't sit in one spot so keep your name out there pick one day a week to look over your ad campaign.
P.S. Don't Forget to Talk to People!
I find my buyers from social websites, twitter.com, Facebook and using keyword search for the search engines I drill down to people who have posted ads on websites to find my buyers. You must think creatively online to find buyers.
Vernon
#4 Off Topic Contributor
- Investor
- Round Rock, TX
A solid reputation and referrals are obviously the best systems. Bandit signs and Greensheet ads work fairly well too.
I agree with Vernon.
These websites are extremely powerful because a lot of people will talk about it, tweet about it and complain about their problems.
The problem is that if you look for these people manually, you'll spend hours looking for them. Therefore, you need to automate it in some way.
Recently, I was coaching some people at a bootcamp and many of them had questions about automating these tasks, especially craigslist.
If you want to know how to automate it, I have videos inside my members area. You can also pm me and I'll tell you what free piece of software I use to automate the process.
Peter
Originally posted by Vernon Tryon:
I find my buyers from social websites, twitter.com, Facebook and using keyword search for the search engines I drill down to people who have posted ads on websites to find my buyers. You must think creatively online to find buyers.
Vernon
Peter,
Im trying to contact you for some coaching. My info is in my signature.
To reach a specific target market, you need to market where these individuals live, work or play. For example you want military personnel in your complex. Marketing at the base/post housing office gets some results. Marketing where they go for lunch, dinner or for entertainment - theaters, bars, restaurants, etc would be likely spots. Market to yout target market
Peter,
That's a great point! Automation is key if you want to own your business instead of having your business own you. Get a buyer's website up and just get the link out there on different real estate sites. The more you market your link, the more buyers you will get on autopilot. It's just that simple.