Inbound vs Outbound
So I was taught in Real Estate in order to get leads get these lists of motivated sellers and get to work getting in front of them, cold calling or sending direct mailers. But if they are truly motivated why is the conversion rate so low. I kept hearing its a numbers game but never asked does it have to be a numbers game? True at some level it does but do the numbers have to be so low. I am converting 4%-3% can the conversion rate be higher? Then I started asking WHY? WHY? WHY?
I find this data interesting. We are getting 4-12 highly motivated inbound leads daily from our website (other than the cost to set up the website) these leads are relatively free. For every 3 seller appointments, we go to we are closing 1/3 with homeowners. This means we don't spend any money on direct mailers, cold calling, driving for dollars, or buying lists of foreclosures, absentee owners, death in the family, free and clear, 65+, code violations etc.
So overall, we are getting 150-200 leads a month. Out of all the leads last month we got, 1 was a foreclosure, and 2 were absentee. The rest of the motivated seller leads we got were people who didn't want to deal with an agent, didn't want open houses, and didn't want to put their house on the market. They wanted a below-market value offer out of convenience and were willing to sell leaving money on the table.
The point is if these motivated lists truly contained motivated sellers wouldn't you conclude the leads we are getting would be a higher percentage of these types of sellers that are labeled as motivated.
Now when I got started investing, I spent a lot of money and time on leads, this can work. Don't get me wrong. I know a lot of investors who have great success in this. But if I had to choose how I want to set my company up for the long term would I want the leads to come to me when I am not working daily vs trying to go after them?