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Steve Babiak
  • Real Estate Investor
  • Audubon, PA
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The Essential Guide on How To Build and Promote Your Buyer's List

Steve Babiak
  • Real Estate Investor
  • Audubon, PA
Posted

Very frequently asked questions about Buyer's Lists are presented here, along with links to various threads that provide the info being sought. Enjoy!

Info to get from Buyer's for your list:
http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/53979-what-do-you-ask-when-building-a-buyers-list

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/50946-buyers-list-template

Building Wholesale/Investor buyer's list:
http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/40258-how-to-build-a-buyers-list-fast-28-ways

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/23272-top-ten-ways-to-secure-a-buyers-list-

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/79/topics/45440--find-cash-buyers-now-system

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/49308-list-of-cash-buyers-where-city-records-online-or-real-estate-investing-course-

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/51913-finding-cash-buyers

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/50573-best-ways-to-find-cash-buyers-for-wholesaling-

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/88/topics/45878-how-to-find-cash-buyers-

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/25486-building-a-buyers-list

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/30653-what-is-the-best-way-to-build-a-buyers-list-before-you-actually-have-a-property-

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/49308-list-of-cash-buyers-where-city-records-online-or-real-estate-investing-course-

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/45738-methods-im-using-to-find-investor-buyers-an-results

Building Retail buyer's list:
http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/38645-top-1-ways-to-secure-a-retail-buyer-list

"Promote your buyer's list":
http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/89

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/69/topics/28741-promote-your-buyer-s-list-here-

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Will Barnard
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Will Barnard
Pro Member
  • Developer
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ModeratorReplied
Originally posted by @Curt Smith:

BP has made me so livid mad about removing my posts trying to help folks I've pondered deleting my profile and diverting all that time helping folks to my business!  BP is way WAY over board!!!   It makes no sense their deleting URLs to helpful businesses and tools!  There needs to be alot ALOT more reasonability.

 Sorry you feel that way but BP has rules and by becoming a member, you agreed to the terms of service as well as the forum rules. If you don't like it, you can certainly leave, nobody is forcing you to stay. That said, just over 1.5 million people find this site to be valuable to them. It's not perfect, but there is no better place for all this free info anywhere in the world! So either follow the rules or get your posts deleted, its that simple Curt. Unfortunately, too many spammers, solicitors, and other obnoxious parties have been found on BP and to keep them out, keep the forums as clean as possible and keep this all going, BP has had to institute these rules for the protection of all members here and their site.

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Steve Babiak
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Steve Babiak
  • Real Estate Investor
  • Audubon, PA
Replied
Originally posted by @Will Barnard:
Originally posted by @Curt Smith:

BP has made me so livid mad about removing my posts trying to help folks I've pondered deleting my profile and diverting all that time helping folks to my business!  BP is way WAY over board!!!   It makes no sense their deleting URLs to helpful businesses and tools!  There needs to be alot ALOT more reasonability.

 Sorry you feel that way but BP has rules and by becoming a member, you agreed to the terms of service as well as the forum rules. If you don't like it, you can certainly leave, nobody is forcing you to stay. That said, just over $1.5 million people find this site to be valuable to them. It's not perfect, but there is no better place for all this free info anywhere in the world! So either follow the rules or get your posts deleted, its that simple Curt. Unfortunately, too many spammers, solicitors, and other obnoxious parties have been found on BP and to keep them out, keep the forums as clean as possible and keep this all going, BP has had to institute these rules for the protection of all members here and their site.

 Will,

Curt is just venting that contributions he has made on the forum, that were intended to be helpful, have been removed along with entire threads. @Jon Holdman used to be rather meticulous about editing content that violated rules while preserving the content that was worth keeping. Jon's approach is just not going to be replicated, but removing an entire post that violates the rules can be done while leaving the balance intact. And if a topic becomes a spam magnet, then the topic can just be locked.

TLDR - there are ways to clean up a thread without deleting it entirely. But instead the baby is getting tossed out with the bath water.

Let's not clutter this thread any further with these unrelated discussions.

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Curt Smith
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#4 Innovative Strategies Contributor
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Clarkston, GA
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Curt Smith
Pro Member
#4 Innovative Strategies Contributor
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Clarkston, GA
Replied

@Steve Babiak  @Will Barnard

I'll not be included I'm certain in what ever forum this extreme policy by BP is discused so I feel there's no other place TO discuss this!

URLs to businesses to help folks are OK!  Why else are where here but to figure things out and learn from others who are doing well?

And BTW "self promotion" also is shades of grey and some is just fine.  

Also BTW:  I'm ok with some percent of BP being spamish, if that means I get more info from folks doing well, using services OR offering services.

Also;  the marketplace is just a disaster!!!   We need to be able to post "I solved this by doing XYZ" without getting the post deleted.

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JD Martin
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  • Rock Star Extraordinaire
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JD Martin
Pro Member
  • Rock Star Extraordinaire
  • Northeast, TN
ModeratorReplied
Originally posted by @Curt Smith:

@Steve Babiak  @Will Barnard

I'll not be included I'm certain in what ever forum this extreme policy by BP is discused so I feel there's no other place TO discuss this!

URLs to businesses to help folks are OK!  Why else are where here but to figure things out and learn from others who are doing well?

And BTW "self promotion" also is shades of grey and some is just fine.  

Also BTW:  I'm ok with some percent of BP being spamish, if that means I get more info from folks doing well, using services OR offering services.

Also;  the marketplace is just a disaster!!!   We need to be able to post "I solved this by doing XYZ" without getting the post deleted.

 Just as a side note, I was able to get every link I clicked on in Steve's original post to work. So nothing there is deleted as far as I can see. I did not read through all of the forum posts that are linked to see if everything in there works.

More or less: if you provide a direct link to a business outside of the marketplace that post will either be edited or removed. It is correct that moderators take different approaches - I generally just edit out unsuitable material unless the entire post is just too egregious to deal with - but technically speaking posts that do not follow the rules are fair game to just be booted. And be it known that just editing out the things that break the rules doesn't make you the "most favorite moderator" by any means - I've had people cuss me out before for just removing one line in their post that violated the BP rules. You know, no good deed goes unpunished. 

Self-promotion is not really shades of gray here. If you are a property manager, you can talk all day long about how great property managers are so long as you do not solicit business or direct people to your services, or to message you about your services (outside of the marketplace). 

At the end of the day, moderators don't make the rules, we enforce what the staff at BP has put in place, most of it set down at the beginning by Josh and built on by Mindy, Scott, and the rest of the staff. Sometimes it might seem like overkill but if you had any idea how much junk comes through the forums on a daily basis that posters never see because of moderator diligence you'd be shocked. This place would be a cluttered mess of garbage in less than a week without the effort of the moderators. 

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Steve Babiak
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  • Audubon, PA
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Steve Babiak
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Replied

@jd 

@JD Martin - it sounds like you studied how @Jon Holdman did things - kudos to you.

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Will Barnard
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Will Barnard
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ModeratorReplied

@JD Martin - Great response, I could not agree more. I too take the approach as a moderator to delete just the solicitation or “pm me” verbiage if the rest of the post is fine and only the violation portion of the post is removed. This can’t be done every time as some posts are just too much to hand pick out what breaks the rules and what doesn’t but I do my best. I too get flack from members mad about their lines being edited or deleted arguing how they did not solicit. As you stated, no good deed goes unpunished.

@Steve Babiak - I hear what you are saying but do keep in mind that us moderators have access to notes and info that you or other non moderator members are not privy to. We all signed a contract prior to becoming moderators as to the rules of moderation so I can’t specifically state here what I know. I can tell you that in several cases, posts were deleted for forum rule violations and not just those with links. Be that as it may, and as JD and I both stated, the system is not perfect but who is! It is still the best out there, hands down.

So now, back to the topic at hand please. . . 

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Mike Imbriglio
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Mike Imbriglio
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Replied

Love this post, thanks for the great info

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Willie Skinner
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Willie Skinner
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Replied

@Steve Babiak Wow! Thankd

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Daniel Goldberg
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Daniel Goldberg
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Replied

What would you say is the easiest way to connect with Wholesalers? 

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Alfred Johnson
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Alfred Johnson
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Replied

Just what we needed Steve. You ROCK!

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Account Closed
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Too late to be here and really I don't know how did I end up here. I was searching for property threads and this was the interesting one and I really liked it. Thank you.

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Ed Brancheau
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Ed Brancheau
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Replied

How the hell did I miss this thread before? Two years and I've never found a list better. Thanks! Too bad I can't vote you up 10X.

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Grant Sylvester
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Grant Sylvester
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Replied

Super excited to dive into this! Thanks, Steve!

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Grigory Pekarsky
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Grigory Pekarsky
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  • Real Estate Broker
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Replied

Many people are looking for the secret to building and promoting a buyers's list. The truth is that there is no one-size-fits all solution, but there are many ways to build your list and increase the size of it. Thanks, Steve! Your compilation of topics will gives you an overview of steps you can take today to grow your list with ease.  

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Will Barnard
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Will Barnard
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ModeratorReplied

This thread and the links to all the "how to build buyers list" posts compilated by Steve were all started many years ago. New wholesalers always seem to ask how to build a buyers list. Getting a buyer is about the easiest process in the wholesale transaction. There are many ways (most of which pointed out in these threads) but frankly, there is one simple and proven way to do this without all the other hassles. A simple request to your title company to pull all cash closed transactions in your area and cross reference when an entity repeats itself inside of 1 year. If one entity closed on multiple transactions in a year, that is a proven cash buyer! Then doing a search on the website for your secretary of state will show contact info for the owners of that entity. There is your buyer, make contact with them.

The difficulty is finding the real deals, not the buyers.

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Steve Babiak
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Steve Babiak
  • Real Estate Investor
  • Audubon, PA
Replied

500 votes on the original post on this topic … hopefully all who voted this up have benefited.

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Cameron Braig
  • Atlanta, GA
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Cameron Braig
  • Atlanta, GA
Replied

Thanks for sharing Steve! Still plenty valuable today.