Marketing!: Having people calling YOU to give you leads

Wholesaling
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Marketing!: Having people calling YOU to give you leads

Tommy R
Wholesaler · Orange County, CA · Member since 2011 · 42 posts · 0 votes

I want to know your best ideas for marketing to have people call to give you leads.

Why? Because yesterday I was driving around for an hour looking for deals. I didn't find a single abandoned/obviously distressed property but more importantly I realized that is not how i want to spend my time.

I want to spend my time doing ABC:
ALWAYS BE CLOSING

So I need leads coming to me.

Current ideas/strategies:
-Posting craigslist ads, offering $ for the location of these houses(some upfront, or perhaps say $500 if I close the house)
-awesome bc it's free

-Posting in newspapers

-Remnant time on the radio

-Also bandit signs saying "buying houses for cash"
and to take it further, billboards (I recall seeing one that said "I buy ugly homes" years ago, now it's very clear to me lol, that would require capital though.

Share your best ideas especially ones you've had a lot of success in:

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Mike Nelson
Wholesaler · Washington, D.C · Member since 2011 · 449 posts · 94 votes
15y

I feel your pain, I actually started telling friends what I was doing. They became intrested and I started offering them $500 - $1500 on deals that I closed on. I get about 15-30 properties a week from them and usually they are good leads.

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  • Mike Nelson
    Wholesaler · Washington, D.C · Member since 2011 · 449 posts · 94 votes
    15y

    I feel your pain, I actually started telling friends what I was doing. They became intrested and I started offering them $500 - $1500 on deals that I closed on. I get about 15-30 properties a week from them and usually they are good leads.

    1Reply
  • James Martin
    Property Management · Memphis, TN · Member since 2009 · 668 posts · 362 votes
    15y

    All of those are good things to do.Despite what peole say, this is a hard business, but a rewarding one. The key is consistency and meeting people in the business that you can connect with to combine resources on differ potential deals. On paper the mechanics look easy, but implementation can be very time consuming.For example: I may talk to 50 people in one month looking at say 60 or more properties that can potentially be a good deal. At the end of the month only two or three may turn profit.

    1Reply
  • NA Foster
    Real Estate Investor · CA · Member since 2009 · 174 posts · 39 votes
    15y

    Hello J Martin-Can you say what system you use to cull out the
    the properties you don't want to follow up? Have you a check list you can share? Thank you in advance.

    0Reply
  • Curt DavisBusiness Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Memphis, TN · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    15y

    I am not an LA expert but I dont think its the best place to be wholesaling.

    Calling FSBO signs or even calling a for rent sign that does not look like a management company sign can turn into a lead. They might really want to sell but only think about renting it.

    Curt Davis - KAIZEN Realty538 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Alex Jefferson
    Real Estate Investor · White Plains, NY · Member since 2011 · 44 posts · 5 votes
    15y
    Originally posted by Curt Davis:
    I am not an LA expert but I dont think its the best place to be wholesaling.

    Calling FSBO signs or even calling a for rent sign that does not look like a management company sign can turn into a lead. They might really want to sell but only think about renting it.

    Hi there, sorry to just jump in but I was wondering why LA would not be a good place to wholesale? Just asking...thanks.

    0Reply
  • Sherry Lewis
    Rehabber · Fort Walton Beach, FL · Member since 2011 · 240 posts · 48 votes
    15y

    Alex I am just guessing for you here, but I think its because its such an expensive market. There really is not a lot of wiggle room on properties to make a wholesale profit and leave enough profit in a deal that would interest an investor. Like I said I could be way off mark, but everything I have read so far about the LA market suggests folks in LA should look outside their own area to do a profitable business.

    0Reply
  • Tommy R
    OP
    Wholesaler · Orange County, CA · Member since 2011 · 42 posts · 0 votes
    15y

    Sherry, I'm sorry but that doesn't even make sense.
    If the properties are more valuable, there is MORE room for making a profit.

    And Curt, I have to ask why as well- there's 14 million people in the metro LA area and you're saying it's a bad area? I am very curious as to how you can make such a broad generalization. Are there certain areas that you think wouldn't be as good? If so, what kinds of areas and why?

    Further, I have been active in the investing community and there is plenty of people making profits, large ones too. For instance, one guy last night did a short sales for a smooth 170k profit (ARV was around 400k)- you'd actually be very hard pressed to make a profit like that any where else in the nation.

    But I digress, I'm still interested in more marketing ideas/ways of getting people to call you so I can ALWAYS BE CLOSING!

    0Reply
  • Curt DavisBusiness Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Memphis, TN · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    15y

    Tommy - I am making a generalization. Most CA investors are buying outside their state to places like Memphis and other cities as pricing is cheap and rent is good. My opinions are formed from many CA investors telling my why they are not investing there. I am sure there are some places to invest but overall not really. Thats all.

    Curt Davis - KAIZEN Realty538 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Tommy R
    OP
    Wholesaler · Orange County, CA · Member since 2011 · 42 posts · 0 votes
    15y

    Ok, I get why it makes sense for an investor to invest outside of California, for instance I could see myself investing in nearby LV or Phoenix (5 and 6 hours away respectively) where the markets have been shattered.

    -but as far as wholesaling, I feel like its fully feasible here, there's more houses, so more opportunities.

    I can understand investing to hold I suppose, but can you think of why they wouldn't do wholesaling in/around LA?

    0Reply
  • Curt DavisBusiness Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Memphis, TN · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    15y

    For example: a 3 bed 2 bath brick home with 1,300sqft with a 2 car garage here in Memphis can be purchased for around $65k and will rent for around $950 while in LA that home might go for around $250k+ and only rent for around 1,400. The current rental market here is very strong. This is one big reason why so many CA investors are looking in other markets. Its not that there are not homes in LA available, its that they are too expensive.

    Curt Davis - KAIZEN Realty538 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Sherry Lewis
    Rehabber · Fort Walton Beach, FL · Member since 2011 · 240 posts · 48 votes
    15y

    Ok, so I am looking at it wrong? Honest question. I thought that most banks will not let you wholesale a short sale. Obviously that is where you will get the best turn around profit, but unless you can pay all cash for the property and do an a to b and b to c deal... It seems that is what makes it more difficult for a wholesaler to make deals they can close regularly. Again, I said it was just my opinion and would appreciate feedback. I take all posts as a learning experience as I am still pretty new myself. Thanks so much!

    0Reply
  • Michael G.
    Wholesaler · Bay Shore, NY · Member since 2009 · 359 posts · 199 votes
    14y

    Why would LA not be a viable geographic location to wholesale houses?

    Wholesalers typically wholesale the type of properties that their farm area dictates right?

    I cant speak for the virtual wholesaler because i dont do that.

    However, if you wholesale SFR's then that's your niche. If you wholesale rentals than than that's your niche.

    I hate to state the obvious but SFR's and rentals are 2 different animals with 2 different end buyers.

    Mixing the 2 when it comes to wholesaling is like mixing apples and oranges...no?

    I may be wrong but I dont think of LA as a market to wholesale rentals. Conversely, I think of it ideally as a SFR marketplace for the wholesaler who wants to flip SFR deals to rehabbers of single family homes.

    Considering that the home values are some of the highest in the country, it only seems logical that the wholesaler paydays would be SWEET if a wholesaler found some deals with equity. Kind of like the NY market if you ask me.

    Speaking to Tommy's original question.

    I am very fond of direct mail to the administrators of probate properties. This is where most of my business is done.

    Bandit Signs - affordable guerilla marketing tactic but garners a lot of calls from tire kickers, retail buyers with unrealistic ideas, etc.

    Newspaper ads - I was running a penny saver ad a while back and it started to get very costly because I was told I cant test an ad for 2 weeks. Its gotta run at least a month. The longer the better.

    Craigslist - I havent done that in a awhile either and am wondering myself if I should include it in my marketing strategy.

    Radio - Never tried it and you know what? I dont hear anyone else doing it in my neck of the woods. I'm not sure if that means its cost prohibitive or my competitors are not savvy enough to ad it to their marketing campaigns? Ive heard you can pay for only the ads that you receive calls from. Sounds like its worth looking into.

    At the end of the day I want the phone ringing off the hook with qualified wholesale leads(what wholesaler doesnt?) but the only way to do that is with great marketing.

    My next wholesaling check should be coming in a few days and i'm thinking of spending about $1500 bucks on marketing.

    I'm looking @ buying some leads from CoreLogic that will allow me to target divorcees and absentee owners. I'd like to try direct mail campaigns to those specific groups to see what the response is but again its not cheap. I think it was $500 for unlimited leads for the year but don't quote me.

    So thats $500. Looking @ about $350 for 100 bandits and stakes for a total of 850 bucks.

    Not sure where to spend the rest.

    0Reply
  • David Martin
    Wholesaler · Chicago, IL · Member since 2011 · 10 posts · 3 votes
    14y

    Just to echo what others have said, my number #1 lead generation source is Direct Mail to Absentee owners. Personalize the addressee and property address for best results. I get my lists from RealQuest.com. Chris Chico has a great ugly yellow postcard piece that works well.

    #2 is bandit signs, I like the 18 x 24 signs, blue on white text. I get mine from supercheapsigns.com. I'm partial to the FortuneBuilders designs on the "Partners" tab. But lots of folks love the classic black text on yellow. Skip the H-wire stakes and buy the 4ft Sign Stapler for utility poles. They'll stay up longer and you won't them pulled out of the ground by the sign police. Runs about $125 from signstapler.com

    #3 is networking and passing out business cards, I use ugly yellow trifold business cards from vistaprint.com. On the back, my offer is $500 to bird dogs if they bring me a name & number and I close on the deal.

    #4 Craigslist. I post a generic "We Buy Houses Cash. Any location, Any Condition" ad and send traffic to a squeeze page. I just put a 2 Flat Greystone under contract from this source. $12K and it's worth $135 fixed up.

    0Reply
  • Michael G.
    Wholesaler · Bay Shore, NY · Member since 2009 · 359 posts · 199 votes
    14y

    Dave -

    #1 - I know our regions are different geographically but in your experience does Direct Mail to Absentee owners yield results from rental preoperty owners or SFR's that are just sitting vacant?

    You can PM me if you like but would you care to
    disclose the cost for the Realquest leads?

    #4 - Have any good suggestions for squeeze page creation?

    0Reply
  • Sherry Lewis
    Rehabber · Fort Walton Beach, FL · Member since 2011 · 240 posts · 48 votes
    14y

    Michael,

    I think there are different levels, but realquest.com I believe has a trial period they offer then its 149 a month. There pro version (more data and what banks use) corelogic is 150 a month. I use it quite frequently. Hope this helps some.

    0Reply
  • Michael G.
    Wholesaler · Bay Shore, NY · Member since 2009 · 359 posts · 199 votes
    14y

    Thanks Sherry.

    I actually use Corelogic's Realquest product (Corelogic is the company, Realquest is the product) for looking up property owners names and running comps on a pay per search basis. Its very affordable (like $1.25) and most of the time I can look up what I need (owners names) without performing a full search @ no charge.

    MelissaData wanted to charge me a gang of money for the same functionality.

    Anyway, I just spoke with Corelogic about ordering custom list searches....specifically absentee owners with equity over 60 percent.

    The 149 a month is actually 225 in my county and they want me to subscribe for a year. My currrent or even projected business volume can't justify that cost.

    They have a $500 bulk plan that lets me run searches @ my leisure and I pay for what I use.

    A little more affordable for me.

    0Reply
  • David Martin
    Wholesaler · Chicago, IL · Member since 2011 · 10 posts · 3 votes
    14y
    Originally posted by Michael G.:
    Dave -

    #1 - I know our regions are different geographically but in your experience does Direct Mail to Absentee owners yield results from rental preoperty owners or SFR's that are just sitting vacant?

    You can PM me if you like but would you care to
    disclose the cost for the Realquest leads?

    #4 - Have any good suggestions for squeeze page creation?

    0Reply
  • David Martin
    Wholesaler · Chicago, IL · Member since 2011 · 10 posts · 3 votes
    14y

    Mike, I can't really respond to question 1 because my scenario is a little unusual. I've partnered with another wholesaler in my area who subscribes to RQ so essentially my cost is ZERO.

    #4 I use Freedomsoft for all of my squeeze pages and CRM.

    It’s pretty reasonable at $97/month and it feeds all of the buyers & sellers information into my database where they are tied to an email drip campaign that automatically follows up with them every couple of days.

    I’m averaging 5 seller leads per week just from posting up one ad every Monday on Craigslist & Backpage that directs them to my squeeze page. My web address goes on all of my bandit signs, direct mail campaigns and classified ads.

    There are other software solutions out there (realeflow) you can use or you can pay a web designer to program a custom one for you.

    Btw, if you are the same Mike who emailed me, I tried to respond but my email got bounced back to me.

    1Reply
  • Michael G.
    Wholesaler · Bay Shore, NY · Member since 2009 · 359 posts · 199 votes
    14y

    Thanks Dave. That was me who e-mailed you.

    I like what I'm seeing in the FreedomSoft products.

    I'm 2 seconds from pulling the trigger on the silver package.

    What is your professional opinion of FreedomSoft?

    Is that what powers your websites?

    0Reply
  • David Martin
    Wholesaler · Chicago, IL · Member since 2011 · 10 posts · 3 votes
    14y

    The silver package is what I use, personally. I've tested both Realeflow & Freedomsoft platforms and for wholesaling, I prefer FS. Realeflow does have it's strengths, however it is better suited for Short Sale investing and rehabbing. I am excited to see what they do with the next upgrade, as I'm a big fan of RF and the platform does include some great marketing material.

    Two features of FS that are key for me: the Offerbot, which autofills out contracts for me (an unbelievable timesaver if you are submitting 50-100 offers a month, which you should be) and the well designed squeeze pages that are included with the subscription. It has dozens of other great features which I won't get into here, but you'll see what I mean if you decide to pull the trigger.

    The main thing is to have a central database for all of your buyers/sellers/contractors/attorneys/realtors and so forth, so you can streamline your work flow.

    For my main website, I use the Wordpress blog platform with Optimize Press. I won't get into that too much here, but suffice to say, lots of very successful marketers use this and its a great tool if you ever want to design your own custom squeeze page/sales letters.

    Best,
    David

    1Reply
  • Michael G.
    Wholesaler · Bay Shore, NY · Member since 2009 · 359 posts · 199 votes
    14y

    Thanks David - That was helpful. Tell Rahm Emanuel I said hello! :D

    0Reply
  • Charles Hill
    Multi-family Investor · Vancouver, British Columbia · Member since 2011 · 56 posts · 6 votes
    14y

    I have had success with this organization, camerondirect.com. Check it out and see if they provide the service, expertise you request. You can call them direct and speak with a representative.

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