ARE THESE LEADS THAT I PURCHASED A RIPOFF ?!?!

Wholesaling
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ARE THESE LEADS THAT I PURCHASED A RIPOFF ?!?!

Alexia N.
Developer · . · Member since 2019 · 41 posts · 17 votes

Hello! I'm a NEWBIE to wholesaling so please don't judge. I'm trying it out for the first time. I just bought 109 absentee owner leads for $50 on Melissadata.com/direct (January 1, 2020). & I'm using a website called Podio.com to keep track of all of my leads. As of now, I'm googling the lead's home addresses so I can see what the homes looks like, bedrooms, baths, sqft, etc. So I just click on the top 2 websites on google which is normally HAR.com & Zillow.com ... And every time I click on these 2 websites with my lead's homes on it, it literally says "Currently Not For Sale" & "Off Market". So far every home that i've googled on my lead list says that. 

So my question is:

If I google the homes of all 109 absentee owner leads that I have, if it turns out that they all say "Currently Not For Sale" & "Off Market" ... Does that mean that I basically wasted my money on these leads & that they are no good?

(I'M JUST WONDERING BECAUSE I WOULD'NT WANT TO WASTE MY TIME ON LEADS LIKE THIS IF ITS GOING TO BE COMPLETELY POINTLESS)

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Lydia R.
Investor · Austin TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y

@Alexia Ned-Sowell I would suggest you spend a little more time actually researching what you are doing before you start doing it. You definitely shouldnt be buying leads if you dont even know that you want properties that arent for sale. I have seen so many new wholesalers fail because they dont really know what they are doing. Take the time and understand what wholesaling actually is. Learn how to run comps (MLS not Zillow), find some good contractors, build a buyers list etc. you are putting the cart way before the horse. Take the time to learn and understand what you are doing. Ive been wholesaling full time for 6 years, thats the best advice I can give you.

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  • Will BarnardPro Member
    Moderator
    Developer · Santa Clarita, CA · Member since 2008 · 15k+ posts · 10k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Jonathan Rivera:

    @Will Barnard

    Just want to ask what is the best way to find leads after you’ve done research and learned enough. You

    Have any suggestions to finding off market properties? since it’s seem like buying a list wouldn’t work.

    Sorry I missed your post, it was hidden between all the back and forth arguing which I find to be silly and unproductive. I did not say that buying lists would not work, I merely referenced that lists from list brokers are sold to many many people and likely have very low success rates from a percentage standpoint. 

    The “Best” way to get leads is always going to depend on a multiple of factors, some of those being your local market, your skills and abilities, your resources, etc. Absentee owner lists, in my opinion only, not fact, will likely have the lowest returns of success so quantity and consistency will be required to experience success. Door knocking, driving for dollars, internet ads, Facebook ads, etc all are other options. Others will preach bandit signs but I’m against those as most areas make it illegal and I never recommend an investor take an illegal route just to make money.

    I think having an internet presence with your own website and getting that website in front of as many potential home sellers as possible is likely going to be your best bang for the back and the highest close percentage as “motivated home sellers” are the name of the game and when they are contacting YOU rather than the other way around, you have won half the battle.

    Hope that helps you sir and answers your questions.

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  • Joel OwensBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    6y

    Almost 17 years in the business. I do commercial real estate. Whether I am an investor myself or finding a property on or off market for my clients it is HARD WORK. Buying a list isn't magically going to make diamond properties fall from the sky. The real treasure is in learning the searching process to locate properties that people do not have eyeballs on. People buying lists guess what hundreds to thousands of others are also usually buying the same list so they tend to be worthless lots of times.

    If you want to be a wholesaler you might do better to be a real estate agent. You could sell market rate properties and be licensed versus looking for that 1 in thousands property an investor wants to purchase from a wholesaler.

    People that sell properties or want to buy often do not act right away. Wholesalers often mail out or buy lists looking for that IMMEDIATE deal because they are not properly capitalized long term yet. The odds are that people get a lot of mail and it can take many mailings over an extended period of time to gain trust and build a long term relationship.

    In my business some buyers I hear for the first time contact me have been reading my comments for YEARS on this site. Sometimes it takes many months to years to get a seller to sell. That is why a pipeline gets filled with a process in different stages of buying and selling to increase frequency of closed sales and transactions over time.

    Good luck. Maybe attending some local investor meetings will help make great connections.

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  • Jonathan Rivera
    New to Real Estate · NJ (new jersey) · Member since 2019 · 75 posts · 41 votes
    6y

    @Jerryll Noorden

    So what do you do to generate leads if your not buying a list?

    0Reply
  • Jonathan Rivera
    New to Real Estate · NJ (new jersey) · Member since 2019 · 75 posts · 41 votes
    6y

    @Will Barnard

    Yes it does help and I appreciate you. Thanks man

    1Reply
  • Jerryll Noorden
    Flipper/Rehabber · Wilton, CT · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Jonathan Rivera:

    @Jerryll Noorden

    So what do you do to generate leads if your not buying a list?

     I am simply born awesome!

    1Reply
  • David Dachtera
    Rental Property Investor · Rockford, IL · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Jonathan Rivera:

    @Jerryll Noorden

    So what do you do to generate leads if your not buying a list?

    Networking is a key element of the process.

    Yes - this *IS* a people business and the more people you know, and the more who know you, the better your opportunities will be.

    You will get to know who does what in which market. You'll know who to ask about which properties in their market.

    Better still, THEY will get to know you and what you're looking for. When something comes their way, if you happen to be "top of mind" with them, they may contact you first to see if you want a crack at it.

    Yeah - I'd LOVE to be able to just sit down at the keyboard and have it all at my fingertips. REI doesn't work that way. Wish it did ...

    0Reply
  • Cody L.
    Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:
    Originally posted by @Darius Ogloza:

    Alexia: I live in California. I have owned a SFR near Rochester NY since 2005. I get a postcard or letter about every month from someone who, like you, must have purchased an absentee owner list or did some research and discovered that I was an absentee owner. Although I live 3,000 miles away I keep close tabs on the local market there and know what my property is worth. I also know that these "offers" are going to be low-balls from people who assume I do not know what my property is really worth. I pitch all of these cards and letters into the trash without opening them. I suspect the majority of absentee owners are like me. Newbies get the same treatment as pros. You will face a lot of rejection employing this strategy regardless of your level of experience. It takes fortitude to keep going and it sounds like you have a lot of it. Good luck.

    direct mail has been going on for decades and decades.. every owner of a rental or just about every owner that is absentee has gotten letters.. some more than others.. we get about 20 a week.. sometimes I will call the number 90% of the time no answer and no call back.

    but its a numbers game for sure.. most that are successful at this ( and to me that's 150 to 300k a year plus) spend 10 to 50k a month on direct mail.. are verticall intergrated IE they have buying agents working for them who get on the leads within minutes of them coming in etc etc.  For single wholesalers doing it all on their own of course you have to par that down.. and it really depends on the market. and frankly your sales skills.. since you basically have to close the lead on the phone if they are absentee and don't live near you.. 

    Many wholesalers now are just doing robo calling and trying to get folks on the phone I get one to two of those a day.. most I don't talk to some times I will .. many of these are using off shore call centers so semi broken English reading form a script.. but they produce leads.. its just like buying a car.. the sales guy ( telemarketer) then hands you off to the closer.. 

    then you have the I buyers backed by wads of VC money big advertising budgets and super sophisticated web sites that spit out automated offers.. 

    the business is changing no doubt.. and there is no doubt like Will Bernard stated its probably the toughest thing in real estate to master ergo 9 out of 10 never get past first base..  And many find they like the business but then just get a real estate license were business comes to you much easier if you have the time and skills to work your business.. many more ways to make money as a realtor than a wholesaler.. 

    You're right on. Those lists are sold 1000x over. I get so many letters to my office that my team trashes them (they used to save them). Now my emails, calls and txt have ramped up. At least one a day asking "would you consider selling your property at..." I always say "send an LOI and buyer bio and I'll respond with an answer" I never hear back after that. Suggesting most people reaching out are lazy or looking for a unicorn "yes" that'll never happen

    0Reply
  • Cody L.
    Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Alexia N.:

    @Ola Dantis She’s literally a black woman that didn’t offer to help out another black woman. But you’re making it seem like I’m the 1 who is wrong??? Lol. You’re a black man who doesn’t see how she was really in the wrong for not offering her help to another black woman & that’s really sad.

    People should help others in order to be kind, and to pay it forward. Not because they share a similar skin tone and genitals  


    I don’t go out of my way to make sure I’m giving extra help to white guys. Rather I go out of my way to help people I feel will benefit
    . 

    2Reply
  • Account Closed
    Specialist · Paradise Valley, AZ · Member since 2018 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Alexia N.:

    @Greta Grakowski ... I literally have family members & friends without college degrees that make more money than the 1’s with degrees. 😂😂😂 It’s also a fact that most college graduates can’t even get a job in their field that they got a degree in. But that’s irrelevant to this thread so we can stop talking about it.

    Also, if you think I have an attitude, just stop talking to me. It’s very simple. Nobody is forcing you to talk to me. I’m unapologetically me & if you have an issue with it.....that’s not my problem. BYE!!!

     You've got spunk. I'd hire you in a heart beat. 

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