Is your buyers list screwing you?

Is your buyers list screwing you?

Investor · Midlothian, VA · Member since 2015 · 305 posts · 199 votes

I see people trying to create a buyer's list all the time. In the old days they would go to the REIA meetings and walk around getting everyone's phone number and email. Nowadays people will post on a Facebook group and collect all that information with very little effort. As I watch people do this I wonder, are they just creating a buyer's list that is going to screw them?

I listen to people complain that wholesalers do not have good deals all the time. People in a REIA meeting will stand up and announce that they want wholesalers to bring "Deals". What they are really saying is they want them to bring them properties that fit into their definition of a deal. I would say it is arrogance that they think they are entitled to have wholesalers flock at the gates waiting to hand them over the perfect property but unfortunately it is worse. It is a general naivete. They simply have not figured it out. Of course, these are generally the people that have supreme confidence in themselves and their personal knowledge.

I have said it before, and I will say it again-- A deal is different to everybody. If you are lumping yourself in the pack with everyone else and their ideals, what are you really doing that is special? We tell people all the time not to listen to negative influences in their lives while simultaneously belittling them for not presenting a proper “Deal”. If someone is willing and able to purchase a property for X amount than that is the value of that property. Create your own formula because you should know what your buyers want and how much they are willing to pay for it.

Imagine you walked into a room with 50 investors and presented a deal. If all 50 investors jumped at the opportunity and were willing and able to buy the property at your asking price would you feel that you had presented a good deal? What if you presented that same deal for $10k more and only 5 investors were willing and able? What if you presented it for $20k more and only 1 was willing and able? Which business model do you think is best? In this situation, like most of our situations, you have one unique product that is different than the product before and the product after. You price it based on its unique qualities.

To extract maximum value from each of your transactions you need to have a wide buyers pool to market to. If there was a set formula you would not need a buyers pool. It would either fit or not fit into the parameters and subsequently would either become sellable or not sellable. If all your buyers are using the same formula then you are forcing yourself into THEIR narrow buying parameters leaving no necessity to have a vast (buyers) list. In this scenario they are all the same so why make the effort to create such a list?

The buyers list that affords you the ability to expand your business is the list with a wide assortment of people who have an even wider criteria for their buying. The more doors we open the more options we have to create “Deals”. Is your buyers list screwing you?

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  • Joe SplitrockPro Member
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    Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes
    5y

    @Account Closed I think the reality is that only a small number of people on a buyers list are actually buyers. Just because you say you are a buyer doesn't mean you are qualified or close deals. So in reality your list of 50 people is probably 49 tire kickers. Who cares if all 50 people will do the deal, but none of them can close it. I think a good wholesaler is willing to move properties at a lower price in exchange for having solid buyers who follow through. If you want to shop top dollar for a property, put it on the MLS. A larger buyers pool generally attracts higher price but also more tire kickers, which means more BS to wade through. It is a trade off.

  • Investor · Midlothian, VA · Member since 2015 · 305 posts · 199 votes
    5y

    @Joe Splitrock I agree there is some element of a trade off and there are lots of tire kickers out there. People ask me all the time how can I tell if someone is a serious buyer. I feel like within a very short conversation I can tell if they are for real or not. Of course, the number one is non refundable Earnest money. That separates people real quick.

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