How to generate leads with limited time/money

Question

Hello everyone,

I am new to BiggerPockets and to the investing world. I have a W-2 job (starting next week) so this makes it difficult to generate good leads outside of buying lists.

My general plan of action is to try and wholesale until I have enough funds to work with on the larger investment strategies. I would like to fix&flip and fix&hold as my primary strategy with the potential of subject to to try and get a home with no money or small amount down. This will require funds first so I figured generated some with wholesaling first will be my best strategy.

Thanks

John K. · Answer

@Dustin Stone

Driving for Dollars is hands down the quickest and cheapest way to finding opportunities. Just pick out 5,10, or 15 blocks and look for vacant houses. Not sure where you are, but if you live in a fairly populated city, you will find quite a bit.

The time aspect is much more difficult. It will take time to drive the area, research the owners, contact the owners and work the deal. Then you have to schedule appointments to view the house, take pictures, write up the offer and of course marketing the property for sale. Depending on how much time you want to contribute to the research and such, will dictate how many of the opportunities you work. I would suggest you figure out how much time you can realistically spend on locating and working properties, per week. It's hard to pinpoint how long it takes per deal, because they all don't fall nicely into line. I have done deals that took no more than 30 minutes to work and get an offer accepted, but I have also been on deals that took 4+ hours of actual working time, over a period of days. Best of Luck!

John

Stephen Quesinberry · Answer

@Dustin Stone first off congrats on making the decision to get started!

You’re taking the right steps, determining how to impact and improve under your current circumstances.

Wholesaling is a numbers game, the more you do the more results you’ll get. Time is definitely the consideration as it will take many hours to build a funnel.

I live in Cumming as well and would be happy to meet up, talk over the phone, or help in any other way!

Dustin Stone · Answer

@John K.

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking about doing some driving for dollars. I have ample time in the evenings after work to do whatever is necessary and my wife is in my corner so she will be taking care of the kids while I focus on growing. I am in Cumming, GA which depending on traffic is about 45min north of Atlanta. Though I have always been a horrible lets drive random routes and locations in the past so I never learned a lot about the different areas that might be good hubs in my area. So their will be a growth period on this one.

I have also reached out to my mail carrier to let me know of any vacancies she knows of and offered a finders fee if I close on any. I will try and talk to her today to see if she received the letter in my mailbox (had to do it this way since I don't always get a chance to see her).