All Forum Posts by: Jerry Puckett

Hi @BJ Grove

@BJ GroveIf you're familiar with wholesaling, know how to build lists in all that, you can approach this the same we you do wholesaling. Use your lists to generate leads and  negotiate contracts, cherry pick and take down the ones best for you that meet your buying goals, then wholesale, farm out, or otherwize monetize the rest.

A multifamily campaign can be run just as successfully as an SFR. As with SFR, the best deals will be found off market. One major difference being that the prospect pool is much smaller.

Hope that helps!

This might be a little dated, but you can find a few of these that work for you:

Finding CASH Buyers; Here are a few ideas to help build your list:

1. Craigslist.com - You look in 3 different places on Craigslist. First you check Housing, "real estate for sale" in your city and look for the We buy Houses, Sell home in 5 days, and Stop foreclosure ads. While there, check out anyone who is offering creative financing or lease options as they are likely to be investors (Or one of the ten smart agents ) Second, you check the Real Estate Services and look for the same ads as already mentioned. Third, and this is one of the best where you don't get all the people from your REIA club, you call the Housing apts/housing and look for homes for rent and ask them if they are interested in acquiring property at a huge discount.
   
2. The search engines, Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com - Type in sell (your city) home fast and also We buy Houses in (your city). The first two ads (usually highlighted in a light color) and the entire list on the right are paying to be there. Some are national services that generate leads. Navigate the sites (don't clickon these as it just costs them money, retype their url ) to see if they give you the local affiliate or if not then fill out the form and see who contacts you. All the other ads are local people who have taken the time to build a website and get ranked. Usually, these are serious buyers
   
3. Facebook - Type in real estate investor in the search box. It will bring you anyone in your area first who has this as their job. Obviously, you need to have an account and get a few friends that are real estate investors in your city. Then check on their friends' information to see if they are also investors. Eventually people will try to make friends with real estate investors. You can figure this out because the system tells you how many mutual friends you have with their name and picture. When you request someone to be a friend or they request you, send along a message asking them to get on your list.
   
4. Twitter - very similar to Facebook except you can build your own background. Make sure if you do this, you put a place where you capture email addresses. Again follow some prominent national and local real estate investors and see who is following them and check them out to see if they live in your area. Try to build a list of followers and follow a number of people. It is like friends on facebook. If you tweet interesting information, people will appreciate it and retweet your content and this will bring you more followers who you can try and convert to your list.
   
5. BiggerPockets.com - they have local groups. People have their website addresses in their signatures many times and also their city. Again search the site for your city name. See who is talking about things. You can also post things here looking for partners or money. Also, go to the Networking button, and half way down, there is a drop down box for searching for investors in your state. Most pictures that show up also have their city included.
   
6. Local REIA websites. You might google (your city) real estate association, club, investors meeting. Once on the site many have their board of directors and how to contact them. Many also have newsletters where wholesalers and mentors advertise. Some might even have a member section.
   
7. Homevestors.com - Click on Buy a House, click on the picture of your state, click on your city that comes up, then go up top and click on Contact Us. This will show all the Homevestors franchisees in your area with their name and phone number.
   
8. Activerain.com - this web site is a blogging service that primarily services realtors. However, just go to the search box and type "We buy Houses" in your city and you will probably find a major player in your area.
   
9. Your hometown newspaper classified section - Look in the real estate wanted, real estate services and homes for sale sections. Again one of the absolute best ways is to call the For Rent ads trying to find landlords that want a discounted home.
   
10. Wear your ibuyhomes.com shirt or hat - This is my best method of all for getting people on my list that are not regulars at any seminar or reia club. I almost always wear something that has my ibuyhomes.com logo on it. If you don't have a great website name that tells you to buy homes, just get some shirts embroidered with We Buy Homes for Cash on them. The shirts and cleaning are tax deductible.
    
11. Get on every wholesalers list - Especially the new ones that call and say they are wholesalers. Many times when they are just starting, they do not have an email contact system (like constantcontact.com that I use or icontact.com another good one ) and they put everyone in the email list instead of blind copying. I have got a lot of great names this way.
    
12. Your local REIA or club - go to this meeting and ask for cards of other people. Get to be known for something. Internet, sinkholes, probate, wholesaling, or whatever and offer advice to others. I try and stand out by wearing bright colored clothes with my ibuyhomes.com logo. I also try to go to as many seminars, meetings and functions as possible. Usually there is a meeting after the meeting. Find out where this is and buy a regular a beer. When you become more advanced, try to be a speaker or have a seminar of your own. This is a phenomenal way to build a list.
    
13. Bandit signs - these are the 18" x 24" plastic signs you see on the side of the road. I keep a camera in my car and snap a picture of all signs that say "I Buy Homes" or Stop Foreclosure or whatever. You can also put out your own signs. Just write "Handyman Specials Cheap" with your phone number. Your phone will ring for sure. You can also get them printed at a local screen printing sign shop. Be sure to ask for references of the sign shops best We buy Houses customers.
    
14. Section 8 landlords - these landlords have been approved to have their homes be in the HUD low income housing providers. It is a public record. You may have to make a public records request. You now have to go to a landlords meeting to get approved. Just go to that meeting and ask for cards and hand out cards.
    
15. Deeds - you can check the local registrar of deeds each week. You want to look at all the deeds each day or week and look for where the address of the buyer is different from that of the property. Write them a letter or call them.
    
16. Realtors - get an internet savvy realtor to get you a list of all properties that sold in the last month for CASH. If your area does not record properties fast at the Property Appraiser's office then get the sales from two months ago. Search on the address and find the new owner. Also, you can contact these realtors and ask if they deal often with investors, if so, ask if they want to be on your preferred buyers list for realtors.
    
17. Foreclosure and Tax Deed sales at the Courthouse - these buyers are required to pay cash the same day as they bid on the property. They are serious buyers. This crowd is not usually nice to new faces, so just give out your card and ask if they have one as well. Go early or stay late, they will be totally concentrating during the actual auctions
    
18. Weekly classified papers - these are where the cheap investors advertise their properties for sale, rent and also place we buy houses ads. This is absolutely one of the best methods.
    
19. Hard money lenders - these guys know all the players. If you have a property, call them and ask if they have any buyers right now. They sometimes will send your deal out to their list. If someone contacts you, add them to your list. Most hard money lenders will also buy property from time to time. Get them all on your list.
    
20. Attend auctions - get on all the auctioneers mailing lists. Most of them advertise in the business section of the paper or on tv. When they have an auction, attend and give your card to anyone who bids on multiple properties. Those are the investors, not homeowners looking to get a good deal.
    
21. Get to know the self-directed ira companies - You can attend and get to know the investors.
    
22. Get to know the eviction attorneys in your town - Their clients might be interested in buying properties.
    
23. Stop in houses being rehabbed - Many times you can find the owners. If not, you can meet trades people who may give you the investors name or other investors they work for.
    

That should get you started looking in the right direction. Honestly though, the best way to find Buyers is to get a good deal under contract, When you have a good deal, Investors will come out of the woodwork to buy it.

@Benjamin Bleasdale

Cold calling has lost effectiveness due to innovations like the no call list, caller ID and the internet.

The Internet has enabled buyers (or sellers) to conduct more product and company research before they are ready. Prospects have taken a great deal of power back from any type of solicitation due to the speed and availability at which information is received and digested.

This is precisely why statistics show very few people pick up the telephone for a sales call, and even less actually stay on the phone long enough to hear a pitch. You will be forgotten within moments of hanging up and the vast majority of your calls will go unanswered. PERIOD. Do you answer calls on your cell from people who are not in your contacts? I don't. Not in the last 10 years or so.

While old callers rely on the phone call to unknowingly force their leads down a sales funnel they had no clue they were in in the first place, creating demand through content creation and other inbound marketing methods effectively qualifies all of your prospects for the eventual phone call. It plants seeds. Nurtures and waters them.

@Bilal Ahmad

I feel your pain, and you've been given some fantastic advice. One of the simplest and profitable things you can do is to develop a list in the area where you'll be the "goto" guy and send out some mailers to draw attention to yourself. A large number of my clients are Agents who offer to buy or list, giving them 2 bites at each apple. It always happens that the number of listings gained out pace the number of buys simply because the vast majority of people are going to sell traditionally.

If you aren't up to outsourcing or mounting your own campaign, you could always work out an arrangement with local wholesalers who talk to a larger number of people who want to sell, as opposed to "needing" to sell. 

Most of the bargain basement services are simply big box stores and you choose from the same templates that everyone else uses. I prefer to custom write and design plus adding some knowledge and experience along the way on how to actually get the deal done. 

Kudos to you @Lauren Rautio for taking some action....that's half the battle. Wishing you the best.

@Jennifer Moore

May I ask what it is in talking with sellers that has caused you to want to own rather than flip the contracts? Are you seeing a lot of really good deals? You're like "wow, this is a really good deal! I wish I could buy it!" If that's the case, taking a few of them down to pass to investors to get your feet wet is great advice. As you get more of those under your belt, you increase your value. 

On the other hand, if it's an ideological shift in your thinking, concerning your goals....same thing applies. You have to walk before you can run :-). I had wholesaled dozens of properties before deciding to become a landlord. The first property I bought, I did indeed partner with a long term buyer of mine (thank goodness because I didn't know a thing about being a landlord).

Learn to be a deal finder, find deals consistently, and you can add exit strategies as you go. I wholesale (or wholetail) many more than I keep and I look at every property on a case by case basis to decide which exit to take.

TL;DR; Keep doing what you're doing and get a deal done. Then do another. And so on...rinse repeat. Before you know it, more options will open up.

Hope that helps!

@Arun Kumar

Could you tell us a little more about what you mean by seller financing? Are you talking about free and clear selling with owner finance? Subject to? I typically include a seller finance option in the offers I make. To those who aren't ready part with an asset out right, it can be very attractive. 

Landlords are accustomed to making their money monthly. In exchange, they have many responsibilities and liability to deal with. When faced with an option to make money the same way the bank does every month without being obligated to 2 am phone complaints about a stopped up toilet or broken air conditioner, it's usually a pretty easy transition. 

In other words, you can utilize the same prospect pool you may already be targeting and simply add in a further option as a means of bringing it in to your portfolio. If on the other hand you are for more or less passive and looking for acquisitions without the hassle (which is what a good Agent brings to the table), I find that good wholesalers are pretty good at scouting these out.

Hope that helps!

@nolan chandler

I highly recommend that use your State's promulgated contract....the same one the Agents and Broker's use. There is a reason it's standardized; it will meet all of your State's requirements, and it will be what everyone...including Judges...are used to seeing.

God forbid you have occasion to go before a judge, but if you do, you won't want it to be with something sub standard, full of weasel clauses. ("Offer contingent on Buyers Partners Acceptance" OMG how I hate that one! If you don't have the authority to purchase without approval you DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT!!......sorry.....I hate how some really rascally people have given this business a black eye.)

Type out anything there that you require which the contract doesn't cover. For instance, I usually ask for access and keys, restate in plain language the one contingency I use (Inspection) and label it "Exhibit 1" Every State's contract I've seen has a paragraph for "Special Provisions".  In that field you would write "See Exhibit 1" then make sure the exhibit reads correctly.

Your assignment is not actually a part of the contract in most States. An assignment is nothing more than closing instructions to the title company. They wouldn't care if you wrote it on toilet paper as long as all the names were spelled correctly. Assignments are not a contract or even an addendum....it is not an agreement between you and the Seller, it is an understanding between you and your buyer....the assignment informs the title company which name to sub in for yours, naming the "And / Or Assigns".

Hope that helps!

Yes, include in the asking price. "Mr Buyer, I need to get xx dollars for this deal". Log the fee on an assignment form of your choosing, then pass that to the title company where you brought the executed contract. Make sure your buyers name and contact info are complete and correct. 

Most title companies wouldn't care if the assignment was written on toilet paper as long as everything is spelled correctly :-)

Hello Victor,

I've used many types of marketing to reach potential sellers over the years. I still test and tweak new methods as they emerge while trying to improve on the tried and true.

Dollar for dollar, the best bang for my buck has always been direct mail. I make lists of people who currently own what I want to acquire, in the areas where I want to acquire, and then I narrow that group down to those who have the ability to sell at a discount.