All Forum Posts by: Jeremy Brandt

There's a phenomenal group of highly successful real estate investors in We Buy Houses®, and I'm honored to be a part of building this amazing team! 

Our twice yearly mastermind conference is one of the most highly rated benefits of being a We Buy Houses licensee, and I learn as much as anyone else at these events!

Hi Attila,

I'm sorry you are having difficulty reaching my team - I just sent you a PM.  

As long as the trademarks are removed, Facebook will reinstate your page.  I'll have someone take care if it Monday and you'll have my contact info if there's a problem.

Best,

Jeremy

Hi @Jeff Richardson - great topic!

Here are a my thoughts on generating home seller leads - we've worked with over 1 million home sellers in the past 10 years, so have it down to a science.

The first thing to consider is what you have more of - time or money. You can use both very effectively to generate leads. Most people start out with more time, and as they become successful begin trading time for money.

MONEY options

1. pay per click advertising (Google, Yahoo/Bing) - this is the fastest way to generate leads, but requires expertise, a very well designed landing page, and the ability to respond immediately.

2. direct mail - this is VERY effective for generating leads, but requires consistency and commitment. Being highly targeted is critical to getting a good response.

3. Zillow/Trulia advertising - If you're looking for sellers, you can get a list from Zillow of who has posted their house FSBO on the site, then call and tell them why listing with you is a better option.

4. buy leads - A LOT of companies sell leads to real estate agents. This is only a good option if you have your processes dialed in, and follow up with people within seconds. I would not recommend it for new agents.

TIME options

1. network - this is the best way to generate leads where you aren't competing with dozens of other agents and everyone should do this at the start. Meet with every CPA, title company, loan officer, insurance company, etc. in your town. Help them understand why you will service their clients better than any other real estate agent out there.

2. craigslist posting - I think this is a fairly low value activity because it's so cluttered now, but if you have an angle that makes you different, it can be useful. Title your posts with what a home buyer might be looking for "denton homes for sale" - craigslist posts can show up high in Google search results

3. search engine optimization - don't spend a ton of time on this, but make sure all of your online profiles (realtor.com, zillow, trulia, activerain, yellow pages, yelp, etc.) link back to your web site and that it's properly structured.

4. start a blog - consistently write every few days about real estate in Denton, what's going on, trends, etc. Most of this data is free from NAR and others. Over time you'll become the Denton Real Estate Expert, and gain a lot of credibility with your target market (and all those professionals you are networking with)

5. social media - post your blog entries to twitter/facebook/etc. Post house pictures on Pinterest & Instagram. Be sure you have a company social media profile on all the networks. Provide valuable content that home buyers/sellers are interested in.

6. get involved - community groups, church, school, etc. Most of us know hundreds of people, they should ALL know you are a real estate agent. Wear logoed shirts all the time, have a sign on your car, tell a story about a crazy seller, etc. DO NOT call people you don't talk to often and pitch them - this turns people off bigtime and will put you in the "multi-level market friend" category.

Congratulations on taking the next step in your real estate career and all the best!

Shane Little -

I'd be VERY careful investing money with out of state "real estate investors" - there have been many scams and ponzi schemes in this area and it's highly risky!

A few things to consider...

1. If you get sideways with them and need to sue, you'll likely have to sue in THEIR state not yours, causing added expense.

2. If you want to physically check up on them, you'll have to hire someone local or fly out there yourself.

3. You won't be a part of the community there are in - making it more difficult to know their reputation

4. It will be easier for them to deceive you.

If none of that deterred you, then the rules for investing money with an out of state investor are the same as for someone local...

1. Do a background check and check their credit.

2. Do a TON of reference checks. Be very thorough here. Ask the references for references. It's easy to get 2-3 people to lie for you, its really tough to get 10 people to do the same. Home sellers, home buyers, lenders, title company, lawyers, etc. Get a good cross-section of people.

3. The only thing that matters is past performance. Promises count for nothing. Examine the last 10 deals someone has done - and if they ALL come up roses, dig deeper. Nobody bats a thousand in real estate and a stand-up investor should be able to show you all their deals, not just the great ones.

4. Insist on control. How is your investment protected? Are you on the title? Do you have a lien on other assets? What happens if this person decides to skip town - what is your recourse?

5. Absolutely you should ask for all previous lenders - then call them and ask probing questions.

I hope that helps!

Welcome Jesse Allen!

I'd love to hear more about what you are doing with automation and data mining - perhaps we can work together somehow!

My business for the past 10 years has been doing marketing and generating motivated sellers for investors. I'm sure you have an interesting story about how you ended up in that world - and what went wrong!

John -

One of the largest and oldest in LA that I've worked with is the "Real Estate Investing Club of Los Angels" - http://www.realestateclubla.com/ - started by Phyllis Rockower.

I'm sure there are many more, Los Angeles has an incredibly strong real estate investing market right now.

Welcome to the community Prasanna! We are based in Dallas/Fort Worth but happy to help you on your journey however possible.

I'm looking for feedback from experienced investors on what your best return on investment (cost per lead, cost per deal, return on ad spend) has been to connect with home sellers.

Primarily repeatable marketing systems, not anecdotal instances.

Example:
Sent 5,000 post cards (6x9 full color) to non-owner-occupants (Cost $2,500)
Received 100 calls (cost per call/lead = $25)
Bought 2 houses (cost per deal = $1,250)
1 wholesale ($5000 profit)
1 rehab ($20,000 profit)
$ Return after marketing expenses ($22,500)
% return on marketing (10% return on ad spend)

We've done everything (Internet, TV, Radio, direct mail, billboards, door hangers, etc) and I'm very interested in what your experiences are - and it's educational for everyone else as well.

Thanks!

Cody Croslow If you are good with data mining, here's another technique that can produce incredible results...

Export the active MLS database PLUS sold listings.

Run sold comps by zip code or neighborhood to get the average price per square foot of recent sales.

Compare that value (per zip or per neighborhood) to all current active listings in that zip/neighborhood.

Investigate and make offers on anything listed at a price per square foot that is > 20% below the average price per sqft for that area.

This can quickly identify highly motivated sellers and property that has been undervalued in the listing.

We've used this MLS technique with incredible success:

1. Download the entire MLS database in your area, including agent contact info (you likely need an IDX agreement for your website to get this)

2. Import into a database (Access is a good one)

3. Filter for properties with DOM > 120 days, and distressed/motivated/cash/fast/foreclosure/etc in the comments (both agent and public) fields

4. Take that list and do a mail merge. Email the listing agent of each property the following (replacing the appropriate fields below with values from your database):

"Hi , I'm a cash buyer and saw your listing at . I am interested in purchasing it for <57% of list price>.

In addition, I will pay you 4% as the listing agent if we can close within 30 days.

Please let me know if this works for your clients and I'll forward a contract over to you right away.

Thank you."

5. You will buy a LOT of property. And get a few angry emails from agents about lowball offers.

We've also experimented with sending PDF contracts on every single property using automated mail merge tools. We've made offers on 500 properties in 30 minutes and had great results.

Your cost of marketing is time with this technique, and an intern with good computer skills can do all of this for you.