All Forum Posts by: Sojourner Johnson

Having a list of buyers you have never dealt with is not worth much for the following reasons
1- you have no idea how real these “buyers” are
2- you don’t know the buyers parameters for purchasing properties
3 - you don’t know if they’re currently looking to purchase a property
4 - you don’t know if they currently have the financial resources to purchase a property
5- you don’t know how quickly they move
6 - you don’t know if they try to “beat” down wholesalers on price

Let me give an example from 42 years ago when I was a commercial real estate broker.  Through various sources, such as call ins on ads we ran, referrals, cold calling, etc. I developed various lists of buyers for different property types.  We acquired a listing on a triple net supermarket building being sold for about 40% below market value - in all my years I have only seen something this discounted listed one other time.  I had 200 buyers on my list.  This was the most unbelievable deal of a lifetime.  The results of my notifying each “buyer” on my list was 197 “buyers” had some excuse as to why they were not interested.  I ceremoniously through their “index card” in the trash can.  Three buyers were immediately hot to buy and offered full price offers, all cash.  A bidding war ensued and the end buyer paid 25% over asking price, still getting a 20% discount.  3 out of 200 were real buyers.  If we had the social media/internet in instant information flow in 1982 we do today I could have eliminated the hours spent putting together a buyer list and merely posted the deal online and had it sold just as quick, or quicker. 

I am of the opinion that 3/4 of what I see people starting a business do is “busy work” they’re doing because they do not want to do the one thing necessary to jump start their business - SALES.  Most people are uncomfortable with the sales process, so they find other work to do.  I’ve seen people start businesses and do the following before they even had the first customer sold: hire a HR person; set up a pension plan; purchase a $110,000 company car; complete a multi colored 5 year forecast with footnotes and 24 pages of explanations; pay a retainer to a CPA; created a full marketing plan without knowing the market; purchase equipment that wouldn’t be needed unless they reached $2 million in sales; and “organize” their files over 3 days.  
There’s a big difference between doing important things to prepare for making a successful first sale, and doing things to avoid putting in more time selling.

You should have a list of buyers before you contract any property. It is tough building a good buyers list of people who are ready to pull the trigger on deals you have. 

@Sojourner Johnson, because if you have a high-quality deal, finding an end buyer is as easy as posting the property in a wholesale Facebook group. I'll repeat myself, the deal has to be legitimate. Part of the reason why wholesalers can't find end buyers is because their deals are trash. 95% of the properties I receive aren't deals at all. Most of which are practically priced at market value. Needless to say, if you're going to wholesale, you need to acquire the deal significantly below market value for it makes sense to the end buyer. Easier said than done.