Newspaper Ads: Free and Easy Real Estate Prospecting

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Okay. Since its Christmas time, I’m taking the week off from trying to find a new residence. Next week I’ll update you on everything that’s been going on.

What I want to talk about this week is one of the easiest and cheapest (it’s FREE) ways to get a deal. So, last weekend I put on a two day boot camp for college students only. I always enjoy doing events because I end up learning and re-learning so much myself. During the event, I pulled out the weekend newspaper and started calling ads in the “for rent” section. After only five calls I found a woman who was willing to do a lease option on her townhouse.

When I first started in this business and I was broke, I used to call newspaper ads all the time. If you have the proper script, it’s not difficult to “pitch” a lease option to a landlord (because they can’t resist guaranteed rent). Now, I haven’t called a newspaper ad in a long time because most of my deals come from networking, but the event was a great reminder how simple this business can and should be.

So, this week you should be finishing up your 2009 goals. The goals have to be written, because if it’s not written down then it’s not a goal. You should also make your marketing plan for 2009. If I were you, on that marketing plan would be to call 5-10 newspaper ads per day. If you do that there is no reason you shouldn’t get at least one deal per month.

One last thing before I end my final post of 2008. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. It’s been a wonderful year of making a lot of money and also enjoying life a lot more……..Alright, this really is the last thing. Often new people in this business ask me how soon they’re going to get their first deal. And, my answer always is “how badly do you want it?” If you aren’t willing to call five people per day in the newspaper then you have nobody but yourself to blame for your current financial situation, so take action and make 2009 a year to remember.

Photo Credit: laffy4k

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.