Imagine if you had someone whose sole job was to find property deals for YOUR real estate investing business.
This person would spend all their working hours scouting for properties, connecting with real estate experts in your area, and bringing you all the deals you need to keep your business booming.
Well, I’ve got good news for you. You already have that person… it’s you.
As a real estate investor, your #1 goal each day should be lining up property deals that will create passive income for the present and long-term equity for your future.
And – here’s the best part – you already know how to do this. It’s just a matter of actually doing it.
So, today, I want to share 3 strategies for finding deals, generating leads, and increasing your business. Let’s get right into it…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_TPsMngdoE
BIGGER NETWORK = GREATER NET WORTH
You’ve heard it a million times, but I gotta say it again… network. Network. NETWORK.
If you want a steady deal flow, you have to get out there and meet people.
Go to your local REIA meetings, multi-family property investor meetups, landlord association conferences, or even just entrepreneur meetups. These are where all the wholesalers hang out!
In any given month, I have around $4 million in deals that I fund through my private lending company. That’s an insane amount of money! Do you know where 100% of these deals come from? Networking at the local meetings.
If you’re not sure where to find these groups, try these online searches:
- “We buy houses in [your city]”
- “Wholesale properties in [your city]”
- “Cheap houses for sale in [your city]”
- “Real estate investment in [your city]”
Once you find some interesting prospects, call those wholesalers and get on their email list. Make sure you let them know that you’re serious about doing deals.
It’s also important to make sure that they’re legit too. When you talk with them about their business, ask them questions like:
- How many deals do you do monthly?
- What areas or markets do you focus on?
- How long have you been wholesaling properties?
- What’s your marketing budget?
Then, your next step is just to network like CRAZY. Make some snazzy business cards (I recommend using Vistaprint – it’s cheap and fast) and leave them in public places like gas stations and stores. And be sure to hand them out to people you meet on a daily basis.
For example, if you set a goal to hand out 5 cards a day, and you only hand out 2 on Wednesday, then you need to hand out 8 cards on Thursday. No excuses.
It’s not scary, I promise. Take a look at this example of how to hand out your cards:
You: Hey, do you know of any vacant houses around or anyone looking to sell a house?
Walmart checker: Um… what?
You: Well, I buy houses and I am looking to buy 1 or 2 more this month… and I was wondering if you know of anyone or ever see any vacant houses around?
Walmart checker: No, I don’t.
You: Okay, well if I give you my card, will you call or text me if you ever happen to hear of anyone looking to sell? If I end up buying their house, I will give you $500 just for calling and telling me about it. The same with a vacant house; let me know the address, and if I buy it, I will pay you.
Walmart checker: Okay.
Worst case scenario? They think you’re a little sketchy and throw you card out. Best case scenario? They call you with a lead that becomes your next deal. What do you have to lose?
GET READY TO CRUISE
While networking should be your #1 priority for building your business, there are a couple of other old-school techniques, like driving for dollars, that can still be extremely effective.
The key when driving for dollars to keep an eye out for telltale indicators that a property is vacant, like:
• Tall grass or overgrown landscaping
• Mail piled up
• Unshoveled snow
• Eviction notices on the door
If you see a property like this, write down the address and look up the owner on your county auditor website. Try calling them or sending a postcard.
If you can’t get ahold of them or your postcard comes back as undeliverable, use TLO.com to skip trace the owner. Easy as pie!
BRUSH UP ON THOSE SPEAKING OR WRITING SKILLS
Now, this one is going to take a little time, but if you’re serious about joint venturing, buying from wholesalers, and creating a solid flow of properties for your business, it can be immensely beneficial to become a local REI expert in your area.
Some things you can try are:
• Speak at local events
• Speak at local colleges
• Write articles on real estate for local journals
• Get involved with the community (chamber of commerce, rotary club, etc.)
• Volunteer at your local REIA
• Write a book and publish it on Amazon
If you want to be a magnet for wholesalers, you need to be highly visible and create a well-known presence in your communities. And, once you have enough success, you can hire an acquisitions manager to do some of these things for you.
It’s okay to start small. If you’re not comfortable with speaking, try starting a REI blog instead. If the thought of writing makes you cringe, but you’re okay in front of groups, line up a speaking engagement.
You don’t have to write the next New York Times bestseller or give the world’s most influential speech of all time… you just have to get out there and try.
BE INVENTIVE AND MOTIVATED!
It all comes down to this… on a scale from 1-10, how resourceful are you being right now?
And what I mean by that is… how well are you using the few resources you have (without spending a ton of money) to find deals, make connections with other investors and wholesalers, and market your business?
If you have no presence in the market, you’re afraid, and you think you have no money to market yourself, then you need to rank yourself as a “1.”
If you’re an awesome go-getter who is using every resource and avenue available to find deals, give yourself a “10.”
Now, take a look at your rating, and write down a list of activities, tasks, or strategies that you need to complete in order to increase that rating.
And – remember – money should never be an excuse. When I first started as an investor, I used to buy boring white cardboard, staple it to brown stakes, and write “We Buy Houses!” in permanent marker. Seriously, it was plain and ugly and simple. But it got the message out! If I put out 100 signs, and just got one deal from it… the effort was worth it.
So, how resourceful are you being? How does your deal flow look right now? You can read blogs like this all day, attend the best conferences, pay for the most prestigious coaching, and more – but at the end of the day, it’s your job to apply the knowledge, put in the effort, and never give up on your goals. Are you doing your job?
Be Daring,
Josh
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