Marketing for Motivated Sellers

[TJ]

What is the best way to find motivated sellers?

Are bandit signs saying "Cash for Houses" or "We Buy Houses" the best way to find motivated sellers??  

I have been getting foreclosed listings at the courthouse several times a week.  I have gotten several calls.....but nothing to make me some $$.  It seems that buying a list of the foreclosures in the county 20 days before the auction seems pretty fruitless to me.  I know there must be a lot of people purchasing these lists and those people going into foreclosure getting a lot of postcards and mailings from investors.  Not to mention that you have 20 days to send a mailing, have that person to contact you and then buy their house...which I guess is do-able but tight on time.

Any help out there on how to get started, thanks for any comments on the subject

TJ Carter

[David Alexander]

I'm not the right guy to answer this question....

As I might have alterior motives.... lol..

Bottom line... Your starting in the hardest place... and doing the same things everyone else does.... Chase the deals...

The key as you've said is marketing...

Me personally... I believe in signs...  But, hey I should....

But, you need to focus on learning marketing to get folks calling you.... long before the house is going up for sale...

David Alexander

[TJ]

For those that use bandit signs....have you ever had trouble with fines or anything like that?  are there places where you should avoid putting signs?

TJ Carter

[David Alexander]

I have never gotten any fines....  Taht's after over 3 years of using them...

I have however heard of 2 instances of friends that have...  

One was buying 8 houses a month... and using about a 500 signs a month to do so....   His guy was caught putting the signs out by code enforcement...  and they wrote him a ticket....  it was $275...

Cost of doing business...

Depending on your tolerance...  that's cheap money... for the kind of money they were making...  on the otherhand....  I reccomend only putting out 15 to 25 in any given area... for the most effective use....

Not blanketing small areas with 100 - 200 signs at a time... it does become overkill...

The other folks I know doing were doing close to the same... putting them everywhere... but, put their business line on the signs... code enforcement sent them a ticket directly to their address....  Use your cell, voicemail or 800 service...

I believe their fine was $300....

But, when you look at the profits versus... cost... no comparison...

David Alexander

[TJ]

David,

I was wondering where are the best places to put signs for results...ie. exits/entrance for neighborhoods or more major intersections with traffic lights?  what do you think would be a rough estimate for a size of an area (you mentioned about 15 - 25 signs for an area)?

I also read some of your other posts that say you don't rehab - "there's no money in it".  Do you retail the house at a discount? or, what method do you use to flip the house?

Thanks for you responses,

TJ Carter

[Bryan Ellis]

I agree with you guys...bandit signs are a solid way to get deals.  Have used them extensively myself, and continue to do so.

But my best results lately have come from direct mail marketing to non-foreclosure targets, such as expired listings and tired landlords.  It costs me an average of a little under $1,000 in marketing costs per deal.  Each deal usually puts around $22K in my pocket.  I like those numbers!

[kpaddler]

Signs work, you can post them at the entrances to subdivisions you would like to buy in. Personally I like to use direct mail since I can focus it on the specific type of motivated seller I want to buy from. Kathy Kennebrook

[David Alexander]

For me...  It's banditsigns... and of course you know why... Lol...

But, the reality... My cost to get a house is usually somewhere around $150 bucks...

And No competition...  with direct mail... you've always got tons of competition...

Direct mail... It just never worked for me like I liked.... and I was never the tediuos type to create a system around it.... But, Hey... like ya'll... I know others that it works for......

The point really is... create a system that works for you.....

Get the leads coming coming in... buy some houses... change your life...

David

[kpaddler]

I would have to disagree. Signs are a great medium but they ae not targeted marketing. The type of direct mail I do is very targeted to specific types of sellers. There is no competition for these properties and half the time the seller didn't know they were going to sell until they received contact from me. They knew they had a problem, they just didn't know how to solve it. Some of the types of sellers I target are out of state owners, estate and probate, quit claim deeds, military transfers and others. Kathy

[David Alexander]

Disagree with?  

Competition with direct mail....

Or with using banditsigns...

???

Hey we can all disagree on lots of things...

Reality... Most are taught to use direct mail.... targeted or not.... If you get 2, 3, 10....  letters....  from investors.... you got competition....

Often, when I buy a house.... and we check the mailbox.... it's stuffed with letters and psotcards....  from investors....  

With Banditsigns... I avoid areas where other investors are... we weed them down through voicemails.... it creates the best use of time...

Now, the reality... no matter what method you use....  I've tested lots.... it is really a mute point as it only takes one deal to pay for a years marketing...

Do what works... So, you don't have to...

Lol..

David Alexander

[4R Management]

Bandit Signs, Newspaper Ads, Direct Marketing, etc. None work if they aren't written and focused to the correct audience. To many people think we need to focus on areas where properties are good for flipping or renting, etc.

Instead we need to focus on areas where  you can get your ads/marketing in front of people that are motivated. So think of what makes a person motivated to sell.

Here are some  ideas:

1. Job Loss
2. Job Transfer
3. Divorce
4. Death (ok the heirs would be selling)
5. Bankrupcty.

Think of where those people tend to mass and work those areas.

1. Unemployment offices
2. Outside of buildings that house attorney's offices
3. Funeral Homes
4. Divorce court buildings

etc.

Put your signs there, or ads there, and you will see a better response.

Hope that helps!

[kpaddler]

Hi- What I was disagreeing with was that there is alot of competition with direct mail. There isn't, especially when it is very targeted. Most people don't know what to do about their problem until they get contact from me. I also think signs are excellent, in several forms, bandit signs, bus benches and auto signage. One of my favorite "headlines" that works incredibly well is- "Sell your house on the date of your choice for a fair price in any condtion"  This answers all their objections and lays out benefits for them.  I usually do it as four lines plus a phone number. I also use this in classified ads as the whole ad.  Since code enforcement kind of busts our chops for signage on main roads, I usually put mine at the entrances to subdivisions I want to buy in. I will share one way that I get around the sign issue. Put your "we buy houses" info on one side and the words "Yard Sale" with an arrow on the other even when there is no yard sale. Code enforcement seems to leave these alone. Kathy

[Jeff Adam]

I think that Finding Motivated Sellers is changing these days.
Guess what, everybody is online now.  What do most people do when they want to buy a car or anything else these days?  They go online and look?

Guess what, a lot of people I have met as of lately that are in foreclosure have gone online and did a Google search:

-We Buy Houses
-Stop Foreclosure
-Sell House Fast


I think another good way to capture Motivated Sellers is to use
an internet lead generating website such as "QuickOffers.com".


You are not going to find all of your Motivated Sellers from one source.  You need to have several sources if you  are going to be successful in this game.  For example, after talking to my super-successful investor friends last night, here is the breakdown of where his 82 deals came from last year:

Direct Mailing Campaign: 23 deals
MLS: 7 deals
Advertising:  8 deals
Online advertising: 12 deals
Bird-dogs:   7 deals
Hud:  2 deals
Wholesalers:  12 deals
REO Agents:     6 deals
Referrals:         5 deals


My point is, dont get locked into finding all  of your deals from just one source.  Start thinking outside of the box.


Best Riches,
Jeff Adam

[David Alexander]

I agree with you on the surface.... but, you also, have to create a repeatable system..... for instance... if direct mail or banditsigns, or whatever works for you... it's just a numbers game after that... that you can both train someone else to do.... and create a system around it....

When you all over the board...  doing every kind of medium imaginable it means your doing a whole lot more work than you have to get deals....

For most real estate investors.... 2 deals a month is a lot.... 4 is huge... and 6 - 8 month is knocking it out of the park....  

So, you don't have to create any real huge budgets.... unless your heading for a full fledged business at it.... which once your doing that... then you should be creating a brand image... etc.. etc....

David Alexander

[Jeff Adam]

David, I dont know what area you are from, but in California there is a lot of competition.  If you think you are going to simply put up some bandit signs and have the calls go to a voicemail, good luck!  

You are absolutely right, that is the problem with most new investors today, they are all over the board.  The key is to find 2-3 sources that will bring you some quality deals on a monthly basis.  I recommend that new investors starting out do a basic direct mail campaign as well as cash-offers to 'absentee' owners.  After they land their first deal or two, they can then expand from there and possible try another method such as MLS first day out or knocking on doors of people in pre-foreclosure with an equity purchase agreement in hand.  

In terms of creating any huge budgets?  Have you ever compared what the price of an ad in a newspaper for a month would cost versus a membership to a lead generating website such as Quickoffers.com?  The website would be cheaper.  As a matter of fact, most successful real-estate investors I know  are on 3-4 of them.  They are smart and know that just one deal will pay for the site for the next 20 years! What I have found as of lately is that not everyone wants to meet over the kitchen table anymore!  If you can direct someone who is in foreclosure to a website where they can get a FREE Report and where they can also fill-out an online sales form a lot of people will feel more comfortable with that.  Also, the instant credibilty you gain from being part of a national site is priceless.  

I think the goal of most investors out there is to create a business so that they can get out of the rat race and quit their jobs.  In terms of creating a brand image, by being part of one of the reputable sites out there, you are instantly branded!  Without creating any huge budgets...

Best Riches,
Jeff Adam