33 Ways to Build a Ridiculous Cash Buyers List
Q.What could possibly beat the exhilaration of flipping that sweet wholesale deal of yours for a tidy payday with only, say, an hour or two of your actual time involved?
A.The euphoria of doing so within mere hours of putting it under contract. Maybe even minutes.
Sound far-fetched? Too good to be true?
It’s all in the wrist list.
As in, building and cultivating your own ridiculously awesome list of hungry cash buyers for real estate – waiting, salivating, just hoping to stick a fork in the next juicy wholesale deal you’ve cooked up and served on a silver platter.
When it comes to wholesaling houses for quick cash, anyone who’s been at this for at least 37 seconds already gets the raw juice that having a solid list of cash buyers on tap can be for your wholesaling endeavors.
No buyers, no profits – know buyers, know profits.
(lol, see what I did there?)
Brace yourself
In this Knowledge Bomb I’m about to drop 33 time-tested, proven cash buyers list-building maneuvers on that pretty little head of yours. I’m talking, a treasure trove of ways you can create that goldmine list of active investors, with capital on hand, and eager to share their buying criteria with you in hopes of snatching up one of the good ones.
This should be the last thing you ever need to read on how to build a cash buyers list.
* suddenly this –> *This list – basically a mini-course – is the culmination of what we’ve learned of cash buyer-getting thus far in over two and a half decades in the real estate game. You might even want to go ahead and bookmark this for future reference, cause there’s no way you can use all of these ideas at once unless you’re from Hogwarts or a robot from the future.
Use even a fraction of these tactics and you’ll quickly have all the cash buyers for real estate wholesale deals you need.
Deploy half or more of them, and I guarantee you’ll be a cash buyer ninja with the biggest, awesomest buyers list in your whole freaking area, hands down.
OK, I can hear you asking it in my mind (outta my head, you sicko!) so let’s go ahead and answer before we dive in:
“Do I really need a ginormous buyers list to win at wholesaling?”
Nah, of course not. But also, it doesn’t exactly hurt either.
Let me explain…
My first few years wholesaling houses (starting back in 2001) I only had like 3 or 4 guys I ever flipped contracts to. They were solid, local players with years of experienced notched on their belts, cash on hand, and the ability to act fast and close quickly if needed. I only needed these 3-4 guys in my corner to close around 40 something deals my first year in the game. Not too shabby.
But also, consider that having a veritable stockpile of cash buyers on tap gives a couple of unique benefits:
⇢ First: You have by default a wider net to fit your deals into. More cash buyers = more diverse buying criteria = more opportunity for you to craft a deal from those leads you’re sorting and sifting.
⇢ Second: A bigger cash buyers list can attract even more deals to come your way, because once word hits the street with other investors that you’ve achieved “Buyers List Level: Expert” something interesting happens:
Other investors start bringing you their deals to sell to your buyers.
Think about it, once you get a rep for selling contracts in hours instead of days or weeks, suddenly you become the path of least resistance when their first couple of attempts to work their flaccid little buyers list doesn’t exactly pan out.
So having the biggest, baddest buyers list in town can actually give you more deal-making options, while making you a co-wholesaling magnet, which means more easy money in your pocket. This has happened to us many times and it freaking rocks.
Having said all that, it really doesn’t matter what your personal philosophy for the ‘ideal’ cash buyers list is – the tactics you’ll read below are more than enough to get you there.
How these are organized
Just FYI, rather than try to sort these finding cash buyers strategies by some kind of value, I’ve gone with no particular order, except for grouping them into 3 main categories:
- Hi, I'm Awkward! (Networking Tactics)
- Thug Life (Street Tactics)
- The Internets (Web/Tech Tactics)
If a tactic could fit in more than one group, I just picked one.
And hey, I bet you a whole dollar you’ll find more than one clever, outside the box strategy you never would have thought up yourself in here.
OK then, pick a tab, and let’s do this…
Networking Tactics
(1) Local REIA
It may already be painfully obvious, but your local real estate investing association (REIA) is a watering hole for all manner of investor, including rehabbers and landlords you need to be connected with.
Go to the meetings! But don’t just randomly collect business cards. Rub shoulders, shake hands, but do more listening than talking, and look for ways to make authentic connections with the players you identify in the room.
Pro Tip: Look for ways you can be more involved than merely being a regular member showing up for meetings. Be more visible by volunteering to help somehow or even teach something. Consider buying an ad in the club newsletter to promote your wholesaling biz, or even becoming a corporate sponsor.
I signed our company up for Gold Sponsorship with our REIA, which gives us primo ad in their newsletter and website, plus a spotlight opportunity at every meeting to stand up and let any cash buyers in the room know we’re the best deal-pushers in town. From this alone, we add a stack of fresh cash buyers to our list every single month.
Pro Tip 2: Contact the REI president and see if he/she would consider sharing one of your sweet deals to their cash buyer list for a profit cut.
(2) Meetup.com
Meetup is an online social networking portal that facilitates offline group meetings in various places around the world. Basically you can find and join common interest groups, like politics, books, gamers, Anime, guys who like to drink beer and watch movies in their garage on Thursday nights, or whatevertheheckelse. Not long ago I was looking for co-wholesale partners and I found them by searching for meet-ups in the area. There were several REI related group, so I joined the meet-ups and posted to their message board, with multiple responses to show for it.
Pro Tip: I even decided to start my own meetup group at a local pizza joint, and it’s been an invaluable network builder for us to run this group, including adding multiple cash buyers to our list on a regular basis. Do definitely give that a try.
(3) Closing Attorney / Title Agent
Think about it, who knows the ‘cash players’ better than the attorneys and title agents closing their deals? And they already have a vested interested in keeping a great thing going with them, so why wouldn’t they want extra brownie points for a warm intro to another awesome client who can help them keep make even more money doing (and closing) great deals?
So next time you’re at your title company’s closing table, just ask them: “Hey, who else do you do closings for that pays cash for houses? Think they might ever be interested in any of the wholesale deals you’ve seen me doing? … Great, would you mind making a friendly introduction please?”
Pro Tip: Title companies can also often sell (or give) you a list of all cash transaction buyers who’ve purchased a certain number of properties in a certain zip, with specific price and date range. Just ask them if they can help you out with this kind of info.
(4) Hard Money Lenders
Keep in mind that not all your buyers need literal cash in the bank – investors who utilize hard money can also be perfectly fine for wholesale deals, so long as you know there’s still a qualifying factor involved. So reach out to any local hard money lender and make a personal connection, then see how they’d feel about introducing you to any of their local investor-borrowers who might be interested in doing more great deals.
Pro Tip: If they can’t/won’t connect you for some reason, you can work around them: In your county’s online public records, look up what properties your local HMLs have liens on, then look up the owners. Ka-pow!
(5) Landlords with Houses for Rent
It’s a no-brainer that landlords who already own performing rentals could be interested in buying more if they like the area and numbers. So reach out to any/all landlords advertising houses for rent and ask if they’re interested possibly acquiring another solid cashflow property. If yes, continue the discussion from there to find out their criteria.
Pro Tip: I highly recommend doing this systematically, so that (i) you’ll be consistent with it and (ii) you’ll hopefully avoid pinging the same landlords over and over. So for example, you could set a weekly task for your virtual assistant to collect any/all new landlord contacts from Zillow, Craigslist, newspaper, etc. and add them to a spreadsheet or database, making sure to eliminate any duplicates and/or known property management companies. Then monthly, have him send a text and/or voice mail blast to everyone new on the list. You can easily send voice and/or text broadcasts with Call Fire. Our current preference is sending group text blasts with Mighty Text Pro (Android only) and direct-to-voicemail messages through Sly Broadcast (Also, we make our message sound like a one-off call they just happen to miss, rather than a group broadcast to the masses)
Pro Tip 2: If a landlord you speak with seems burned out, spin the conversation into asking them if they’d like to solve that problem by selling to you instead. Boom, motivated seller.
(6) Section 8
We’ve all heard of Section 8 housing, the gov’t program some landlords use to get guaranteed rent. But have you ever considered mining Section 8 for cash buyers? Here’s how it works: Local Section 8 offices typically retain a list of ‘approved properties’ for the Section 8 voucher program, including contact information for each landlord.
This list may be readily available just for the asking, so call up the local housing authority and find out. If not, visit your local housing authority and personally meet the rep there. Tell them you're a local property investor considering housing options for the Section 8 market, but would like to see what kinds of other properties are already available by comparison. One way or another, get the list, the reach out to every landlord on the list as already described. It’s a quick and easy way to find cash buyers and even get a peek into their basic criteria in their investments.
Pro Tip: Socialserve.com and GoSection8.com are a couple of little-known websites where landlords can list Section 8 properties they have for rent along with their contact information. Do a zip code search to pull up all the Section 8 rentals located in your area, and you know what to do from there!
(7) Property Management Companies
Just like closing attorneys and hard money lenders, these guys have direct working relationships with major players, and a vested interest in keeping them happy as a tick on a fat dog. So reach out to any/all reputable property managers and straight up ask them if they’ve got actively buying owners who might be interested in acquiring new cash flow assets. Which of course means more future properties under their management.
Pro Tip: In most areas property managers are legally required to be licensed real estate agents. So if warm fuzzies and more houses to manage aren’t a big enough carrot, why not dangle a little commission in front of them on the first 2-3 properties any of their referrals buy from you? Incentivize, yo.
(8) Homevestors
Love ‘em our hate ‘em, these guys have an unmistakable presence in about every major U.S. city. What’s more, I’ve noticed that they tend to be rehab-centric investors who kinda-sorta-hafta keep churning deals to keep feeding that hungry franchise machine they’ve signed on for. So you should definitely reach out to your local HV folks and add them to your cash buyers list. Just go to their website and you’ll easily find your local franchise owner(s) in a few quick clicks.
(9) Attend Auctions
Visit local property auctions and target the folks bidding and buying the most. Whether private auctions, local trustee / foreclosure auctions, tax deed sales or whatever the heck else, the active bidders here are supremely valuable to you. The specific rules can vary based on the area and scenario, but these guys almost always have to verify having large amounts of “good funds” available at the auction in order to even bid. You want them. So go to these auctions and meet them in person. Use your people skills and rub shoulders with them, but don’t make it weird. They tend to be a jaded bunch, so you might have to go a few times before they’ll even let you talk to them. Have your thoughts organized before an approach, and try pulling just one of them off to the side rather than trying to broadcast en-masse how awesome your wholesale contracts are.
But trust me, it’s worth it. Most investors who buy at auctions are used to making fast decisions on a deal and are only ever used to buying deals from auctions. Once you start pushing good deals their way, they’ll wonder where you’ve been all their life.
Pro Tip: In some areas, the folks bidding at auctions can actually be from a buying or bidding service that works on behalf of investors who don’t want to attend the live auctions themselves. If you find out so, then go online and research properties this company purchased, including who they transferred the sale to. Boom, back door cash buyers.
(10) Self-Directed IRA Gatherings
Hardly anyone ever thinks of this one, but it’s a freaking goldmine. Find local Self-Directed IRA custodians (Entrust, Equity Trust, there are many more) and ask them if they hold investing meetings or “lunch and learns” anywhere in the area. Network the crap out of them. These people have capital (in their SD IRA!) they need to have out there working for them. They’re often interested in real estate, but lack the knowhow or time to actually find deals. So you show up and present yourself as the local real estate investor expert that specializes in finding diamond-in-the-rough property deals. Next thing, you’re their pusher.
Pro Tip: Maybe it’s obvious, maybe it’s not. But in addition to courting these guys as cash buyers, their “lazy IRA money” also works superdy duperdy great as a source of private money for your deals. Yep, a two-fer
(11) Accountants
CPAs have clients with money. Many CPAs have clients who want to invest said money. And like other professionals already listed here (closing attorneys, hard money lenders, property managers) CPAs also have a vested interested in making their favorite clients crazy happy. So ask any CPA you know (or meet) if they think any of their clients might be interested in investing in some local discounted real estate if it’s a truly smoking deal. From there, you can connect the dots.
Pro Tip: Ask other experienced investors you know around town who their CPA is. Often it’s a CPA who already works with a lot of other local investors. Richer soil to till, amiright?
(12) BNI
With over 180,000 members worldwide, BNI is the single largest business networking organization in the world. Last year alone they generated 6.6 million referrals resulting in $8.6 billion dollars of business. It's one of those organizations with a number of local “chapters” in an area, and any given chapter can only have a single member representing any one business type. So your chapter might have one dentist, one roofer, one landscaper, one mortgage broker, one plumber, one Realtor, one basket weaver, and of course one real estate investor… you.
Besides your actual chapter members being a great group of go-getters to network with (and possibly interested in real estate investments) the real power lies in the extended networks of these people. The underlying agreement is that chapter members will support each other’s business with referrals. So when you know someone needs a dermatologist, you’ll hopefully think to refer Dr. Whitehead from your BNI chapter… and when anyone else in your chapter finds that someone in their world needs something real estate investor related (like access to steeply discounted investment properties, for example) then he’ll refer them to you.
Pro Tip: This works super great for motivated seller referrals too 😉
(13) Other Networking
Basically you should flap your gums about what you do to anyone and everyone, and look for those power networking opportunities to connect with folks who might want what you’ve got to sell. So Chamber of Commerce, Charity Events, Rotary Club Fundraisers… basically anywhere you can position yourself with people and ‘talk shop’.
Street Tactics
(14) Bandit Signs
About every investor on the planet earth knows bandit signs can be a motivated seller magnet. But lesser known is the fact that they’re just as crazy effective for extracting cash buyers from the market place. So whenever you have a property under contract, placing 10-20 signs on and in the neighborhood of the property will always get your phone ringing. We’ll usually pick up at least one new cash buyer every time we put a batch of signs out.
Pro Tip: Don’t have any properties of your own to market? Just call a few of the other wholesalers in the area and ask them if you can market one of their deals. Or conveniently leave a sign out from one of your other deals, and when the calls come in, just say, “Ah snap! Sorry you missed that one, it’s already gone! But tell me what kind of houses you ‘re looking for and I’ll be happy to send you the next one directly…”
Pro Tip 2: Don’t make your signs fancy. Hand-written signs actually work better with these types of signs specifically because they look less-professional. There’s something about this that makes you feel like it’s more likely a legit deal than if it’s a professional, pre-printed sign. I use 12×18 blank, white or yellow, corrugated plastic signs, and then write on them with black or red permanent marker.
Pro Tip 3: Get up early on Saturday morning and go put a couple dozen of these signs all around the entrances and exits of all of the local hardware stores, Home Depots, Lowes, Ace, etc.
Pro Tip 4: You don’t have to put these out yourself. You can pay someone on Craigslist or some high school kid $1 buck per sign to do it for you. And why wouldn’t you?
Pro Tip 5: Here’s six sexy ideas you can use for eyeball-grabbing cash buyer bandit signs…
(15) The Auction Houses Sneak
I’ve already covered how powerful attending auctions can be as a source for connecting with quality cash buyers. A related (and super creative) method hardly anyone ever thinks of, is to actually position your message in some way at the very houses being auctioned off.
This works because most investors planning to bid will at least do a drive-by of every property they’re considering. So go stick your sign in the yard of every house on the auction block that says you’ve got the hookup for super cheap houses. See all the previous bandit sign examples given – they’re all awesome for this.
Pro Tip: A friend of mine recently shared that he’d taken this idea up a notch after finding his bandit signs were getting stolen right after he put them in the auction house yards. So he started using bumper stickers instead. Same basic message as on the bandit signs. He just pays a guy to go around sticking them right on the front doors of all the houses, and never has to worry about the stickers getting picked up like there bandit signs were. Ba-bam!
(16) Driving for Buyers
You’ve probably heard of “Driving for Dollars” – it’s real estate investor talk for “drive around looking for yucky houses that might be a deal worth looking into.” Well same logic here, but while driving the neighborhoods, you’re paying attention to the “For Rent” signs, dumpsters in the driveway, contractor vans, rehab crews at work, etc. If there are people working on the house, stop in, introduce yourself and find out who the owner is. If there’s a “For Rent” or “For Sale” sign in the yard, call the number and strike up a conversation with the investor to see if they are looking for more homes in the area, and if so, what type of deals are they looking for? We try and do this at least once every month or so, and usually end up adding one or two quality buyers each time.
(17) Newspaper Ad
This one’s so easy. Just run an ad in the local newspaper that will get cash buyers calling you. Yes, newspaper ads will cost you some coin, and you may wonder who actually still reads the paper anymore. But contrary to popular belief, there’re a lot of people who still read the newspaper – usually the older population of folks who, by the way, will never ever see your ad in Craigslist or anywhere else online. And these people are often retired (or nearly) and interested in real estate as an investment for one reason or another. They need you.
Pro Tip: Most investors will place their ad in the “Real Estate Services” section. Not me. Frankly I think hardly anyone even knows that section exists. Instead I prefer to advertise an actual smoking deal for sale – could be in the section of houses for sale for a specific neighborhood, or maybe in the “Investment Property for Sale” section – but I want my ad in front of folks who are already perusing the paper for a house deal, not looking for “real estate services” whatever that means.
Pro Tip 2: Don't give too much info in your ad, including any exact address. You want them to have to call and talk to you; giving them an address in your ad gives them something with which to potentially filter you out without even calling.
Pro Tip 3: Make it seem like you’re an actual motivated seller rather than a wholesaler. Don't mention your company name or send them to a website. Just make it seem super sexy and cash buyers will call you. When they call, find out exactly what they're looking for and go from there. If you don’t actually have a house for sale, you can place a ‘ghost ad’ if you need to, and just tell them, “Ah so sorry, but this deal's already gone…but I actually come across these fairly often. Tell me exactly what you're looking for and I'll be happy to call you for the next one.” If you don’t like the ‘ghost ad’ approach, then get permission to advertise another wholesaler’s contract.
This is actually how I built my first list of legit cash buyers back in the day. Exactly this. I ran an ad something like “Desperate, Must Sell Fast, 3br Fixer-Upper in U of M area, $37K OBO. Please call for details, 555-1212” – This ad got my phone ringing off the hook, and put a whole pile of cash buyers in my world.
Web/Tech Tactics
(18) Craigslist Pole Fishing
What started as an email list of San Francisco area events by some guy named Craig Newmark in 1995, has become the unequivocal champion of online classifieds we know today as Craigslist. With 50 billion page views/month, and 60 million folks a month using in the US alone, there’s just no bigger pond you can fish in if you've got something to sell, something to buy, looking for a job, or maybe just want to find some new friends to Larp with.
In terms of using Craigslist to get cash buyers, just follow the same basic strategy (including Pro Tips) described above for newspaper ads, except it won’t cost you anything: Place a “Fixer-Upper, Must Sell” type ad… don't give too much info… make it seem like you’re a motivated seller, not a wholesaler… and when people call, find out exactly what they're looking for.
Pro Tip: On Craigslist we typically post (or repost) ads a couple times a day (our VA does). And for Craigslist ads, you’ll find more of a need to really screen the calls you get to ensure they have the cash and are serious buyers. There tends to be a lot of scammers and posers in the CL space. It still rocks, but something to be aware of.
(19) Craigslist Net Fishing
This time, rather than advertising one specific property for sale to get a buyer’s attention, you’re going to offer a whole list of them. You can do this even if you don’t have your own pile of houses to offer yet. First time I tried this one we ended up with 12 new buyers in one day. Here’s what you do:
Step 1: The Webpage – Set up a simple opt-in page (some people call them “squeeze” pages) designed to entice potential cash buyers to give you their email in return for a little sumpin' sumpin' you're offering them. Speaking of which…
Step 2: A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' – Assemble a list of tasty house deals on the landing page – this is the page folks get after they submit their info on the first opt-in page. Don’t have enough active/working deals right now? Go snag yourself 40-50 of the sexiest looking active foreclosures from the MLS. If these aren’t actually your deals, just don’t present them as if you’re selling them (you aren’t). Include whatever the listing agent’s contact info is, so if folks are interested, they know who to call directly. The goal here isn’t about actually selling these houses – it’s about getting the attention of people interested in discounted property deals, collecting their contact info, and adding it to your buyers list. While of course making good on what you offered them on the first page (a list of discount/foreclosure houses).
Step 3: Watch it Rain – Wait and watch what happens. First time we did this we had 12 opt-ins by the end of day one, about half of which were pretty darn solid.
Pro Tip: This may go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. Don’t just start blasting these folks your property deals right after they opt-in, without first reaching out and making a personal connection with them. They need to know you personally and how valuable you can be to them. You need to know them, what their criteria is, and if they’re even actually qualified cash buyers – some of these folks will be completely unqualified to be considered “cash buyers”.
(20) MLS Mining
If you have access to the MLS, or have a Realtor friend who’ll work with you, check out the recent cash sales in your selling area. Pull all solds in the last 6 months where the financing type was “cash”. Make sure they’re not owner occupants by verifying that their tax bill mailing address is different from the property address. Pay special attention to trends you (i.e. see multiple cash buys) – these are obviously the players.
Pro Tip: No MLS access? Run an ad in Craigslist for a “young and hungry” Realtor who’ll work with you and get you access. If needed, offer to pay a fee for them to do an MLS search for you.
(21) MLS Sniping
This is a tactic we do on an ongoing basis, but it requires direct MLS access one way or another. Basically whenever we’re running MLS comps for any property, one of our standard procedures is to quickly assess the other properties in the area that’ve sold for cash recently. This is because we want to get our head around what other investors are paying for distressed properties right in that little area, plus these same investors might be actually interested in the house we’re comping.
So while doing this, we have our VA simply add any investor-buyers’ names and tax-bill mailing addresses into a document – just a simple copy, paste and save it for later. So basically, as we’re comping potential deals in our day-to-day, we’re simultaneously ‘sniping’ known cash buyers readily visible in the comps and slowing building a list of them. Then once a month or so, we’ll send them a letter offering them the chance to connect if they’re interested in more sweet deals like the one they recently purchased. This has worked very well for us, and it extremely easy to systematize and out-task to an assistant.
(22) HUD & Seek
HUDHomeStore.com is where investors go to bid on HUD homes. But few investors ever realize what a treasure trove it can be for uncovering qualified cash buyers. All you have to do is go take a gander at the previous bid results. Record each sale in a spreadsheet, then check the property address in public records to get the investor’s name and tax bill mailing address. (This’ll have to be 30-60 days after the sale, to give the new deed time to be recorded.) Ba-bam! You now have a list of investors actively bidding on HUD homes.
Pro Tip: While at HUD Home Store, you can also snag the real estate agents name in the transaction, many of whom specialize in HUD Foreclosures and have a handful of cash buyers they work with.
Pro Tip 2: If you have a V.A. on your team, you can easily have him/her systematically do all of this for you. Duh.
(23) The Googles
This one’s stupid-easy. Just do a quick search for common investor keywords, then pick up the phone and call them. So for example, run a Google search for:
- we buy houses (your city name)
- sell house fast (your city name)
- wholesale properties (your city name)
Just a few examples to get you started. What you see in the results will mostly be a combination of fix-and-flip investors and other wholesalers. Either way you should connect with all of them, but obviously the rehabbers are typically solid cash buyers.
Pro Tip: What you’ll see in the results are both: (i) ‘natural’ search results, and (ii) paid ads focusing on those keywords. It’s easy sometimes to ignore the ads in Google due to conditioned “ad blindness” most of us have. But you should definitely pay attention to them, because these folks are actually spending money to advertise their business.
(24) Freedomsoft
If you’ve been in REI for a minute, then you’ve probably heard of Freedomsoft. From transaction management to all manner of docs & forms to marketing campaign management to faxing and emailing offers en masse, this software does a crapload of stuff including offer access to tons of cash buyers all around the country you can pull up with a few clicks. So if you have a Freedomsoft account, just use the cash buyers tool. Easy peasy.
Pro Tip: I recommend systematizing this by having someone on your team pull FS cash buyers every couple of months and dropping them a letter. I also recommend focusing on people who’ve purchased at least 2 or more houses in the last year. The one-off buyers are much less likely to be actual real estate investors vs. buyers who just happen to pay cash for their home.
(25) ListSource
Much like Freedomsoft, you can download a list of cash buyers from ListSource, but rather than subscribing to a full-featured REI CRM, you can just buy a one-off list of leads. So for example, you can buy a list of recent cash sales (last 6 months), and send them a yellow letter or postcard.
Pro Tip: They don’t really just have a box to check for “cash buyers list”. Basically you start by creating a custom list, choose your geographical area of choice, then under the “Property” link, click on “Last Sale Date” and choose the last 12 months. Then click on “Equity Percentage” and type in 90-100%. Then go to “Options” and select Absentee. This gives you the investors buying with cash. And as mentioned before, I recommend filtering down further to those who have bought at least 2 properties.
(26) Adwords / Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Google’s PPC marketing can absolutely be one of the most effective and fastest ways to get your offer in front of people online, period. Whether motivated sellers, tenants, rent to own tenants… or yes, cash buyers, people who really learn to harness the power of Google PPC can really make it rain. But it can also eat your lunch if you’re not careful. It just takes a fair bit of work, time, and some trial and error to really crush it with Google PPC.
For this reason, I don’t typically recommend people start with Adwords marketing right away unless you’re hiring an expert to create and manage your PPC campaigns for you. But the sheer power of what it has to offer in terms of lead generation merits it being included in this list.
If you want to learn about Google PPC, I recommend starting by picking up Perry Marshall's Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords on Amazon. Read through that to learn the ropes, then give it a try on a small scale.
Pro Tip: Remember PPC means “Pay-Per-Click” so you only pay when people actually click your ad. One sneaky (but perfectly legit) way you can stretch your online marketing budget is to place your phone number in the actual ad text. That way your cash buyer leads don't even have to click your ad to reach out to you, they can just call.
(27) Facebook Ads
Ever heard of Facebook? Yeah. More traffic than Google nowadays. Crazy, I know. And I’m sure you’ve noticed those little ads on the side or inserted into your FB feed, right?
Well like Google, Facebook ads are Pay-Per-Click, but one of the biggest benefits FB has over the big G is how ridiculously granular and specific you can get drilling into specific types of people with your ad.
So if you want your ad to be location specific – meaning having your ad only seen by people within a certain number of miles, you can do it. On top of that, FB ads can also be interest specific – meaning you can choose to show your ad only to people who are interested in a certain topic. So you could advertise only to folks who “like” Flip This House, or Rich Dad Poor Dad, or who belong to certain FB groups, like “House Flippers of Des Moines”. And to bring it home, you can even target down to specific demographics if you want, such as age or gender.
Can you see the power here? With these kind of filters, your ads can be super freaking hyper-targeted to specific types and groups of people.
When crafting your Facebook ad, think of it kinda like a little bandit sign. Same idea really, except unlike with bandit signs, you also get to include a picture too – fun! In terms of creating a killer ad, your chief priorities are choosing (i) a killer headline, and (ii) an eyeball-grabbing photo. These two things are the keys to the castle above all else.
Once you get your ad dialed in, drive those leads to your opt-in ‘squeeze’ page for cash buyers, and you know what to do from there.
Pro Tip: For your ad pic, take a photo of your bandit sign and use the same copy on ad. Also, as suggested with Google PPC, tryin placing your phone number directly in the ad so they don't even have to click, which saves you money.
(28) Facebook Groups
In case you’ve never realized it, you can actually search Facebook for local groups, such as groups of people who invest in your area. We recently had a lead in an entirely different state where I don’t have any investor friends. I hopped in FB and quickly found a group that was full of investors doing deals in that city. So I joined the group and found a cash buyer in less than 24 hours. Facebook’s a freaking goldmine, I tell ya.
(29) LinkedIn
LinkedIn may not get the same press as Facebook, but make no mistake, LinkedIn can be an incredible resource for social networking in a more professional way. And it's chocked FULL of real estate investors, many of whom are hungry cash buyers looking for deals like yours. Alls you gotta do is find and make a connection with them.
Here's how: First, search through LinkedIn for REI relevant groups in your area. Much like Facebook, LinkedIn relies heavily on groups to serve as common interest ‘watering holes', and it's not hard to uncover a whole big pile of them, many of which will have tens of thousands or ever 100K+ members.
Next, join these groups. Because once you're in the same group as someone else, LinkedIn will let you send out messages to them without paying. As you make connections, find out who's actually buying properties and who isn’t. Viola, now you're adding fresh cash buyers to your buyers list through LinkedIn. You're welcome. 🙂
(30) eBay
Got this ninja idea from a colleague who one time had this complete junker of a house she basically got for free. She decided to post it on eBay with the starting bid at only $100 bucks to see what would happen. This naturally got a lot of attention, and things quickly heated up to over 50 bids. Of course only one guy ended up winning the house. But she also ended up with 49 other folks who effectively raised their hand as interested buyers, most of whom turned out to be highly qualified cash buyers definitely interested in buying more in the area. She even picked up several international buyers in the bunch.
(31) Find Cash Buyers Now
FindCashBuyersNow.com is a subscription-based platform developed specifically to “help real estate entrepreneurs to identify the most active cash buyers in their local areas”. My guess is they probably mine their data from public records, though I am not 100% certain. I haven’t used their data extensively because, from what I can tell, the results seem to be very similar to what can be pulled through Freedomsoft. I honestly have no clue if they get their data from the same or different sources, But Freedomsoft is a much more robust system with lots of other fancy bells and whistles (cash buyers being one of them) whereas FindCashBuyersNow.com seems to focus specifically on doing that one thing really well. For what it’s worth, I’d guess that either of them will serve you similarly as well as the other.
(32) Agents Who Frequently Rep Cash Buyers
As I described earlier, you can use the MLS to pull a cash transactions search with in the past 180 days or so, but this time your goal is to compile a list of the real estate agents whose names you see the most. It won’t be hard to see patterns of agents who repeatedly work with cash buyers, especially if you peruse this list on a monthly or so basis. I love working with agents with cash buyers like this, because they already have a working relationship with specific cash buyers.
Pro Tip: If you're not an agent, you'll need to find one to pull this list for you using the MLS. But keep in mind that most agents I've found don't even know this kind of list can be pulled, much less how to do it. If so, just tell them to contact their MLS support and tell them what you’re trying to do. Essentially all you’re trying to do is create a search of all the “sold” closings in the last 180 days that had “cash” as the financing type. and this will bring up the list Erik is talking about and them simply compile the list of the top agents that consistently work with cash buyers.
(33) Recon Other Wholesaler’s Deals
I love this sneaky little trick. So here’s the deal: Lots of wholesalers list the homes they’ve recently sold on their website or property inventory lists. I guess it’s kind of a shy-brag to their buyers about the deals that got away. Well guess what you have there? Verified addresses of houses that sold to qualified cash buyers. So just copy and paste the address into your local tax assessor’s website and see who bought it. Now not only do you have a new cash buyer you can contact, but you also know exactly know how much they paid for the property and at least one area he/she is interested in. Ka-pow!
OooooooooK…
*TAKES BIG, DEEP BREATHE*
So there you have it. I hereby bequeath thee THIRTY THREE time-tested, proven tactics you can use to get a completely ridiculous cash buyers for your wholesale deals.
All in a day's work.
So, let me ask you…
Which of these 33 pieces of awesome is your personal favorite?
And assuming you didn’t already know every single one of these before, which is the next one you can’t wait to try?
Oooooooh, can you think of anything not on the list here that I missed?
Please chime in and leave a comment below with your answers and other thoughts. I’d really like to know.
Awesome info too many to choose, excited to try the REIA and wholesale tips!
I’m a newly commissioned notary/loan signing agent in PA and I’ve already started implementing Tips 1-7 to get leads for my mobile notary business and now I can utilize them for my REI biz as well. it just makes sense.
Wow this is awesome
Great list
Thank you I found these strategies incrediblely helpful,I will try many,
So much great information, some I hadn’t even thought about doing. I’m new to all this but very intrigued and determined to learn all I can. I have always had an interest in Real Estate but never went any further with it,…..until now. Thanks for the helpful info…
Again, thanks for sharing JP Moses and Patrick! All the best,
Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge in real estate. All the best to both JP Moses and Patrick.
Hi my name is Michael and I want to start this but at the moment I don’t have any money to get started with
I am bless to have a opportunity to be with this awesome program that excels all
Thank you for all the good info! I Hadn’t even considered some of these.
Oh my goodness so much great information..first let me say I am brand new and feel a little flustered and really don’t know where to start but like Patrick said just fail forward taking one bite at a time.
Thanks JP and Patrick
Yes , the list is what im building .
That is si cool you awesome guy thankyou God blessyou
As always, you are awesome thanks for the information. Be blessed.
So, I want to do this. I just had 3 vertebrae removed from neck and 2 cut in half I’m mid back due to spinal chord injury. I was working my butt off for pennies and now, I can’t work nothing off. I’ve seen, read, listen, read and seen some more, of all the different types of ads saying the SAME THINGS!! I just need to know, WHO CAN I TRUST, THATS REALLY WANTING TO HELP THE NEXT PERSON? WHO TRULY CARES TO SEE THEM SUCCEED JUST AS THEY HAVE. WHO ISNT OUT TO JUST TAKE SOMEONES LAST PENNY. I’ve seen and read sooo many stories fr sooo many sites, saying they can do the same as the next, but none of them are as good as theirs. HELP?!?!?
Hi Jeannie! Everything is hard before it’s easy. Take one step at a time… you are not alone ;o)
Great tips and resources, thank you very much always appreciate your info.
I like website. Sorry cannot go forward. I will text you.
please accept my awesomley gratitud,thankyou,thankyou
Thanks so much. This will be of tremendous help since I’m a newbie.
I’m in the process of creating a website just for my investment business.
Thank you for all the good info! I Hadn’t even considered some of these. Great stuff! I’m just starting my real estate venture and while I’m having luck finding buyers, I can’t find properties in my area (California) to save my life! Since I’m just starting out, I have no money for advertising. Any ideas for free ways to find properties or get homeowners to actually respond to my yellow letters and Craigslist ads? Desperate, hard-working, and not giving up!
This is so much good food on the plate but I’m still eating great stuff Thanks
That is some good advice
Thank you for the Info. Like the one Day Flip. Still reading all the information.
Thanks for the Awesome Tips, I think these “Networking Strategies” are essential to any New/Up and Coming Real Estate Business, Thanks a Zillion
I need to know who wants to start start ups with me those adventure capitalist or fundraiser types. I’m working on stuff way past salining or flipping property that’s a good start I just need new factory’s and new government. The only way that exist is to disconnect from the old system’s that have been out into place.
Before I even joined up, I’d been connecting with real estate agents on LinkedIn, just because the recommendations would come through
Looking back I now realize this was prepping me for this adventure! I’m so excited to start reaching out to them amd get my network going!
I read over your tips and appreciate the great ideas! I thank you
I like the bandit sticker idea. It appears that this would be a very “stick-proof” way, if I could use that terminology to get attention.
Loved the Bandit signs..what a hoot! And the bumper stickers for the doors! Very sly, loved it! I’m excited to start attending Auctions and IRA gatherings.
Really good tips, Mr. Awesome! Keep up the Good Work, My Friend!
While I was involved in the REI game at one time, I was primarily just into flipping properties, went from residential to commercial in a year or so. One of the MAIN ‘issues’ I incurred pretty often was getting a money lender to ‘jump’ when I needed them. In time, a few of the folks I was using got better as they began to trust me, that when I had a deal, it was most ALWAYS worth their while.
But these tips are gonna bring me back into the game! I should HAVE NO SHORTAGE of hard money lenders, or other lenders for that matter. Additionally, more potential ‘action’ also!
Thanks guys, for this invaluable info!!
You guys ROCK!
REI Newbie. The information is certainly helpful and lists many good ideas. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the info.
Tkz for the info.
Keep up the good work.!
Excellent tips
We are about to begin our “flipping” business
and also the private lending business.
Keefe and Marsha
Blasingame
These are great tips for the particular area client that will be in front of you at the time. Thanks JP
I love it thanks i just got my business started two weeks ago Nickyrealtyhomes started driving for dollars and got a few youtube videos.They are not professionally made but they are real.
Thank you very much! When I first stumbled on to your page, I thought, here we go, another nothing down, cancel in such and such time thingy to buy. I read over your tips and appreciate the great ideas! Thanks again! GOD bless!
OMG! This was awesome!!!!
This is awesome information! Thank you guys for sharing.
We have started joining RE groups and attending meet ups!
Thanks Patrick and JP… Looking forward to closing deals!
Great article with very helpful information! I have a question about placing an add in the local newspaper and posing as a motivated seller. Does this approach result in you getting bombarded with calls from wholesalers instead of cash buyers? Granted, that could be useful for facilitating joint ventures but just curious how many actual cash buyers call vs. wholesalers looking for a deal? Thanks!
Very in depth list! When you use your list to help co-wholesale a deal, is there a certain % of the spread agreed upon beforehand, or do you take a set fee? Thanks
Hey Dustin, Justin teaches 50% in the 10 Hour Wholesaler, which is a course on co-wholesaling. You can check it out on our Products page.
WOW, Amazing !!!!
Priceless
I can see your halo! Thank you for all you do for others.
This information is great. Not only does it save time but money as well.
Love the info you guys are willing to share! You have good hearts to do so! Thank you for helping others in their journey…..plus I love your humor!
Thanks, Christopher!
Superb! Amazing of you guys to share your knowledge with us.
I would like to Join this club to Grow my Business.
Thank you guys for sharing good info:-)
Hello,
Just started following Facebook. thank you for this information!
Thanks for sharing all these useful information with us.
Thank you guys for great information. Helpful tips!!!
It’s not that I done it myself in the past but I have made a couple calls to to several of them and some of them look cheesy look like they ran out of market ink but I called them anyway so to be truthful you’re right they do work I’m be honest they got me to call
all this information is mind blowing i didn’t realize there were so many different tactics i am a beginner and can’t wait to get started i will use all if they fall into place depending on the situation i thank all of you so much you are awesome i still will need help i’m counting on you guys thanks again
Hey Josephine, take these tactics and start to put ’em into action.
– Patrick
Chris hi I’m Chris and I love this because I’m green and I don’t know what my first step should be two wholesale flip houses I have quite a few leads but I don’t know where to go with them who can help me find a buyer or what should my next move be? Thank you so much for your information I’m nervous but I’m anxious to make my first deal. thank you bless you.
Hi Christopher! I’m green also. Where was your lead come from? And how you find it? If you don’t mind to share. Thank you very much. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Great information, keep me inform. Dobard Dobard.
New to this
That was mind blowing info!! I’m literally leaking with excitement to implement these tactics.
Awesome. Put ’em into action Pierre!
– Patrick
Thanks for the information, I welcome all useful information to help grow my Business again Thanks , God Bless You All !!!
Great information and I will use several of your suggestions. Thank you
i need more information is posible in spanish
How come the list ends at #13? Numbers #14- #33 are missing.
Hey Christine, if you look right under the “Challenge Accepted” graphic here, you’ll see we’ve got all 33 of them there, but segmented into 3 different tabs based on type. 😀
Got it! Thank you for your help and such great information.
I like the self directed Ira
That’s a good one Virgil.
Thanks for joining the conversation here.
– Patrick
Francisco Serna great info. guys i like it simple and appealing. Can thank you enough great to grow my Buisness
Great tips and advice. I plan to use this info going forward.
Thank You !
You’re welcome, Ron! Glad you found it useful!
Great Tips and advice, I plan to use this info going forward.
Thank You !
Very good
Thanks for the post Patrick. I have put some of your training into action and have build a list of over 100 cash buyers in Ohio. We are now building a cash list of buyers in Illinois and will use from of these tactics to help build the list. I see that some people have had problems building their list so hopefully this mini course can and will help them.
Keep up the great work
Great work, David! Keep us posted on your progress.
Something new,Homevestors,BNI,and Meetup,always great to learn something.I am very new to the game folks trying to suck it all up.Great folks like you help
Thanks Tom M
I like the one on property manager because they know every homeowner in their community.
Hey Fenold, glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for joining the conversation here.
– Patrick
I like the section 8 advice because it is very easy to do.
Awesome post thank you….Quick question when I search a address in the tax assessor.lacounty.gov it doesn’t show me who owns it …am I looking in the wrong place ? Thanks in advance for your response
Hey Trevor, I’m not familiar with the county records there. Easiest thing to do is probably just call the courthouse and have someone in the tax assessor’s department help.
– Patrick
Trevor Mallory, In California you wont be able to get the owners address through the tax assessors office, I use NeighborWho.com it is an awesome search engine for addresses and people and I have found very accurate.
Thank you. Ideas I have skipped over in the past. Will mine these will all my energies.
Will keep you informed
thanks a bunch i am loaded full of ammo like p-51 going on a mission again thank you.
Nice Claude! You’re welcome 🙂
– Patrick
Thanks for the helpful hints. I’m just starting out like most of the dazed and confused newbies. I agree with what Jp mentioned about picking the one area you want to be involved in and jump in. This should pull you through to bigger and brighter once i develop good habits
Many thanks to Patrick and JP in providing such valuable information . Also I would like to take this opportunity to give a shoutout to my fellow members. If anyone has good deal in Plymouth, MA, please send it my way. Im a rehab guy and will pay cash.
Awesome Khoa! you’re welcome, thanks for commenting, and love the shout out to others in MA for deals. Nice!
I need army of cash buyers who like historical Victorian style homes for restoration jobs. I start my new rehab business 2016. I found 10 huge Victorian homes oldhousedreams.com
Thanks for all the information but, don’t know where to start. I am a bigginer and need lots of help. Please advise on what would be my 1st step. Thanks.
Hi Maritza, I know it can be overwhelming at first trying to figure out where to start. but there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. it depends on a lot of things, including your circumstances, what you’re hoping to accomplish with REI and the type of deals and/or business you’re interested in. At a very “square one” level, you start by diving into the rabbit hole, understanding that a little overwhelm is par for the course, and just eat the elephant one bite at a time. Rather than be paralyzed at where to start, just start somewhere and ‘fail forward’. As a side (but related) note, we have decided to release replays of all 3 webinars that we did last week. Not sure when exactly, but it won’t be too long and we’ll put them up here for you. Highly recommend you go through them. I think they’ll really help you a lot to start to find your initial footing in REI. Stay tuned for that.
JP & Patrick:
I loved your webinars last week and took notes like crazy. So much wisdom and knowledge shared. I would love to hear the information again since I missed the first part of the second night with no audio and had to call in to get the remaining audio portion of the webinar. So much of what you discussed really hit home and your Q&A sessions were great. Thanks so much for your willingness to share your wisdom and experience to help others. Your both AWESOME!!!
Awesome, David! We were totally pumped by the webinars too. Super great energy from everyone, and some solid Q’s asked. Glad we could do it! We’ve decided that we probably will be able to publish replays of those webinars, but it might take us a minute to get it together. So stay tuned for more on that. When we have them ready, we’ll send out an email!
These are all GREAT TIPS that can be used to help me in my real estate business. Thank you very I appreciate all of the information, the information I get, the more I am prepared.
Thanks!!
I am totally grateful for all that you guys do for us out here in this world of Real Estate confusion….Thanks!
Hey Beverley, glad to clear up some of the REI confusion. Let us know if we can help ya with anything.
– Patrick
Hey Guys!!! Awersome or what! you gave all that u got & more with Love lot of info. to learn from u guys.
Thanks.
Thanks for all grate tips,and thanks for sharing, your research,to give us a better start.
Patrick and PJ all ways deliver more than expected and do so in an educational and entertaining way!!! – Michael Nixon REEE RE Entrepreneur Excellence at MIT (Millionaire In Training) University
Thanks for the info. Anyway my case is complicated bcoz I’ve been in real estate since 2013, n haven’t close even a single deal. Nw I’m doing 2 full-time jobs. From 6am to 10pm, 5 or 6 days a week. I really need help. I love RE. I want to change my situation from pay check to pay check. I really need help. Thank u all.
Stick with us, Samba. We’ve got a lot more like this in the works and coming your way. I know what it’s like to be where you are. There is hope and we believe in you! 🙂
FYI – “Your” welcome demonstrates carelessness of detail, not just in grammar. “Your” is a possessive pronoun, as in “your car,” “your boat,” “your freedom.” You’re not being a clever investor when you have to hire an attorney to write simple sentences. You’re proud of your cocky cartoon sales tactics – just sayin’ -to illustrate how credibility gets eroded.
Hi Jr. looks like your a grammar nazi. (see what I did there?) hope you injoy the info, if not the speling, humor or pictures. we luv you anyway.
I second what Jp said.
– Patrick
Have know real estate investors in my town of vernal Utah all of the cash buyers and investors are out in Salt Lake City ut
Really? That’s what you learned?
So many ideas!!! Where do I Start? Took Lots of notes. wish I could print it out. So I can go back & reread it. thanks Carol R
Awesome information. Thanks for sharing!
It seems from those who have contacted me, that the “fast cash” guys are very particular yet advertise “will buy any condition, as is, ” etc. but when I actually get involved, lead me on after making an offer, then cancel because the driveway is in need of resurfacing, etc. One even wanted me to finance with $500 down and 0 interest. Do they think I am stupid or what? Maybe Craigs list would be better. What about that?
hey Sandra, I think it probably has little-to-nothing really to do with where your buyer lead came from. People are people and sounds like you just started out with some finicky folks for whatever reason. don’t let it get you down. just use what you see here to add a whole pile of new cash buyers so you have more options. thanks for commenting.
I really liked everything you said there and it was kind of simple I’ve seen a lot of the stuff at work and I know what that point and click is however I like the idea of the freedom freedom soft the software that you have that puts a lot of that stuff at your fingertips and my
Great information. Most of what you showed, I was unaware of those investor/lenders.
Please see my resume at linkedin.com. Former broker for 23 years, CA, NV & CO. I’d like to work with you on some of these programs.
Thanks
Thank both of you Gents!
Thank you so much, I’m going to jump on a few of these opportunities
William Turner iv
That will be a wonderful help to me. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with all of us who are just beginning as wholesalers.
You’re welcome Denise. Since you’re getting starting as a wholesaler, you may want to check out Justin Wilmot’s 10-Hour Wholesaler training program. It’s a simple model for making money in real estate in today’s market… for both newbies and seasoned investors who want to add an extra income stream to their biz.
– Patrick
You gents have genuinely and generously provided some great insights to gathering cash buyers which many of us armchair investors would never have considered. My hat is off to both of you!
Thanks!
Pat Henley
thanks JP and Patrick. I will definitely try some of them especially the title agents. How can I get the 10HWhosaler package. I am interested in becoming a member. Please let me know. Thanks in advance.
Hey grace, just look at the Awesome Products tab at the top of the website here and you’ll find out more information about 10 hour wholesaler. And enjoy getting those cash buyers!
Wow! Amazing of you guys to share your knowledge with us.
Thank you guys very much for this step by step bits of nugget. I shall put them to good use and let you know how things are progressing.
Good job! Thanks for the helpful tips!
Pretty cool tips, even if you apply few you are on your way to becoming BIG in real real estate. Thanks!
Jay
Outstanding…post…..Clear, consise and usable!
Thanks……Can I buy you a brewski?
That’s great to hear Rikko!
YES, I’ll take a Bells Two Hearted Ale. That’s pretty much my go-to beer.
– Patrick
You guys rock! Love the categories and depth. Fantastic 3-day webinar this week btw. Thanks from Maria Hurtado @ Mahogany Bridge.
Hey Maria, thanks for the feedback. Really happy to hear that you loved the knowledge bomb here and the 3-day training series 🙂
– Patrick
Thank you so much for all the help you two provide… JP and Patrick.
you got it Shakeenah! happy to be a help 🙂
Like what I read so far perfect for my people skills