Can You Take A Minute and Tell Me How To Build A Buyer's List?

I got some emails regarding my "Tell Me About Wholesaling" article. Most people got the concept. But they wanted to know how to build a "buyers list"

A buyers list is comprised of real estate investors you can contact when you have a deal that you want to sell. It may be an assignment of contract or it may be a house you own and for a variety of reasons want to sell.

How many people should be on your buyers list?

Let me just say you can never have too many!

Different investors have different appetites for buying from you. Rehabbers for example may only buy 3-4 houses a year. In the interim, they are busy doing the work, anticipating their profit. Other investors may be just adding a house here and there to their portfolio. When you take into consideration other criteria such as price range, area, single family vs. multi-family and you can see why your list needs to be constantly growing. You want your list large enough to sell any house you put out to the list to be under contract within 7-10 days. If your list isn’t performing that well, keep building your list.

What Type of Buyers Will Appear on My Buyers List?

1. Owner Occupants - You will make your largest profit per deal but keep in mind that you will only be selling them one house. So keep building your list!
2. Investor/Rehabbers – As mentioned above, they will buy, rehab and sell. They need you because they know and understand what they do best, and doing the marketing to find houses usually isn’t their strong suit.
3. Investor/Landlords - You will make the easiest and most money with these people. They are looking for the cash flow and long-term appreciation, not the quick profit.
   

Of the above, I will do what I can for Landlord Investor. If they want a property rehabbed with tenants already in there paying, then I will accommodate them. In return, I will get paid well for my efforts

So, you understand you need to either build or expand your buyers list. The big question I get all the time is how do you do that? This list is certainly not all inclusive, but the sources here have all been fruitful to me:

• Your local real estate investment group – fellow investors congregated in the same area are a great source of potential buyers. Talk with the local group administrator about getting a table before 1 of the meetings. Show your target marketing areas and types of houses that you acquire regularly. I usually create a list by taking a business card and offering up a drawing with a prize like an iPod. Depending on the size of your group, it may take just 3-6 meetings to build a list of 500-750.
• We Buy House signs – These folks are always looking for product. If you have a good deal, most investors don’t mind that you make some money for your efforts. Call them and find out their criteria.
• Search in the local newspapers for the "We Buy Houses" ads.
• Look for billboards or signs around town that say "We Buy Houses." Homevestors and Buy Kwik advertise heavily where they have franchisees on billboards.
• You will see bandit signs on telephone poles and other places, call them all, and get info on them.
• There are many traditional landlords looking for good deals on properties and happy to buy your great deal. Look in For Rent Section of your local newspaper. Collect names and information about investors who buy houses.
• Go to real estate auctions, not to bid, but to meet the investors that are bidding. Some investors prefer to buy at the foreclosure auction as they don’t like to deal with owners. At most auctions, the property must be paid for with cash or a cashier's check within hours of the sale so you know these buyers can close very quickly, so it is a great place for you to meet cash buyers for your houses. Keep good telephone logs. Once word gets around that you find good deals, you will get weekly phone calls from investors checking if you have anything. Keep record of who calls; these are the first investors you need to contact when you have a deal.
• I have run newspaper ads and also posted in places like Craig’s List letting folks know that I have properties available at a great price. I always get a response and add it to my list.
  

Keep good telephone logs. Once word gets around that you find good deals, you will get weekly phone calls from investors checking if you have anything. Keep record of who calls; these are the first investors you need to contact when you have a deal.

John Panico is the author of this article. John is an active investor of properties throughout NE Georgia. He is the General Manager of Local Guys Equities, LLC, one of the fastest growing real estate investment companies in Georgia. John founded the NE GA Real Estate Buying & Investing Group and wholesales properties to real estate investors around the country. Feel free to contact John about selling your house or other information.

Keywords: buyers list, rehabers, real estate investing