Case Study: Driving For Dollars Strategy...

car So, you’re probably well aware that there are numerous ways to find property deals. In a world filled with marketing (both digital and on printed paper), sometimes the easiest way to score the best property deals is also the “old-fashioned” way – simply, driving for dollars.

Hey Moguls, Steph Davis here, and if you've read my other lessons on Mogul, you know that I LOVE driving for dollars – because it’s effortlessly effective. That’s why I want to share a story of a successful driving for dollars situation with you. If you’re looking for an affordable and easy way to find motivated sellers, you will find this case study to be super helpful.

Here’s a little background...

I had a cash buyer contact me, asking if I had any deals in a specific zip code in Florida. He was looking to buy another rehab in that exact zip code, ASAP.

So after talking with this guy and doing some online research, I found out that he was buying properties, one by one, and living in them while fixing them up. He typically paid about 80% of the asking price for these properties (wowza!), which is higher than most real estate investors are willing to go.

So I knew that if I could find a deal for him, I would get a bigger cash offer price than I normally do. (That’s motivation enough, amiright?)

Since I was not familiar with this zip code, I decided to take a drive for dollars out there – which is my favorite way of finding leads. This is a super easy and powerful strategy. Driving for dollars is the best way to...

Get to know your “farm area” (the community/zip code/neighborhood that you know like the back of your hand)
Find cash buyer leads
Find motivated seller leads
Create a small but very valuable list of leads (it’s a list that’s unique to you – no one else will have it!)

What to look for…

Now, when you’re driving for dollars, you need to have a very specific strategy. Look for:

Vacant/abandoned houses. If the house is in disrepair, the chances are high that the owner will be happy to get rid of it. Make sure you write down a brief description of the home, as well as the address, so you can look back at your notes and remember which property it is.
FSBOs. This is an awesome source for leads! When you see a home that is “For Sale By Owner,” jot this down in your notes.
Recently rehabbed homes or those that are currently being fixed. You can usually tell if a home has been recently worked on – if you see fresh paint on the exterior and a “For Sale” sign in the yard, for example.
“For Rent” signs. Write down the phone number and address of these properties. Landlords at their wits end with tenants or house repairs are always motivated sellers.

Now back to the case study...

I spent a little over an hour looking at properties in the zip code that the cash buyer had mentioned to me, and in that short time I ended up with a list of 29 leads:

4 FSBOs
16 vacant/abandoned homes
8 freshly rehabbed homes
1 “For Rent” home

Now that I had these leads, it was time to get down to business. Let me share my strategy for handling these leads...

typing The FSBOs are straightforward. For these properties, I just called to find out the asking price and discover what the motivation was behind the sale.

The recent rehabs took a little more research. Since these were potential leads for my cash buyer list, I wanted to find out who owned the properties and contact them to learn if they were interested in more deals.

Finding contact info for recent rehabs can be tricky. My county in Florida has a property appraiser website where I can plug in a property’s address and find the owner’s contact info. Depending on your location, you may be able to find a similar online resource. Check out NETROnline to find public records in your area.

When I search on my county’s appraiser website, I can type in an address and see – for instance –the name of owner, which may be an LLC or Trust. The website also tells me the owner’s mailing address. So, I could send them a letter – but to get a faster and free response, I like to call…

To find their phone number, I simply plug the company’s name and city into a Google search. In most cases, you should be able to find the phone number fairly easily.

Stay tuned for more…

It’s really a simple and straightforward process, but the results can be astounding. As an investor, of course you want to find as many amazing property deals as possible. And, in my opinion, driving for dollars is one of the best ways to do so.

Next time, I’ll get into the details of how to find the owner of an abandoned or vacant property. This process takes a little more elbow grease, so we’ll explore that more later. I’ll also let you know the outcome of my driving for dollars, and how many of the owners from my list I was able to locate.

Stay tuned!

Hit the road?

Do you have a great driving for dollars deal? Share below.

Zone in on your zip code. Choose a specific neighborhood or community where you’re hoping to invest in some properties. Start small – you can always expand your search to nearby towns, if needed.

Go for a drive. It’s exciting to be out searching for properties, and feeling kind of like a detective. (Okay, well maybe that’s just my inner child having fun with the situation). Regardless, this can be a great profit-boosting activity to do on a fair weather day.

Jot it down. Take thorough notes on the properties you find (including the address, repairs needed (if it’s a vacant or abandoned property), and any contact info you might see (such as a phone number).

Take action. Don’t wait to call the owners or to search for them online. Other real estate investors could be approaching them already, and you want to have the advantage of speaking to motivated sellers first.