4 Ways To Find Deals On Craigslist

chair Craigslist has been around for a while now, and whether you love or hate it, the fact is… Craigslist can deliver leads and deals.

Look, if you want to sell your investment services, you need to use Craigslist. Is it the end all/be all? Not even close. But it’s necessary tool in your belt and one that’s super inexpensive. Craigslist is appealing too because it taps into a local audience, which is key in our business. You choose your city, down to specific areas even in select cities.

But what’s the elephant in the room?

Well, let’s go there. Let’s talk about the fraudulent side of Craigslist. It absolutely exists and one of the main concerns users have is fraudulent behavior and communications through Craigslist.

Hey Moguls, Cody Sperber here, back again with good news! Craigslist has been cracking down – big time – on spamming. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to manipulate their system, which is good news for you!

Bottom line is that Craigslist is STILL a powerful and effective online marketing tool, so use it.

Get the Biggest Bang for your Craigslist Buck

So how do you, the investor, use Craigslist anyway? You’ve got lots of options, but here are my top 4 recommendations:

1. Video Advertising

This one is something I teach my students about…

Before you go making and posting videos, know this: Craigslist does not support uploading video features (as of yet). So you’ll have to research how to do this, or I don’t know, maybe you could sign up for my class and be done with it?

Videos can be extremely powerful marketing tools that can go viral in seconds, literally, so consider it for sure.

2. Create Your Own HTML Ad

Obviously, if you’re going to pursue this option you need to understand HTML (or pay someone who is well-versed), but Craigslist does have a guide to help you.

3. Text-Only Ads

Here’s a task for your virtual assistant…

Have them post “text-only” ads on Craigslist - ads that simply say you buy houses in any condition. Make sure these ads include your contact information (duh) and attention-getting phrases like “I will buy your house!” to immediately get your point across.

4. Scraping

keyless If Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were real estate investors, they would practice the art of scraping on Craigslist. It’s stealth, smart and totally ninja-like.

The strategy here is to find homeowners and scrape off their phone numbers from all the FSBO (For Sale By Owner) and FRBO (For Rent By Owner) listings. My virtual assistant takes care of this for me, but you can certainly tackle it yourself.

Place those phone numbers (most likely mobile numbers) into an Excel spreadsheet and start your ‘scraping database.’ Go into your Google Voice account, snag at least 5 numbers at a time, and then blast out a pre-crafted, well-written text message that says something like this:

“I’m a local cash buyer who is interested in making an all-cash offer on your property.
If you’re interested in, please contact me at XXX.XXXX.”

It’s a quick and efficient way to begin communicating with motivated sellers. It gets them on the line, interested and ready to share their motivation for selling.

Cowabunga dude!

Learn to Love the List

If you’ve had mediocre experiences with Craigslist in the past, leave them there, because now you know how to use Craigslist to your advantage.

It’s a resourceful and effective tool when used properly, but remember to stay on top of the trends when using Craigslist. Technology changes fast, as you well know. So what works today, may not work so well tomorrow.

But don’t worry. I’ll be there to get you up to speed, every time. :)