No Marketing Budget? No Problem!

You know the saying, “The best things in life are free.” Well, in the case of marketing for your real estate investing business, this can ring especially true.

What’s up, Moguls, Jason Lucchesi here, and I remember when I was starting off as an investor, and I had no marketing budget. Let’s just say that I understood very well how to stretch a dollar.

The good news is... today, we have a ton of awesome resources that I didn’t have when I was starting in 2008. At that time, social media was just starting to take off.

Today, Facebook and YouTube are two HUGE marketing tools that I would recommend, especially because they cost nothing.

Posting on Facebook? Cost = nada.

Making videos like the ones I post on YouTube? Cost = zilch.

You get the idea.

So, how do you take advantage of these free marketing resources? There are many, many ways – but I want to cover just a few today.

Using YouTube to Build Your Cash Buyers List

You’re probably looking at this subhead, thinking, “Say whaaat?” I mean, that’s what you would think, if “say whaaat?” was still a thing.

Anyway…

Using YouTube to build your cash buyers list is easier than you think. You can start by doing a simple search. Head over to YouTube and type in “We buy houses Chicago” (or whatever your market is), and you’ll find tons of investors who are doing deals in your area. This is a great way to start compiling your cash buyers list.

One super important thing to keep in mind, though, when it comes to your cash buyers list, is that you should focus on quality over quantity. If you have a list of 8-12 cash buyers that you can rely on, you’ll be ready to go.

How do you know which ones are reliable cash buyers?

youtube One way to vet your cash buyers is to find out who their title rep is, give that person a call, and figure out the last time the cash buyer had a transaction. If they haven’t had a transaction close in the past 90 days, that person is probably not a cash buyer you want to do business with.

Another option to vet your cash buyers is to get proof of funds. It could be a letter from a bank, a self-directed IRA, 401(k) statements, stocks/bonds, etc. It’s as simple as that.

Once you are equipped with a powerful cash buyers list, you can move on to marketing to and connecting with those individuals.

Using Social Media as a Free Marketing Source

Did you know that Facebook has over 1 billion users?

It’s a gold mine of potential investors/cash buyers who might be the perfect connections for you.

To use Facebook strategically (using the example of Chicago as your market of choice), type in “real estate Chicago” and find groups that are REI-related in your market. Then, within those groups, start siphoning out people who are doing deals in your specific area.

I like to reach out to individuals through Messenger on Facebook. I simply write,

“Hey, I’m reaching out to you to see if you have any property deals that might fit my criteria.”

So, for instance, maybe you’re looking for 3-bed/2-bath properties with 1,000+ square feet that were built within the past 20 years. You would let the person you’re messaging know this info.

From there, it’s quite simple. The people you connect with via Messenger will start to send you deals. In some cases, you might do a joint venture (JV) agreement, which means you’ll split the profits. Here’s how it works:

You do an “A to B” and “B to C” transaction
You get paid your half on the closing statement; the other half is paid to the JV partner

You can locate basically a limitless number of connections on Facebook. I recommend finding someone who has “real estate” in their profile name, and then do your due diligence from there.

On YouTube, I like to find people with videos that have been posted within the past 90 days (because that means they are currently active in real estate investing).

Most of the time, YouTube videos include a description with the person’s contact information. This is a super-easy way to start reaching out to people without leaving the comfort of your home or office! You can even do business virtually by connecting with others in your desired market.

Now, go log on.

Let’s Get Social

Which other social media networks or free marketing methods do you use to find cash buyers or potential property deals? Let me know your process in the comments.

Log on. If you don’t already have Facebook and YouTube accounts, create them now. Put “real estate” or “real estate investor” in your Facebook name.

Start posting. You don’t have to be the most creative person in the world – just post occasional Facebook updates and YouTube videos discussing your business, the types of properties you’re looking for and other bits of helpful info. Make sure you keep your social media channels updated by posting regularly.

Reap the benefits. When the leads start coming in, prioritize them based on their relevance to your specific market, your property type/preferences, etc. Follow up with those who contact you and start scoring those property deals!