Are you living paycheck to paycheck and looking for low-cost or no-cost marketing tactics that are sure to help you close a deal?
Hey Moguls, Steph Davis here, and when I was just getting started as a wholesaler, I was in this exact position…
I had $50 in my bank account at any given time. Really. But, I managed to close deals on my shoestring budget, so I know it can be done.
Here’s my secret: driving for dollars.
But, before you can start driving for dollars, you need to identify your farm area.
What’s a Farm Area?
If you’re in a larger city, you need to focus your efforts or you’ll just end up spinning your wheels.
I started wholesaling in Tampa and spent way too much time trying to figure out what was going on in the entire market of Tampa.
Here’s what works: Choose 1 neighborhood or zip code (your farm area), and then learn everything there is to know about that one area.
Find out who’s buying, what prices investors are paying and even what’s going on at the retail level. It makes things a lot easier when it’s time to go and make offers.
Driving for Dollars
Once you have a farm area, you’re ready to drive. Spend a weekend driving up and down the streets in your farm area. Look for distressed properties—anything that’s vacant or boarded up. And look for ‘For Sale by Owner’ signs.
You’ll likely end up with a list of up to 30 potential properties.
Plus, as you’re driving, you can build your buyer’s list. If you see any ‘For Rent’ signs, call the number and see if that landlord is interested in buying more rentals in that area or in other areas.
Remember, when properties are in distress, owners are in distress, and that makes them motivated sellers.
Now, a list of 30 properties may seem like a small list compared to a list of 1,000 absentee owners. But, your list is going to be a very warm list. That’s a good thing.
Use the List
Okay, so you have your list...
Now take that list and do a mailing. Research the properties on your list to find the owner’s name and mailing address (which is probably different from the property address). Tell the owner that you are an investor and you’re interested in their property. Give the owners your phone number.
Then call any of the potential buyers on your list (from the properties with For Rent signs), if you haven’t already. Even if you haven’t found a seller yet, it’s never too early to network with potential buyers and start a list of people to call when you’ve got a property to sell.
Proof it Works
I know this woman – we’ll call her Samantha. She was living paycheck to paycheck, barely making enough money to get to the end of each month. But she had quite a bit of time on her hands and was willing to go out and do whatever she needed to do to get business.
So, Samantha drove around in her farm area on a Saturday and Sunday for a couple of hours each day and made her list of distressed properties and properties for rent. At the end of the weekend she had a list of 33 properties.
On Monday, Samantha researched the properties on her list and sent out letters. On Thursday of that same week, she got a call from one of those 33 leads. The owner had just lost his job and wanted out. He hadn’t listed the property, so she was able to negotiate an amazing deal with this seller.
That weekend she had also added some new buyers to her list after calling numbers on For Rent signs. She called a couple of her new buyers and asked if they were interested in this property.
With just a couple phone calls, she had this deal locked up, and she made $12,000! She had a check in hand within 30 days of her drive for dollars weekend.
I call that a success story!
So…
Buckle up and head out to your farm area to drive for dollars. It’s a great low-budget way to find motivated sellers.
Whatcha Think?
Have you driven for dollars? Tell us about it below.
1. Get a Farm Area – if you haven’t already identified your farm area, do it now!
2. Start Driving – drive through your farm area for a few hours and make one list of distressed properties and another list of potential buyers from the For Rent signs.
3.
Make Contact – use your new lists to send mailers to those motivated sellers and call the potential buyers.
Steph Davis
started wholesaling in October of 2006. At the time, she had been stuck at a job bartending for the past 10+ years. She was broke and miserable, and desperately wanted out of the bar scene, which I had been stuck in for the last 10+ years.
She ended up closing four wholesale deals by the end of 2006.
Since then, she's closed more deals than she can count, has written two best selling wholesaling courses (Flip This REO and The Cash Buyer Ninja) and continues to teach others how to wholesale with videos, interviews, and as much useful information as she possibly can, because she knows what it’s like to be a broke beginner, struggling to get that first deal.