Recently we covered the rules for posting on Craigslist. Now, we want to get into the fun (and more profitable stuff)…
Real estate investors have been using Craigslist for quite some time to make money. Based on the experience of some successful real estate investors, here are some tips and techniques to make your Craigslist ads more effective.
1. Use Keywords That Signal Distress When Searching
When you are searching Craigslist for motivated sellers, there are some obvious keywords that could bring you some results – like ‘motivated’ or ‘handyman special.’
It might also work to use some not-so-obvious keywords like:
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Divorce
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Wife
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Husband
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PCS (Military Term for Moving)
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Health
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Surgery
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Moving
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Death
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Illness
2. Use IFTTT as a Craigslist scraper
‘IFTTT’ stands for: If this, then that.
It’s a great website for setting up automatic tasks to link stuff together.
Each little process you set up on IFTTT is called a ‘recipe.’ Here is an example of a recipe for pulling ads from Craigslist and sending them to your email if they meet your search criteria.
BTW – We profiled IFTTT in this Mogul tech lesson.
3. Advertise in Several Categories
You never know where a motivated seller or a cash buyer is looking. So try different sections to post your ads.
The most popular would be ‘real estate wanted,’ ‘real estate – by owner,’ ‘real estate – by broker,’ and ‘real estate services.’
4. Always Be Testing
Just like you should be putting your ad in several different categories to see what works, you should also be testing different ads.
Good copywriters will run several different ads with different ‘specials.’ That way, they can see which buyers responded to which ads. They throw away the duds, and keep running the profitable ones. Then they test new ads against the profitable ones to see if they can do even better.
When changing the ads, try different:
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Headlines
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Pictures
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Body copy
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Offers of what you can do
Try to change all aspects of the ad, but maybe just one thing at a time. Since Craigslist is free, it costs you nothing to experiment.
5. All Landlords Are Potential Motivated Sellers
Landlords are investors. They are all willing to sell their rental property at the right price. The trick is to find the right price FOR YOU.
You never know whether they are motivated until you ask. Respond to all the rental ads from landlords that are not obviously property management companies or corporate rentals.
Ask them if they would consider selling.
6. Contact Garage and Estate Sales
Craigslist has a section on ‘garage sales’ in their ‘For Sale’ section. They don’t have a section on Estate Sales, however, you can search several different categories by putting ‘Estate Sale’ in their overall search.
Estate sales are done when people pass away. Although we feel sorry for the family of the deceased, that family will likely want to sell the house quickly in many cases, especially because the house is frequently debt-free.
Some people do have garage sales just to clear out the garage. Others have them because they are getting ready to move and need to put their house on the market. You might be able to catch them before they put their house on the market. And they might be pretty motivated to sell quickly.
7. FSBO Owners Are Potential Landlords
Do you own a property management business? Would you want to manage rentals you don’t own?
This would be a great business for someone starting out in real estate or with limited funds.
Look at the ‘For Sale By Owner’ ads on Craigslist. Check out the pictures...
The houses without any furniture or stuff in them are problems for the seller. It means the seller is living somewhere else and paying 2 mortgages. Contact the seller through Craigslist and see if they would be interested in renting their house instead. You could run the rental while the seller finances it.
Of course, the seller might also be motivated to sell. This may be a chance to get creative on terms – maybe the seller would be interested in a lease option.
8. Use Simple Replies for Motivated Sellers
When contacting people who seem to be motivated, don’t send them a big glossy email looking like a professional company. The seller is not interested in filling out your long, complicated Google Docs form.
Just say something like:
“Hey I saw your ad on Craigslist and I’m interested in buying your house. Please contact me.”
Give the seller multiple ways to contact you: email, phone, text, etc.
9. Search for Phonetic Spellings of Words
Motivated sellers may not have been English majors...
Some of the most profitable deals may come from finding ads with lines like these:
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‘House for Sale in Mackinaw’
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‘Must sell due to divorse’
People butcher the English language on Craigslist, which makes it hard to find them in a search. When you search, look for obvious misspellings of keywords as well.
10. Get Rid of Junk from Your Rehabs
As you clear out all the junk from houses on your flips, put some of the big stuff like furniture and appliances on Craigslist for free.
It may save you from renting an extra dumpster. You’ll be amazed at what people will haul away for you if you advertise it as Free.
Any Other Tips?
Please post them for others in the comments section below.
Use Craigslist – It’s a great resource for finding houses, buyers and lots of other cheap stuff.
Research other Classified Sites – Classified ads can yield lots of great results, particularly online. Sites like BackPage and Oodle may have motivated sellers advertising on them as well.
Learn Copywriting Techniques – The better your ad, the better your shot at selling stuff. Pick up a book on copywriting. Use some techniques in your online ads.
JP Moses
is a real estate investor in Memphis, TN, with experience ranging from land lording to note buying, rehabbing, and wholesaling. However, wholesaling is the area that he enjoys most and where he bring the most experience and expertise to his students.