How To Build a Buyers List

One of the most important things you can do, as a real estate investor who plans to wholesale property, is to build a buyers list starting right now.

Don't wait until you have a property under contract to start building a list of potential investors and retail buyers that will be interested in deals that you find. Building a buyers list takes time and/or costs money. Why not save some money and start building your list using low or no cost methods (what I refer to as methods for poor folks) and then spend money to build your list only when you have an actual deal that you need to sell?

Here's how to start building a buyers list using low and no cost methods:

Post Ads on Free Classified Ad Websites

Posting a number of different ads on free classified ad websites can start the process of growing your buyers list. Plus, this method is relatively easy to do (once you learn how), costs no money on most websites, and you will see almost immediate results in most cases.

What types of ads can you run? You can run generic ads looking for investors who are trying to find deals, ads seeking partners to team up with you on deals, ads for specific deals you have, and ads giving away a free real estate course or a list of distressed properties. These are just a few examples; with a little creativity, you could come up with many more.

I go into greater detail on the mechanics of how to post ads on CraigsList, the largest classified ad website, in another article.

Reply To Ads on Classified Ad Websites and in Newspapers

The nice thing about classified ad websites is that on the popular ones, you're not alone. There are other investors posting ads to sell their deals or rent out their properties. Why not give them a call or drop them an e-mail to introduce yourself to them. Find out if they are looking for more deals and ask them if you can add them to your list of potential buyers to notify when you have a great deal. You can also do similar things with people who have posted ads in newspapers.

Network at Your Local Real Estate Group or on On-line Forums

Find out where investors hang out. Visit your local real estate investor club or association and meet other investors. Go to on-line discussion groups where investors are chatting and make new contacts there. Find investors that are blogging about their investing and make friends with them. If you have more time than money, these methods will help you both learn about investing strategies from other investors and build your buyers list.

Direct Mail Investors

A way that I use to quickly reach thousands of investors in my local market is direct mail. I get a list of investors that have recently purchased a house (often called the Absentee Owner List because the owner of the property is not living there) and mail them a postcard about a particular deal I have or about getting together to discuss investing. While this method has cost me about 32 cents per person mailed (including postage and printing), it has been a great way to instantly expand my investor network with people that have actually bought a house as an investment (and not those merely interested in buying a house).

The above methods are just a few ways that you can start building your buyers list. I recommend you start implementing one - or better yet, all - of these methods immediately to start building your list in anticipation of having a great deal to send out.

Until my next post,

James