Wholesaling is one of the best ways to start your real estate investing career. But finding motivated sellers can be tough. In this article, we’ll show you how to reach out to motivated sellers in your network and beyond so that you can get into those valuable deals quickly.
Why Wholesalers Need Motivated Sellers
As a wholesaler, you are in the business of finding and working with motivated sellers to find properties for sale at a discount.
The majority of deals fall outside of traditional channels such as MLS or listed homes online which makes them off-market, but being able to find motivated sellers is tricky without being able to tap into your local network or paying for ads online or through a broker service like ours!
What Makes a Seller Motivated?
Motivated sellers are homeowners who need to sell their homes quickly. There are a number of reasons why they might be motivated to sell, such as:
Unemployment. When people lose their jobs, they usually want to downsize or move somewhere else so that they can save money on housing costs. A large number of unemployed people means there will be more motivated sellers out there!
Bad economy - If the economy is doing badly in your area (or even if it isn't), you may find more motivated sellers because economic problems cause people to stress and make them want to move away from the source of their stressors if possible!
Underwater mortgages - Some homeowners have taken out loans for more than what their house is worth today; these folks could use some extra cash since they're unable to refinance due to negative equity issues like this one here
Acquisition Wholesalers
Acquisition wholesalers are people who are looking for deals to buy. They are looking for deals that can be bought at a discount, have potential upside, and can be quickly flipped. Why do they care so much about quick flips? Because they have massive pools of money and they want to make as much on every deal as possible.
Here's how it works:
A person or company buys up properties in bulk at discounted prices by buying off-market (not through MLS). They then sell these homes to others at inflated prices, pocketing the difference between their purchase price and selling price.
Acquisition Wholesalers usually work with huge networks of buyers and sellers who help them find properties that fit into one of those three categories above, which allows them to get the most out of their investments.
Lead Provider Services
Lead providers are companies that generate buyer leads for wholesalers. Lead providers work by communicating with potential buyers and gathering their contact information through various methods. Once they have the buyer’s contact information, they can then pass it along to the wholesaler who will be able to reach out to them and help them find a property.
There are many different types of lead providers in the industry and they all have different advantages and disadvantages depending on your budget, experience level, goals, and other factors. Some lead providers specialize in only one area while others offer services across multiple markets or categories such as real estate investment properties (REIP) or residential homes (RHS)
Google Adwords
Google Adwords is an excellent tool for finding motivated sellers. To use Google Adwords to find motivated sellers, you can set up an account and then run daily searches in your market area (which you can do through the "Search tools" menu). You'll receive a list of the most recent ads placed in the area surrounding your target neighborhood. If you see any ads that include keywords such as "must sell," "quick sale," or something similar, it's likely that these are motivated sellers who want to get their house off the market quickly because they need money fast.
Once you've identifiedpotential sellers from your Google search results, reach out to them directly via email or phone call (if they provided contact information) to set up appointments.
Driving for Dollars
The process of driving for dollars involves driving around your local neighborhoods and looking at foreclosures, short sales, bank-owned properties, and other types of distressed or problem properties that have been placed on the market. This can be done in person or remotely, but we highly recommend doing this in person because you’ll need to see exactly what you’re buying before you buy it (in case there’s something wrong with it).
Once you find a property that looks like it might make sense as a wholesaling deal, pull out your phone and take some photos from different angles so that when an investor asks how much the property is worth (which they will), you can whip out those photos instead of having to explain everything verbally over the phone or emailing them pictures later on down the road which wastes valuable time when wholesaling deals quickly fall apart after an offer has been made!
Property Sites
Property sites are a great place to find motivated sellers because these sites pull listings from many different agents and sources. You can find some motivated sellers on the main listing sites like Zillow, Redfin, and Trulia. Others may be using a local agent through Realtor.com.
If you want to use property sites to find motivated sellers, try searching for any properties with an asking price significantly below market value (at least 20% off). Then do some research on those properties by comparing their prices with other similar homes in the area. Do this research both online and by driving around and looking at houses yourself! Use that information to determine if there might actually be something wrong with the home that would make it hard for them to sell quickly or for more money than they’re asking for it.
Find Motivated Sellers In Your Existing Network
Friends and family: This is a great place to start. Explain your business model and ask if they would be interested in selling their house quickly, or know anyone who might be.
Business associates: Similar to friends and family, these are people you have done business with before or have some type of relationship with (for example, former coworkers).
Former classmates: You may find that many people don't want to sell just because they are afraid of change—they may also be hesitant simply because they've lived somewhere so long that it feels like home already. If you can convince them otherwise by explaining how much money they will save on taxes by selling now instead of later, then perhaps there's hope!
Former coworkers: Some people feel uncomfortable talking about money or finances with others; however, if your coworker has had trouble finding another job after leaving his last one due to downsizing or some other reason, this could be an option worth exploring! It might even help him get back on his feet financially without having to relocate somewhere else first (which would involve expenses such as moving costs).
Birddoggers
Birddoggers are people with a network of friends and family members who are willing to pass on information about people or properties that might be interested in selling. They can really help you find motivated sellers, which is the key to wholesaling deals.
If you’re just getting into wholesaling, then bird-dogging may sound like something out of a science fiction movie—but it’s actually one of the best ways for new wholesalers to find motivated sellers in their local area.
Real Estate Agents
Your local real estate agents will be a great source of motivated sellers. You can find them by searching the internet, using yellow pages, and asking brokers for referrals.
Real estate agents are often motivated to work with you on a deal because they get a commission from every single sale that goes through their office. So if you bring in one or two deals per month, it could really add up for them!
Direct Mail
Direct mail is a great way to find motivated sellers. You can target your direct mail campaign directly at homeowners who are thinking about selling their homes but haven't listed them yet or even put their homes on the market. This is slightly different than the traditional approach of sending letters out randomly to all kinds of homeowners regardless of whether they're thinking about selling or not. Direct mail campaigns usually have a higher success rate because you're only sending letters out to people who may be interested in selling their home and moving forward with it rather than just sending letters out randomly hoping for anyone who might want to sell their house. To find this list of individuals most likely to sell, companies like SmartZip or Offrs are a great solution. They are able to use predictive analytics and AI to find individuals who are motivated sellers.
The best part about direct mail campaigns is that once you've found one seller who's willing to move forward with an offer from you, there's no need for more marketing—you'll already have one person ready and willing! This means less work for yourself as well as lower costs since it takes less time looking for buyers when you already know which ones are interested in buying from you!
Search Online For Motivated Sellers
The internet is a great resource for finding motivated sellers. You can search for real estate listings that are off-market, or you can look up listings that are on the market but not getting any offers. You can also use the internet to find motivated buyers.
IMPORTANT: You must be careful when searching for motivated sellers and motivated buyers online because there are many websites out there that are full of scams.
Conclusion
As a wholesaler, you need to be prepared for what will come your way. There are many ways to find motivated sellers and it’s important that you find the right one for your business.
