Using the people around you to locate motivated sellers for you is a great way to find even more deals. Think about it, the more people you have looking for deals for you, the more deals you are going to make.
So how are we going to find these people to use to find deals for us? First of all, friends and relatives are good sources of leads for you. They live, drive and work in different areas usually than you do and they come in contact with a lot of people that you don’t. So they are likely to bring you deals you would never know about otherwise.
You can also ask anyone who does deliveries to be a bird dog for you. For example, mail delivery, Fed-X or UPS delivery people are delivering packages all over your area and can tell you about vacant houses they may see. If you have someone who mows your lawn, shovels your driveway, takes care of your pool, does pest control for you, or a handy man who works for you, these are all good sources of leads for you. You just need to make sure you pay them either by the lead they bring you or by the deal when you close. You need to negotiate this with them ahead of time.
I actually have a tenant who works for the local cable company, so he is all over our county on a daily basis. He is able to find us lots of leads on vacant houses and people who are getting ready to sell their homes. I also work with a company that has storage units and they will contact me when they know of someone who has a home they need to sell.
If you are a land lord, your tenants can be an excellent source of leads for you. I have a tenant referral program that I use to get my tenants excited about finding leads for me. I send them a letter telling them if they bring me a lead and I buy the deal, I will allow them a $100.00 credit toward the following months’ rent. I have purchased multiple properties on the same street using this technique. The tenants knew these homes were going to be sold long before they were listed for sale anywhere else.
You can also pay friends, family or tenants to put your signage on their vehicles. I pay $30.00 per month for folks to keep our signage on their vehicles. I provide them with business cards to distribute to anyone who asks for one and also to put on the vehicle when it is parked. I have them write their names on the back of the cards. Whenever I get a call and buy a deal from one of their vehicles I pay them an extra bonus of 250.00. This is a great way to get your message out to your market. These folks with vehicle signage will go a lot of places you would never go. For example, I have one tenant with signage on her car and she works at a local building supply store so her vehicle sits in front of that store all day with our signs on it. What a great way to find leads!
You can also use a Realtor, mortgage broker, home inspection person, title agent or attorneys to find properties for you. Very often my Realtor will bring me deals before they are listed. I also have relationships with attorneys who bring me deals. They will often have a situation with a client who needs to sell a property quickly in order to liquidate assets and they will call me first.
Be a little creative and think of all the people you might know who may be able to find some deals for you. The more people you have finding deals for you, the more deals you will make.
For more information about Kathy Kennebrook’s real estate products go to marketingmagiclady.com