The single biggest question I get from people new to real estate (and experienced) is “how do I find listings? They say, “I don't know what to focus on in real estate. Should I focus on rehab? Should I focus on finding absentee owners? Should I focus on direct mail?”
The problem with these questions is that the real estate investor is confused about the whole real estate business and the marketing plan behind finding deals. I understand that you take a three-day real estate training course or buy a home study course and every angle of real estate investing is attractive. You can see the potential in all these different markets.
First you need to focus! That's the only way to get better at overcoming objections and solving problems that are unique to different types of motivated seller markets.
Let's simplify this whole real estate marketing game and boil it down to this:
Who, what, when, where, why, and how (and how much)!
WHO:
Who will we talk to? Who will we try to buy houses from? You may want to work in one or two of the following markets: Foreclosures, Absentee Owners, Our Wills, Divorces, For Sale by Owners, or Tired Owners. This is your market – who.
What:
What will you say in your marketing? It could be the real estate marketing script you follow, the direct mail postcard system you implement, or the specific copy in your advertising. Understand that you are looking for motivated sellers to take action. If you take the time to write a letter, ad, etc., you want your prospect to do something like call or email or listen to a recorded message!
When:
When will your potential customers receive your marketing message? Timing and consistency are everything to your real estate marketing campaign. You must be the only person (or company) they think of when the moment comes when they realize they are actually a motivated seller!
Where:
Where will they receive your message? Obviously, if you knock on the door, you will meet them at their home. However, if you are marketing to personal representatives of the estate, the legal representative can receive and forward the letter. It's important to think about where your prospect will "see" your message, as this will influence the action they take.
Why:
This is where your real estate exit strategy comes into play. What will you do with the property once you gain control? Are you going to wholesale it to another investor? Are you going to fix and flip it yourself? Are you keeping it for rent?
As you grow your real estate business, you will have a variety of options for each transaction depending on what is best for the property. You may have properties that you can assign, rehab, OR rent. But initially, decide where you are on your real estate investing scale and work within those parameters. If you're asking, “Should I focus on rehab homes or should I focus on bereavement?” you're asking two different questions.
How:
Another thing is the way of communication. This is 'how do we talk to our potential motivated sellers?' So let's say your market is foreclosures or pre-foreclosures (who). The next question is how? Basically, there are only four methods we can use to communicate with our target market.
1. Driving for dollars (or knocking on doors)
2. Telemarketing
3. Direct mail
4. Mass marketing
How much:
I'm throwing this in because it will affect your real estate marketing strategies. How much can you afford to spend? Understand that for a few dollars a day, you can have an extremely profitable real estate investment business. It doesn't take a lot of money to bring home deals!
Here's a quick real estate marketing business plan that you can implement immediately using a who, what, when, where, why, and how to approach:
Who: Before foreclosures within 2 weeks of the court sale (note how specific this is)
What: Yellow legal block letters
When: Two weeks before the sale
Where: Prospect's home
Why: The seller is more motivated and has run out of options
How: Handwritten, addressed, first-class postage and return label
How much: Based on a $100/month budget, I'll send 59.5 letters each week (don't forget to calculate your marketing budget down to the penny - stamps, ink, paper, envelopes, etc.)
And there you have it! 7 Simple Steps to Your Real Estate Marketing Plan.
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