10 Tried & True Strategies for Finding Cash Buyers

Worried about finding cash buyers for your real estate deals? I think you’ll be surprised at just how easy this can be. In fact, let me give you ten different ways.

10 Tried & True Strategies for Finding Cash Buyers

1. Landlords on Craigslist

Head to your local Craigslist “houses/apt for rent” section, and you’ll instantly find a huge list of property owners, along with their phone numbers and property addresses! True, not all these owners will be cash buyers, but most investors with enough knowledge to buy multiple properties could probably also pull off a cash deal.

2. Real Estate Clubs

At your local real estate investing club or landlord organization, you’ll likely encounter a variety of cash buyers. Simply strike up conversations with everyone you can and ask what their specialty is while letting them know what you do. Chances are you’ll find some great business relationships this way!

3. Real Estate Agents

Real estate agents have some special tools at their fingertips that non-agents do not have, especially with respect to searching recent sales. If you can build a solid relationship with an agent, they can easily supply you with a list of all recent cash sales in any nearby location. Although they may not be able to get you the property owners’ names (though perhaps they can), they can easily give you the property address, and you can simply search the online public records for names and personal addresses.

4. Online Lead Capture

If you have a website, you can easily set up a “lead capture form” that allows potential cash buyers to submit their name and contact information if they’d like to be added to your buyers list. You can drive traffic to your webpage through social media, online or traditional advertising, your BiggerPockets Profile, or good ole Craigslist.

5. Public Record

Perhaps the most comprehensive source of cash buyers, your local public record’s office has information about every sale in your area. Although every county is different in the way this information can be accessed, you can begin by doing a Google search of your local county assessor’s page or records office. When a house is purchased with financing (in a state that uses mortgages), two primary documents are recorded with the county: the deed (which shows the change in ownership) and the lien from the loan. On a cash sale, there will be no lien from the loan. Another good way to search the public record is through a local title company. They can provide you (with or without a fee) a list of properties that have sold without a mortgage lien.

6. Craigslist Ads

Unlike a lot of real estate gurus, I don’t recommend creating fake real estate listings just to get the phone ringing. However, creating ads on Craigslist for future wholesale deals is more than appropriate and should get people calling. A simple subject line that states “Wholesale real estate deals at 70% ARV” and a short ad explaining that you wholesale deals with that criteria should get people’s interest and connect you with some serious cash buyers.

7. Courthouse Steps

When a person buys on the courthouse steps, they must have all cash. Therefore, anyone bidding on a property at the courthouse is a cash buyer. Get to these auctions early and strike up some conversations, hand out business cards, and create some long-lasting business relationships.

8. Hard Money Lenders

Hard money lenders can be a terrific source of referrals to cash buyers because if you’ll recall, a cash buyer doesn’t necessarily need to have all the cash in the bank and could use hard money to close with all cash. Connecting you with their clients is in a hard money lender’s best interest, because you, in turn, will provide them with additional business. It’s a win-win-win.

9. ListSource

While Listsource.com is the most common place for wholesalers to create a list of potential motivated sellers, it can also be a great place to find cash buyers. Use the site to search for properties purchased within a specific period of time and focus on absentee owners who didn’t record a deed of trust. This will give you a list of cash buyers for just pennies per item. (Special thanks to Michael Quarles from YellowLetters.com for that tip!)

10. BiggerPockets

Finally, our very own BiggerPockets.com is an incredible place to find and screen potential cash buyers. Among our more than 700,000 members are thousands of cash buyers looking for deals on our site every day. Visit and use BiggerPockets.com/meet to find members in your area and start building relationships with those who appear to be big players in the real estate space. You can also use this space as a great opportunity to build your reputation by engaging with other members, answering questions, and getting involved.

How do you find cash buyers? Anything you’d add to this list?

Leave your comments below!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.