The Top 5 Tools Real Estate Wholesalers Can't Live Without

Guys, I know firsthand what it’s like to struggle in the wholesaling business. I remember being a one-man show, juggling multiple roles, sending massive spreadsheets to my buyer’s lists — it was just unprofessional and sloppy!

I want you to know there are tools out there to help you streamline and make things extremely easy. These tools have drastically helped us in our business, and they’re something that every bona fide real estate wholesaler who wants to be authentic and long-lasting should implement in their business.

The Top 5 Tools Real Estate Wholesalers Can’t Live Without

These tools are going to streamline your whole process and give you the power to create systems in your business. Without these tools, deals will fall through the cracks, you’ll be running around like a chicken with its head cut off, you’ll be super stressed out, and your closing docs will be everywhere. It’s just going to be an absolute mess.

So without further ado, let’s jump into it!

Here are the top 5 essential tools you need if you want to be successful and scale your business.

Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM)

CRM is essentially an online management tool used to track your customer relationships.

You can track everything from deals you have in the pipeline, to purchase agreements, to birthdays and so much more.

Now, if it’s your initial call, you would enter in their name, phone number, how they heard about your company, and any other information you have on that person.

You can set automatic reminders for follow-ups. Some systems even have pre-scripted emails and voicemails you can automatically send out so you don’t have to worry about that type of stuff.

Essentially you can store all of your interactions with clients all in one place!

Now, there are different types of CRMs out there.

For the last few years of our business, we’ve been using Highrise, which is a very simple, clean-cut CRM software. Another popular productivity platform is called ClickUp.

Podio is really awesome because it’s super customizable and can hold multiple projects.

For example, you can have a project for just for acquisitions and motivated sellers, then a project completely dedicated to the sellers’ side, and it’s pretty affordable as well.

There’s a ton of others out there, so do your research and check them out because this is something you definitely need to properly set up within your business!

Email Marketing Management Software

One of the easiest ways to manage your buyers list is to have an email marketing software that stores all of your buyer contacts.

We currently use an email marketing software called Aweber, and we have literally have 8 to 10 different buyers lists within our Aweber account based off certain criteria.

Whenever we have a property that meets a particular buyer’s criteria, it’s very simple — we just go to the software, create a really nice presentation email, and send out a mass email to 800-2,000 people, depending on which list we’re sending to.

It’s very user-friendly.

I don’t have to manually type in every email address or anything — it just makes things super simple.

We use Aweber, but there is also MailChimp to get started for free. So just do your research because there’s a number of different resources out there.

The truth is, if you’re going to have a massive buyers list and if you’re going to be building a buyers list, the easiest way to reach out to those people is by sending out mass emails.

Using an email marketing software is essential to making that happen!

Access to the Multiple Listing Service

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a database that stores all properties that have sold and properties currently on the marke. It’s essentially the entire history of real estate in a given market.

It’s a very important database because it allows investors to run comparables to help determine their purchase price.

Guys, if you are a full-time real estate wholesaler, we really encourage you to have your real estate license because it’s really tough to get access to the MLS without your license.

If you don’t have access to this thing, my friends, it’s going to be almost impossible to analyze a deal.

Even if you have an investor-friendly agent within your network, keep in mind that they run their own business, and your needs are going to be second to their and their clients’ needs.

So if you’re doing a multiple offer strategy or are in a pinch and need to run comps ASAP, having to rely on somebody else to do that just brings a lot of risks that you don’t want to deal with.

If you get your license, you have access to the MLS. Problem solved!

I have to be honest, getting my real estate license was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and for the people who say, “If you have your license you have to fully disclose everything,” well, my question is, why would you not want to disclose everything?

What do you have to hide?

If you’re doing business right and if you care about people, you are going to make sure you’re fully transparent anyway. If I didn’t have my license, I would tell the motivated seller and the buyer. I wouldn’t try to pull any wool over anyone’s eyes because that’s just not good business.

Guys, get access to the MLS.

Social Media

Social media is very important because you can build relationships and find investors in your market.

I want to talk about social media because it’s been an essential tool in growing our business, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without it. But there’s a lot of distractions on social media.

There’s Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and new ones popping up everyday.

You can take an 80/20 analysis approach with social media.

The 80/20 principle, also known as the Pareto Principle, says that roughly 80 percent of effects come from only 20 percent of the causes.

So if that’s true, you only need to focus your efforts on what will produce results.

If you’re truly a real estate investor, you really only need to be on three social media platforms. You need to be on Facebook, BiggerPockets, and LinkedIn — and maybe YouTube if you plan on having a YouTube channel for branding purposes.

You really don’t need to be on anything else.

The best way to network is to find out where people in your niche are hanging out online and go hang out there.

You will benefit from being in private real estate investing-related Facebook groups, BiggerPockets, and LinkedIn because that’s where the other real estate investors hang out.

Especially with BiggerPockets, you can set up your account to receive notifications for keywords.

For example, we’re in Indianapolis, and we can set up a keyword alert for “Indianapolis,” and I will receive a notification from any investor or inspiring investor interested in the Indianapolis market. I can then reach out to them, answer questions, build my presence in the real estate investing community, and potentially meet with people offline and build relationships.

There have been so many benefits that have come from engaging on BiggerPockets, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

I can’t begin to tell you how important it is to do that!

However, you as the business owner don’t need to spend your time posting on social media.

You can hire out or get a virtual assistant (and we will talk about that here briefly), but you really need to find someone who can manage your social media for you because it is a big time commitment.

You’ll probably spend a minimum of 2 to 3 hours a day responding to comments and engaging in the forums.

Again, it’s definitely something you want to outsource when you can.

That leads us to our final point…

Virtual Assistants

For our final tool, I really want to highlight the importance of hiring and outsourcing to virtual assistants overseas.

There is an incredible book called Virtual Freedom: How to Work with Virtual Staff to Buy More Time, Become More Productive, and Build Your Dream Business by Chris Ducker, who is the owner and founder of a company out in the Philippines called Virtual Staff Finder.

They will literally match you with the perfect VA for your need. You can outsource an entire team or just a general VA.

It’s a really cool company!

I have to tell you guys, outsourcing mundane tasks for $4-$5 an hour in the Philippines has been one of the greatest decisions I’ve ever made as a businessperson!

Virtual assistants handle tasks that nobody else has time for, from purchase agreements to scheduling.

Now, there are a ton of things that are easy to do but are very time-consuming, and those are perfect tasks to outsource to virtual assistants.

I would encourage Filipino virtual assistants because the Filipino culture has a lot of respect and admiration for Americans and Western culture. The vast majority of Filipinos speak great English, and they really understand how we tick as Americans.

In my opinion, they have been the best culture to work with in terms of hiring a virtual assistant.

Conclusion

To sum everything up, if you’re looking to establish a legitimate business, having these tools in place will radically make a difference in your business.

I remember what is was like without these tools, and though I still made some money, I wasn’t even as close as productive as I am now.

The truth is, if you want to scale, you have to start working on your business and not in your business, and these are the tools you need in place in order to make it happen.

I hope this post helped you in your business this week!

See you on the flip!

Investors: What tools have you found to be the most helpful in your real estate business?

Leave your comment below!

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