Finding wholesale leads

[Joi GIlliam]

Hi. I'm new to wholesale real estate and I wanted to know what some of the more experienced people thought about generating leads for sellers. Some suggested bandit signs, others just buy lead lists and do a direct mail campaign. In my market (DFW) there are a lot of older communities with elderly homeowners that either don't live in the home or can't physically maintain the property, so I've been driving for dollars. Which of these strategies has been most effective for you all? The driving for dollars seems to generate a lot of leads but it also seems to require a lot more work. Does this extra work equal a higher likelihood of finding motivated sellers? 

[Dennis Rodriguez]

Hi @Joi GIlliam

I'm very close in the Houston market. Like I've said many times over, every marketing strategy have their PROs and CONs. Some generate better quality leads but tend to be more expensive (ie. social media advertising and internet ads). Some are very cheap but take a lot time (ie. driving for dollars, networking). Some fall right in between and I honestly think that's where direct mailing falls in. Bandit sigs have their very special place because they can be cheap to purchase (if you order a lot), they can be cheap to hang (if you do it yourself) but it's labor intensive (picture yourself at 2:00am with a stapler in one) and in some areas they are either illegal or frowned upon by the local authorities. 

You mentioned targeting an older generation of sellers, these older folks still get their mail and open letters versus going on FaceBook and posting. There's of course the exception grandpa that's up-to-date on technology and have their social media accounts but those are exceptions. 

I'm of course biased since we run a direct mailing printing business but we see the results day in and day out. Direct marketing still holds a good place in our marketing strategies and for this older crowd it work very well. It will depend on how many people are mailing in your target areas and the type of message you deliver. 

I hope this helps in your quest.  Good luck and happy investing!