Wholesale newbie in New Jersey seeks advice

[Henry Lee]

Hello BP world, my name is Henry, I am going to start wholesaling and I have a small budget ($2,000) that I’m ready to put into marketing. I have a full time job that I will keep until I can replace it with full time real estate, but I absolutely hate what I do and have been doing it for 30 years. It’s time! HERE’S MY QUESTION - what would be the best use of my marketing money to get started? And for how long should I stretch it out for?

Some of what I have heard is to use “list source” for finding absentee owners, but then do I keep that list small so I can mail out to them consistently for 5-6 months? Should I spread out the marketing budget to other avenues?

I’m ready to pull the trigger and spend (invest) the money I have, but what would be the best usage of the money?

Help me Obi-Wan, you’re my only hope!

[Joe Sadusky]

@Henry Lee congrats on taking the steps to get into real estate and wholesaling!

From my experience, the best use of your money would be having access to reliable information.  We find that getting accurate phone numbers is vital.  We also send letters (which add up quickly- paper/printing, envelope, stamps) 

You will want to spread your marketing funds in such a way that you are able to have multiple contacts with the same leads. It will be important to work on building a relationship with property owners, and some of your leads will take lots of diligence and nurturing. (This could equal the cost of multiple letters sent over a period of time)

Some marketing strategies that we have used on a limited budget is: driving for dollars, using the free public records to analyze and find deals- probate, tax delinquent, absentee owners, and even personally handwriting letters to save on printing costs. 

I would recommend vetting your leads thru multiple streams.  For example- if you decide to drive for dollars and pick out houses that seem to be completely dilapidated and not cared for, look up the property on the public records before spending the marketing money and sending a letter.  See how much the person actually owes on the house (is there even room for this to fit into your budget? etc)

Best of Luck!