Has anyone had real success prospecting for FSBO on Craigslist

Question

Or,,,,
Is it a waste of time,,,
Some coachs base their whole seller marketing program on scoring FSBO's on Craigslist
Any help appreciated
DD

Dean Letfus · Answer

Same in Memphis but that makes many investors avoid it. There are real deals there as well!

Mary B. · Answer

Depends on the market. I've found some good deals via FSBO on CL in STL & Pittsburgh yet in Philly or NYC not so much(most are investors re-flipping wholesale deals). Besides you need to have more than one avenue to secure leads both online and off so I'm not mad at CL one bit.

Kudos,
Mary

Aaron Mazzrillo · Answer

I purchased a 3 unit just down the road from my house that was advertised on CL. I had to put a bit down (borrowed it), but I got 8 year 5% interest only on the balance. I wouldn't expect to make a business model out of it, but CL is good for a deal about once a year for me.

David Doyle · Answer

Hey Mikey

Thanks 4 your input,,!!

By the way ,,great BP podcast a while back there,,,one of the past Ive heard here,,,

Honestly Mike,,,I tried to do exactly what u suggested screening the Craigslist FSBO ads with a VA from the Phillipines,,,she was a nice intelligent person but the whole "thang" was a trainwreck,,,,she was send ing me leads for storefront businesses for sale,town homes 300 miles away from me geographically,,,,self storage properties for sale ,,,all of which I specially did not ask for.,,,

I think its a socio/economic cultural kinda thing,,,,

In this case you must have a local or semi local USA VA who has some understanding of real estate,,,,

All this after 2 months of training and Skype sessions,,,,

So I hope this helps guys.

VA are cool but u must be on the same page with them and know their limitations

DD

I

Mike Nelson · Answer

@David Doyle , yes I've found some good deals in CL. Don't rely on it entirely, of course. But it's true there are real fsbo leads there. Besides, it's for free.

You don't want to waste your time going through ads yourself though, so definitely hire someone else to do that. It only becomes a waste of your time if you do it yourself. What's even better is if you could hire a VA or someone part time to contact those leads and only pass to you the real fsbo's or best, those that seem motivated.

David Doyle · Answer

No Mike not really

Most of the houses offer "by owner" are retial flips offer by investor/rehabbers looking for a retail buyer or they are "dummy ads" or shills from wholesalers looking to build a Buyers List.Nothing wrong with that but thats what the Hell it is.

As a practical matter I ve considered hiring a real estate assistant or intern to do the looking for me

Its kind of like looking for a needle in the haystack

I think my time and money i0s better invested in direct mail,but keep in touch and let me know how u do

DD

David Doyle · Answer

Thanks Guys I'll keeping plugging away
Mary B you are spot on here in Los Angeles most FSBOs on Craigslist are as you say "investors reflipping wholesale deals"
Id say 95% of the ads on there
BestRegards
Dave Doyle

Jerry Kisasonak · Answer

In spite of all the clowns playing around there, there's deals there. If you see something you like go out and meet the seller at the house. This makes you real to them. Establish rapport. Don't act like a motivated buyer. In fact, walking away and then calling them back a day or two later sometimes helps. The best deals I've got from there were about 4-6 connections in... meaning I needed to talk with them over the phone a handful of time before I could get the trust, the price, and the terms I wanted. And this usually seems to all happen on the last call, so don't expect it on call #2. On one deal that happened to be 1,000 down, owner financed for 5 years with principle only payments. With closing costs included I was all in for under 2,500. It's a great rental property.

Like others have said, Craigslist shouldn't be your entire marketing plan. That would be foolish. You should have at least 3 marketing strategies employed at all times.

Best, 
Jerry

Tom Goans · Answer

Everyone's definition of a good investment is different. I have also found the Craig’s List participants vary greatly in different markets. Some more suspect than others. Some are filled with deception that requires a lot of time to get to the truth. It comes down to the value of your time to weed out the good investments.