5 things you can do to succeed with a $0 marketing budget.

Spending money on marketing when you are starting out can sometimes crush your dreams before they ever begin. How can you have a marketing budget before you have any money to spend on real estate? I know I didn’t have any money to spend on marketing so I found unique ways to find leads and properties. I hear so many stories of the wholesaler who had barely any money to start and then spent $1,000 on mailers only to have nothing come from it and give up on their Real Estate dreams early. Or the Realtor who started off spending thousands on marketing without gaining any leads from it and quitting early. I want to help some of those people to prove that you can spend $0 on marketing and still make RE investing or being a Realtor a real career.

I started out investing and then became a Realtor. I began slow like most and increased my portfolio and sales over the last few years using some of the strategies I have described. I have found leads and properties from many different places and people. Now, marketing is a proven strategy that works and investors have made thousands off mailer campaigns, bandit signs, websites and others but not everyone can afford that and many are starting off with debt, low or no income and no experience. The most important thing you must have when investing with a $0 marketing budget is time and patience. In the beginning, I could go months without a single lead or appointment. Now, I have almost 1-3 appointments/week and a high conversion rate. This isn’t a get rich quick game, this is slow and steady and if you are patient you will be successful.

The first thing you must to do succeed with this strategy is Hustle, Hustle, Hustle. I have had people call me at 9 pm at night that want to sell their house and sounded motivated. You must go meet with them asap! Being the first to the appointment is sometimes what gets you the contract or lead. For that particular lead I asked them if I could come over right now (yes at 9 pm) and they said yes. We talked and wouldn’t you know it I walked out with a signed contract.

The second thing I do with my spare time is canvas the free sites like Zillow and Craigslist, sometimes even FaceBook marketplace or community pages where local people post things for sale. I have had good success with this. It takes time and patience but eventually you will find a deal.

My third favorite thing to do that is $0 in marketing is Driving for Dollars. My wife and I always go for a drive and look for potential houses. It’s sort of like a date for us since we both enjoy it and it’s fun to get out of the house. We write down the addresses then research the owners then I typically call them or find them on Facebook. I have never sent a letter to anyone since calling and researching is free if you can find the owner. We have found at least 3 of these that have turned into some sort of transaction for us in the 12 months.

The easiest and 4th thing you can do is network, talk to friends and family and neighbors of houses you already own. I bought a house last year in this cute little town and started renovating it. All the neighbors would pop over and see what was happening. Naturally, I would talk with all of them to find out more about them. The next-door neighbor told me they had been thinking of selling for a while. Of course, I asked for a tour and gave them an offer. They thought about it for a couple weeks and told me if I found them a new house I could buy theirs. Being a Realtor I showed them some new houses and they found one they loved and we all won. I always talk to the neighbors when I am remodeling a house and get leads from this all the time. It doesn’t hurt to ask. The same goes for family and friends. Now, after doing this for many years everyone knows we buy ugly houses and make them beautiful so people reach out to me from FB, email or wherever to ask them about a house they need to sell. It takes time but eventually you will get organic leads.

My 5th and final lead source is your competition. It may sound odd but I have worked with several other Realtors, wholesalers, flippers etc. and have gained leads from them that I have then resold, or gained a listing out of. It may be surprising but I would say this has been my best lead source in the last 12 months. Realtors will now call me directly with leads before they are listed because they know I have an established buyer pool and will make it an easy transaction. Flippers and wholesalers who spend all the money on marketing will also float listing leads my way since we have established relationships. It’s better to work with your competition rather than against them. 50% of one deal is better than 0% of another.

In conclusion, there are many ways to grow and thrive in this business without spending any excess money on marketing. I made it several years being a Realtor and buy and hold investor averaging 50+ houses per year totaling $8 million in sales and acquiring 3-5 properties a year to our portfolio. All of this while not having a website, never sending out 1 yellow letter or direct mail piece, no bandit signs, and no form of excess marketing. All I had was a laptop, phone and hours of my time grinding away.