There’s nothing in the real estate business that is better than getting a house under contract by sending out one e-mail or making a few phone calls and having that house sold in a few hours or a day or two. There are different types of buyers’ lists that you might want to build.

There are retail buyers’ lists when you are selling those pretty houses that you have an option on. There are also lease option buyers’ lists. But that isn’t what we are going to cover here. We are talking about how to build a wholesale buyers’ list so that when you get a contract on that junker down the road, that ugly house that you got a deal on, you have somebody to flip that house to quick.

There’s a lot of different ways to build a buyers list. Some that cost a lot of money. I will teach you how to do it for free.

First off, I do suggest that you have a website. It can be a one-page website that introduces you as a professional house buyer and seller. Many times I find houses that I can’t rehab myself. Therefore, I like to give others opportunities to buy these houses at a great price.

I let them know on my website. They just fill in their information and it comes right back to you on your list. So, when you come up with a new property that you are selling, all you have to do is send out one e-mail that automatically goes to your whole list. I know that it costs some money, but doing it yourself is very inexpensive.

Online sources are a great way to get your list started using free classified websites. Every day, I would post an ad there saying you are selling houses. You will put “Wholesale Properties Available”, or something more creative on there. Maybe something like “The Other Guys Talk, We Walk the Walk”, or something flashy like that. How about “Are you a rehabber? Do you renovate houses for a living? We’ve got the deals”. Direct them to your site or a phone number. You want to do this at least a few times a week so people know that you have houses.

When you post on these classified sites, you want to use good keywords . You want to put lines in there like, “We Buy Houses”, “Handyman Special”, “Sell Houses Fast”, or “Fixer-Upper”, and you want to put the area you are working in so that when people put the location in and a keyword, your ad could pop right up!

So many times I put a search in with the area and up comes a classified ad in the 2nd or 3rd item that pops up. So, go to the sites and let the world know that you sell houses and have the junkers and you have the ugly houses at the right price.

Remember, you are looking for investors who you can assign your contracts to, who will buy those houses from your Seller and you make the spread in between. Make sure your web address, e-mail address, and phone number in there.

Also, put in that ad that you buy houses too. You might have a homeowner or investor who is browsing online who hits that site, and they might have a house for sale. You should always put “We Buys Houses Too” in your ads. It could double the effectiveness of your ads.

Here is the cheapest offline way to build your buyers list. Get the newspaper and go to the House For Sale section. If you see a house that says, “Just Rehabbed”, you know that’s it’s probably an investor who just rehabbed that house and is selling it.

When you are driving down the street and see a sign that says, “We Buy Houses”, go ahead and call them , introduce yourself as an investor in the area, ask them if they do buy houses. Explain that you are a wholesaler and that you get houses at a good price, and you are looking for other investors to take deals that you can’t handle yourself.

Find out their price range or area they are working in. Ask them if you can send them properties via e-mail. Find out what type of properties they work with. Or go ahead and add them to your list anyway, because you never know if their needs will change.

Having a buyers’ list could make the difference between you taking a couple days to flip a house or a couple of weeks. Let them know that you also buy houses. Be honest with them and let them know exactly what you are doing. Don’t be dishonest because it could bite you back in the end. I have been let down in the past and will now no longer accept phone calls from some investors in my area. Don’t lie, be honest. Word gets around. Good luck!

By: Nick Cifonie

About the Author: