What is the best way to get Tenant Buyers???

[Arik1 0]

Hi Guys,

 

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted - I've been getting my feet wet in the marketing side of things. I put out an ad in Craigslist for Sellers on Sunday - Family needs 3bdrm/bath, ok credit, good income, looking to lease purchase, needs flexible terms (I did that because I'm going after the people who may need more flexibility than what the lease option competition is offering). I didn't think I was going to get responses. Received 10 emails so far. I'm happy to see that it works and I'm in the process of setting up some appointments to see the properties and getting the agreements signed.

 

Ok, that went well but what is the best way to get T/B's to respond in Craigslist? Do you try to appeal to the people who are looking to lease only, and put in an ad in the for rent section, or, do you market to the people who are specifically looking to do a lease option? In my city, there are about 12 pages of For Rent ads in CL (especially yesterday!) Any opinions on the best way to approach this? I know there are other sites and options to do this but it seems that most people nowadays go straight to Craigslist when looking to rent.

[blaklabrat 0]

I've been studying Craigslist for a few weeks now. If you're just gonna work with Craigslist, I would suggest putting an ad in the rental section, but also contacting people that post in the Real Estate Wanted section, and maybe even in the real estate by owner section (just put "rent to own" or "lease/option" in the title).

 

As a renter myself, I would also suggest putting something up on rentals.com. When I found out we were moving to Colorado Springs that's the site that I frequented the most I think. I'm not sure if it costs anything to list there, but I would think they get a lot of traffic. I'm a newbie at the investing part myself, but this is my opinion as a consumer

 

I know the big shots will be through soon with more advice.

[MichaelC 160]

Finding t/b's will be done in a number of ways, most on the cheap.

For starters, always place a sign on the property, and directional signs around the neighborhood. Then, you should place your ads on Craig's List, Backpage, ebayclassifieds, snf Postlets. All are free. A newer site, Sellpoint.com, charges a fee and might be worth checking out.

Since these ads are free, you might as well advertise in both the FSBO and FRBO sections. Pictures are a must. If the terms are in line with what the market deems acceptable, you'll receive calls and emails.

[Arik1 0]

I've been studying Craigslist for a few weeks now. If you're just gonna work with Craigslist, I would suggest putting an ad in the rental section, but also contacting people that post in the Real Estate Wanted section, and maybe even in the real estate by owner section (just put "rent to own" or "lease/option" in the title).

 

As a renter myself, I would also suggest putting something up on rentals.com. When I found out we were moving to Colorado Springs that's the site that I frequented the most I think. I'm not sure if it costs anything to list there, but I would think they get a lot of traffic. I'm a newbie at the investing part myself, but this is my opinion as a consumer

 

I know the big shots will be through soon with more advice.

Hi Ayse,

 

Are you using CL to find T/B's? What I'm trying to do is find Sellers and T/B's at the same time (without getting an agreement with the seller signed first). I'm just trying to decide if I should try to focus marketing on people who haven't thought about lease options before, or, people who have considered it and are now willing to do it. I have ideas for both. Like I said, there are literally tons of properties for rent in CL in my area.

[blaklabrat 0]

Clist is my area is mostly flooded with investors . They use the same method as you did to find sellers (which is genius by the way). But I have come across some potential tenant/buyers as well. I messed up with one family I think by asking too many questions too soon, but I think they were one the up and up. I found them in the Real Estate Wanted section.

 

I haven't found any sellers yet so I haven't looked to hard for tenant/buyers yet. I responded to a couple ads and got one response that wasn't an investor. From what I've noticed, you get better results if you go for the ads that don't ask for a lot of specifics. Like how you mentioned the 3 bedroom/bath, terms, etc., well people that are interested in renting to own probably won't know a lot about the specifics and might not have very specific needs laid out in their post. Just my opinion, but from what i've seen, when the post is very specific it's usually another investor.

 

I would suggest marketing to both. I talked to someone that had heard about rent to own and was getting a little desperate so he was more open to the idea. I've also talked to someone that didn't know what it was and said they were glad they had another option and would consider it if they didn't sell the house outright.

 

I haven't really tried marketing to landlord's yet. Maybe that should be my project for today. I've been going after FSBOs and I get a lot of "oh we really just need to sell outright".

[Arik1 0]

Finding t/b's will be done in a number of ways, most on the cheap.

For starters, always place a sign on the property, and directional signs around the neighborhood. Then, you should place your ads on Craig's List, Backpage, ebayclassifieds, snf Postlets. All are free. A newer site, Sellpoint.com, charges a fee and might be worth checking out.

Since these ads are free, you might as well advertise in both the FSBO and FRBO sections. Pictures are a must. If the terms are in line with what the market deems acceptable, you'll receive calls and emails.

 

Hi MC,

 

Thanks. I guess it's almost imperative to get the agreement first and then market it. Gotta have those pics!!! I also checked out sellpoint.com - seems like alot of bang for your buck but I think I'll just do the legwork myself - I'll use the list of sites that it has as a reference to do my own advertising.

[Arik1 0]

Clist is my area is mostly flooded with investors . They use the same method as you did to find sellers (which is genius by the way). But I have come across some potential tenant/buyers as well. I messed up with one family I think by asking too many questions too soon, but I think they were one the up and up. I found them in the Real Estate Wanted section.

 

I haven't found any sellers yet so I haven't looked to hard for tenant/buyers yet. I responded to a couple ads and got one response that wasn't an investor. From what I've noticed, you get better results if you go for the ads that don't ask for a lot of specifics. Like how you mentioned the 3 bedroom/bath, terms, etc., well people that are interested in renting to own probably won't know a lot about the specifics and might not have very specific needs laid out in their post. Just my opinion, but from what i've seen, when the post is very specific it's usually another investor.

 

I would suggest marketing to both. I talked to someone that had heard about rent to own and was getting a little desperate so he was more open to the idea. I've also talked to someone that didn't know what it was and said they were glad they had another option and would consider it if they didn't sell the house outright.

 

I haven't really tried marketing to landlord's yet. Maybe that should be my project for today. I've been going after FSBOs and I get a lot of "oh we really just need to sell outright".

 

I got the same thing calling the FSBOs. There was a great posting that I read here in the forums about what to say when contacting landlords (unfortunately, I can't remember who wrote it). Something about asking first if a long term lease is ok, and then asking if they would consider selling at the end of the lease if all the rent payments are made in time. It sounds pretty smooth. I'm going to try that down the line.

[speedingpenguin 19]

Bandit signs pull in some calls, and if you can get 'em to stay posted for a long time, you'll get people calling from signs even after the property is sold! (Good for building a buyers list!)

 

And a lot of people will tell you they need a clean sale and can't rent the house out. Try asking sellers "Would you consider selling rent to own?" or "Would you rent the property for a while and then sell it?" and just ask landlords if they have any interest in selling.

 

I used to hate making cold calls, now I love it. It might take you some time to figure out a prospecting / sales method that works best for you but once you've got something that works good, talking to sellers can be a LOT of fun.

 

Go to Amazon.com and look for books on selling and prospecting, find some that have lots of high ratings and look interesting to you, and buy them used for a few bucks. I'm reading one right now called "High Probability Selling" by Jacques Werth you might wanna check out. It's along the same lines as a few other books/systems but it's an easy read (like a story) and will probably give you a very different view on prospecting/selling than what you're used to.

Another good one to read is "Hot Prospects" or the older version, "Prospecting Your Way to Sales Success" by Bill Good.

Both of those books will give you plenty to work with and I'd bet will make a big difference in your business!

[MichaelC 160]

Nice post, Chris. Thanks for sharing the info.

[Arik1 0]

Thanks Chris! I already have purchased "Go for No!" book and it's really helped in terms of the mindset you have to have doing this. It's just going to take a while for me to piece this all together. But it'll come. I work a full-time job and I don't have alot of time, but I'll make do with the little time I have.

[speedingpenguin 19]

Nice! I haven't read that book, but from the title it sounds like you're on the right track :-) Disqualify prospects as quickly as possible so you get 'em out of your way, and be ready for when the "Motivated Seller" who's actually ready to get started TODAY is on the other end of the phone.

 

Keep at it and you'll get there!