Think of real estate buyers as your ‘money tree’ when it comes to real estate investing, because that is where the money comes from to make your real estate purchases; whether wholesaling or fix and flip. Honestly, building and nurturing your buyers’ list is one of the most important things you can do as a real estate investor.
I also recommend that building a buyers’ list is one of the first things you do, since it will help you determine which areas and properties the buyers prefer. It will also give you confidence that you are going in the right direction as an investor.
Quality is more important than quantity when it comes to building a buyers’ list. For this reason, I emphasize the importance of nurturing and truly communicating with your future buyers, even before you start locating properties.
1. Build Your Brand, and Identity
In today’s environment it is important that you build a brand and identity both online and off. When people hear about you or are considering dealing with you, they are skeptical at first. Before they do business or meet with you they’ll typically ‘Google’ you and check out your social media profiles.
Take the time to tweak your social media profiles and add that you are a real estate investor. Eventually you might want to build a website or a blog to market yourself and your properties.
2. “Preferred List” of Real Estate Buyers
Buyers who are your most reliable investors deserve special recognition. Preferred real estate buyers are the ones actively buying your properties and with whom you feel a special connection. When you hear through the grapevine that a real estate investor sold a property within 1 hour after putting it under contract, it’s because they have preferred buyer to call who are active and responsive.
3. Provide Valuable Content and Services
Even before the Internet cam along, I kept in constant contact with my buyers via regular mail. Every month I would send a newsletter including important information about local real estate, new investing strategies – and incorporate my list of available properties as well. One of my buyers’ lists was strictly landlords. Their newsletter was full of tips and recommendations about rentals and tenants, financing, and other relevant data. Of course I would also include my inventory of available rental properties for sale.
My buyers still expect and look forward to this newsletter every month. If it is running late one month because I’m busy or am traveling, they actually call and ask if I have sent it out yet!
Of course the Internet made this task so much easier. By using an autoresponder it takes only a few minutes to create a newsletter and email it out to your buyers list.
4. Reward for Referrals and Loyalty
Word of mouth is the best source of referrals. Reward your buyers when they refer other real estate buyers to you. Rewards can be in the form of cash back at closing or prepaid credit cards. You might get more creative with rewarding your preferred list of buyers; the ones who purchase from you all the time. Great incentives for landlord and rehabber preferred buyers would be paying for closing costs, appraisals or inspections – as they are going to have more out-of-pocket costs.
Incorporating these steps will ensure that your buyers are very responsive to your property offerings plus they’ll provide word of mouth referrals for new buyers to grow your list. And, remember: choose quality over quantity. Having 10 eager buyers on your list is more valuable than 100 buyers who don’t communicate or do not act when you have properties available.