jc195,
You are looking for sellers using Bandit signs and paid/free advertisers?
Getting three calls a week from weak prospects is typical the way you’re advertising. If any guru tells you otherwise…well…
Meanwhile, your ads are not under-performing. It takes a lot of effort using that approach to become familiar presence and to sift through the losers.
I don’t know whose courses you’ve bought, but I can tell you that direct marketing is a MUCH more effective way of finding motivated sellers than bandit signs will ever produce. I say bandit signs are for selling, not buying…
To find motivated sellers, find out where the most properties are selling, and of those which are selling the fastest. I can bet that 3 and 4 bedroom homes are outselling everything else. Focus on those.
Have a title company give you all the records of those that have bought 3 and 4 bedroom homes in the last 24 months with loans that reflect 10% equity or more at the time of purchase. Loans that are much older than 12 months right now, will reflect at higher LTV as prices have dropped significantly over the last 24 months in most areas).
Meanwhile, sift in all the loans that are fixed rates. Then send yellow postcards once a month to each of these prospects letting them know you want to buy their houses. Your course materials should teach you specifically what to offer on your cards.
The three prospects that call you for every 100 cards you send will be motivated to sell. They won’t have enough equity to pay agent’s fees, etc. and you’ll be the only person they’re talking with about selling.
Meanwhile, as a professional sub2 investor, I use only use bandit signs to find buyers, not sellers. Using bandit signs to find sellers and you get mostly competitors and the curious rather than motivated prospects. Generally speaking, again posting bandit signs for any other purpose than to “sell” property is inefficient and frustrating.
Bandit signs are excellent for directing traffic to the house you are trying to sell.
Meanwhile, advertise heavily for buyers online. Create several accounts with Craigslist, Kijiji, Postlets, etc. and delete the older ads about every two days, and repost your new ads at the same time. Your ads must stay at the top of the list to keep your name and information familiar.
I keep a leader item 24/7 in all the free advertising to find buyers. I put a photo of the typical home I have for sale, including any interior photos, and keep advertising for buyers that have no credit, etc, and asking for effectively 7% down. In this market something less than 10% is really attractive to buyers IF the house is attractive. BTW, don’t buy fixers in this market. Stay with pretty houses that are turn-key even for the credit challenged buyers.
I advertise the typical PI payment only.
The size of my buyer pool can fluctuate greatly, but I feel real good when there are ten to twelve prospects that I can offer a cattle call to.
BTW, keep in contact with that pool of buyers. Don’t just get their names and ignore them until you have a house for them. They’ll spend their money on something, or someone else, if you don’t keep them motivated and focused on buying their dream home from you.
Good luck!
Javipa