The Experts Are Here To Show You How It’s Found

BLURB: Advice is free, sure. But, expert advice is crucial if you plan on succeeding in any field. The wisdom of people who’ve been there, done that is all the more priceless in an industry like real estate because of its hands-on nature. Read on for some amazing curated advice from people who know how to find those houses to flip.

When you’re just starting out in real estate investing, particularly house flipping, you will be bombarded with information on the dos and don’ts of estimating costs, financing, upgrading, staging and selling. All of that is important and although overwhelming, it is the know-how you need to survive in this field.

However, what you need the most when you’re starting out is for someone to show you how to find leads – everything else comes later, whether it’s analyzing a lead’s worthiness, estimating the costs using the 70 percent rule or learning which upgrades do a lot for very little. Keeping this in mind, we’ve curated some expert advice on how to find houses to flip. Take note.

1. Brandon Turner – BiggerPockets.com

Before getting into the nitty-gritty details of how exactly to go about finding leads, you need to have an overview on how experienced flippers close on deals that were once hidden beneath scores of potential leads. Brandon Turner, a celebrity in the world of real estate, has nailed down a simple, yet profound process that will leave you feeling wiser.

“Rather than relying on “hope” and “wishes,” you are relying on a system, a daily set of tasks needed to get you there. You don’t need to worry about your goal, when you focus instead on the process,” he writes.

Read his full article here: The 6-Step Funnel Needed to Find Unlimited Real Estate Deals

2. Danny Johnson – Flipping Junkie

Whether you’re a novice flipper or one that’s been around since time immemorial, you need to be proficient at leveraging the internet’s lead generating capacity. “The Yellow Pages are dead. Everybody and their grandmother is searching online to find the services they need. Are you there for them to find you, though?” asks Danny Johnson in a post dedicated to showing you how to set up a website that converts visitors into leads and deals.

It’s no secret that Danny runs one of the most popular real estate blogs out there and he also shares some insights in the article about how investors can get content to work for them.

Read the full article here: 3 Biggest Mistakes Investors Make With Lead Generating Websites

3. Marty Boardman – Fix And Flip Hut

If you plan to succeed in real estate the first thing you need to work on is your people skills: It’s the relationships you build with people, particularly those who also work in real estate, that will bring you a regular dose of great leads. Expert flipper Marty did himself a favor by figuring out that he was a natural when it came to engaging with people, but not so much with sales and marketing. In a post on his blog, he has written about how he uses his people skills to regularly find leads.

“Rather than do something you’re not good at, and don’t enjoy, focus on your strengths. My strength is finding people, and stuff (i.e. information, products, systems, properties). So in 2009, I gave up on all the guerilla-marketing strategies and built a team of people (sources) for distressed property deals,” he writes in a post that’s meant to be the lazy investor’s guide to finding deals.

Read the full post here: 3 Ways Lazy Fix and Flip Investors Find Deals

4. Mike LaCava – House Flipping School

According to real estate investor and house flipping coach Mike LaCava, there really aren’t any competitors but only potential partners in the real estate industry. In a guest post at BiggerPockets.com, he writes about how he has found some of his best leads from other investors and flippers who operated in the same market as himself.

“Maybe in some cases, (these) investors just can’t handle all (three) projects at the same time. It doesn’t really matter what the reason is, the point is that other investors may sometimes get in over their heads and want to unload properties they have under contract,” he says.

Read his full article here: The Most Counterintuitive Way to Find Houses to Flip REVEALED!

5. Mark Ferguson – InvestFourMore

If you’re someone who learns better listening to expert advice, rather than reading through it, then we’ve got you covered. Mark Ferguson, who has flipped over 120 homes, has dedicated a podcast episode to how investors must actively follow multiple channels of lead sources such as foreclosure sales, the MLS, direct marketing and referrals, instead of just one or two.

“I do not think there is one best way to find deals. You never know when one source that may have worked great for years will dry up. I think the best approach is to have multiple ways to find deals and focus on the ones that produce the best results,” he says.

Hear the full episode here: Podcast 109: Where I Find Houses to Flip in 2017

6. Nick Ruiz – Alpha Home Flipping

As much as it’s important to spend quality time on each and every lead that seems promising, budding investors should also not waste too much time following leads that are finally of no use. Nick Ruiz, who is among the few real estate professionals who managed to rebuild their careers after the 2008 crash, knows a thing or two about spotting leads that will actually turn into profitable deals.

In a post dedicated to helping investors ask the right questions when talking to sellers, he writes, “You need to be able to qualify a seller within a few minutes over the phone when they first call you.  It is the absolute BIGGEST time saving hack you can do.”

Read his full post here: 6 Questions to Ask Sellers that Can Save you Hours

7. Justin Williams – House Flipping HQ

Motivated sellers are what every investor or rehabber is looking for but not everyone knows how to find them or how to market to them once they’ve been found. Justin Williams, who flips around 100 houses a year and runs a very resourceful blog on his website, has put together the ultimate post on working directly with motivated sellers.

“One of the reasons working with direct sellers is so profitable is due to the lack of competition. Of course, that doesn’t mean every direct seller is guaranteed to be your exclusive contact, but the odds are generally more in your favor than other methods,” he writes.

Read the full article here: Finding and Marketing to Direct Sellers!

8. Doug & Andrea Van Soest – Spouses Flipping Houses

Another essential lead generating tactic you should add to you kitty is the relationship you build with talented real estate agents. Realtors like to work with investors who are problem solvers and can close fast. In a podcast episode dedicated to showing how investors can work with realtors, particularly buyers agents, to keep the deals coming, the couple discusses how they’re not just a great resource but also one that comes free of cost.

“It’s somebody helping you to locate a property, and helping you with paperwork, and all of that kind of stuff. So it’s free. It costs you nothing. Another benefit of working with a buyer’s agent is that there’s a potential for multiple transactions, multiple deals,” says Doug.

Hear the full episode here: Episode 23: Working with Agents! How to get deals that come to YOU!!

A Tip From Us To Close

If you’re just starting out as a rehabber, then you’d do well to time your acquisitions around late fall or winter and your sales around spring and summer. While you will face lesser competition in fall and winter, you will find more buyers during spring and summer. But in order to do that, you need to set in place systems that work round the year to bring you leads – just like the experts.