Top 5 Reasons to Use Websites to Buy Houses

There are dozens of ways to find good real estate deals. When getting started flipping houses, the sheer amount of places and ways to find deals can be a little overwhelming.

That’s not the problem though. The problem is the amount of time, effort, and money required to do many of the “motivated” marketing methods. There might be a hundred ways to chase after deals, but actually getting one can prove challenging.
When I first started flipping houses a little over 10 years ago, I had a couple of tried and true sources of deals that I focused most of my time and energy on. These were bandit signs and driving for dollars.
I used to hang bandit signs religiously every couple of weeks. Then, after a couple of years, I realized I needed a real estate investor website. Building one wasn’t a big deal because I was in software development before I switched to flipping houses.
After a few years, my house-buying website started generating the majority of my leads. I wasn’t even really doing much of anything to promote it other than adding it to my other marketing I was doing. That’s changed a little with competition and more has to be done to keep the website ranked higher, but it still doesn’t require as much work as other forms of marketing do.
Here’s why I prefer my real estate investor website over other forms of motivated selle marketing.

No more writing letters, stuffing envelopes, and sticking stamps.

1. They Don’t Require You to Stuff Envelopes

I began to loathe writing letters, stuffing envelopes, and sticking stamps. After mailing thousands and thousands of pieces, it got old fast.
Yeah, I hired someone else to do this for me, but keeping up with everything can be a huge problem as well.
Other forms of marketing to motivated sellers can be expensive and/or time consuming.
It’s usually a trade off. The less expensive marketing methods usually take more time and effort (flyers, doorhangers, bandit signs, mailings) and the more expensive marketing costs more but don’t take as much time (newspaper ads, yellow pages ads, billboards, radio, television).

2. People Search for You, Instead of You Searching for Them

When you mail out tons of postcards and letters to an absentee owner list, you are sort of throwing dry dirt at the wall and seeing what sticks. The vast majority of those people will not be even slightly interested in selling their house. You’re just hoping that some of them are.
But some of those highly UNmotivated sellers will call you and waste your time. It’s really nice when the people who contact you are actively searching for someone to buy their house. After checking out my real estate investor website, if they aren’t motivated enough, they won’t call or submit the form.
If they’re super motivated, they’ll just pick up the phone and call me. It’s great because it helps to limit my competition a little. If I can talk to them and get an appointment set up to see their house, they’re more likely to feel like they’ve accomplished what they set out to do and not visit many (or hopefully any) other websites.
I’ve noticed that real estate investor websites and bandit signs typically give you better quality leads. This means that my lead-to-deal conversion rate is usually much higher.

3. Real Estate Investor Websites Build Credibility

When your website looks good, has testimonials, and works the way it is supposed to, it gives you instant credibility. People just automatically assume you’re professional when you have a website. You can boost your appearance by not only having a website, but having one that looks up-­to­-date and easy to use.
Think about it. These people are looking for someone to buy a house from them. They’re not looking for someone to buy an old rocking chair. You’ve got to look credible enough to convince them you can buy a house. Your real estate investor website can help you to be able to do that.

4. Real Estate Investor Websites Build Rapport

Real estate investors who’ve been in this business for any length of time know that it’s a people business. The guys who are friendly and non­-threatening tend to do better (when it comes to buying houses from motivated sellers) than the ones who act high and mighty and come off too “corporate.”
Real estate investor websites should not be full of buzzwords and corporate speak. They should seem to be written by a regular Joe and seem personable. Write like you talk and try to word things in terms of what’s in it for the seller.

5. Your House-Buying Website Can Negotiate for You

Your real estate investor website should have a questionnaire, so you can get a sense of why they’re selling, so you can help them with what they truly want. It’s not always about how much they want. Sometimes it about how fast they want it done.
Sometimes it’s about not wanting to evict a relative that’s been living in the house for years. There are thousands of possibilities why someone would want to sell a house. Why not have a questionnaire on the website  to tell you exactly they really want?
Your real estate investor website should ask them how much they’re asking for the house, how much they owe, and what’s the least they would take if you can close quickly (and pay cash, if you’re capable). Most people will state a lower amount for the “least” question than for the asking price.
Other forms of marketing for real estate deals may work just fine for you. But if you don’t have a house-buying website, you’re missing out on some great leads, great deals, instant credibility, rapport building and negotiation, and something that doesn’t take much time.
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I’m so glad I threw that extra line in the water years ago–and kept it there. Leave me your comments below and connect with me on Google+.

4 Comments

  1. sandy on August 14, 2014 at 9:36 am

    Hi Danny. Just finished your piece on websites on Creonline.com. its filled with good info for the new person in the field. Could you also do an article on bird dogging and how to for the new person who may have to go that route. Thanks for the website article.

  2. Danny Johnson on August 15, 2014 at 6:03 am

    Sandy,
    That’s a good idea. I will make note of that and try to write the article soon.
    Thanks.

    • J.P. Vaughan on August 15, 2014 at 7:55 am

      Thanks again for this informative article, Danny. We’re looking forward to your next article!
      JP

  3. Howard on November 28, 2014 at 5:54 pm

    good article. I want to learn more about flipping with rehabbing. I’ll order the book.

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By Danny Johnson

My name is Danny Johnson and I am here to assist you with your real estate needs from buying a home to selling one or both. Let myself and Chanda Davis Real Estate help with any and all of your real estate needs!