If you’re marketing for leads, and you should be, you’ll no doubt get calls for properties that you can’t (or don’t want to) handle – for example:
- the rehab that would be too large for you
- the property that is too far away
- the cost beyond your price point
- etc.
Or sometimes you just don’t know how to help the seller. Sometimes it doesn’t match your specific search parameters (area, type of product, size, condition, etc.) and sometimes you just don’t want to take it for yourself.
But you’ve paid for the lead, the seller called, and you’ve made a connection. At this point, you hate to just put it in the trash because, after all, you paid for it!
So what do you do?
Hopefully, before you need them, you’ve already created a list with lots of quality contacts to pass these leads to. How do you find these contacts? Check out my post – Do You Need a Buyer’s List Before You Find a Property?
Of primary importance is that you attend all your local investor meetings. You can find a lot on MeetUp.com and NationalREIA.org. Here you’ll find other investors who are looking for properties they can buy from you. Make a list with their names and contact info as well as where they’re located and what type of properties they’re looking for.
Call all the we-buy-houses signs you see. Again, find out what they’re looking for and let them know what you have. Put them on your list and be sure they put you on theirs.
We sell deals that are just too far away from us for as little as $250. I’m happy because it helps pay for our marketing and it’s a deal I wouldn’t do anyway. The buyer is happy because it’s a very inexpensive lead they wouldn’t have found on their own. Because of this, we have people we can call in various locations who are ready to take what we find. That makes our time more efficient so we can move on to something else.
Make friends and make agreements.
Many investors stress and struggle wondering what to do with leads they don’t want. Sometimes they negotiate a percentage of their buyer’s profit; sometimes they want to do partnerships. I’m not a big fan of partnerships, as a rule, because someone always feels like they didn’t get what they should have by the end of it.
I prefer to ask for a small fee if the investor is able to take the lead and make a deal out of it. Remember, it’s just a lead, not the same thing as selling a contract or a sure thing.
Turn your unwanted leads quickly and move on. Not every opportunity will be a good one for you, but it certainly might be for someone else. Remember, make other investors happy and they will come back to you again and again.
What do you do with your unwanted leads?
Aug 23rd, 2019 / 6:54 pm
Hi Kel:
It’s pretty much simply on the honor system. If they close on the deal, they agree to pay you for the lead. You can always check later in courthouse records, but it’s not worth fighting about – just a friendly way to help each other out.
Thanks for asking!
Aug 23rd, 2019 / 6:22 pm
I prefer to ask for a small fee if the investor is able to take the lead and make a deal out of it. ”
Karen hi, how do you collect the 250? Is it just for the lead or if the lead becomes a deal for them? How do you know if/when it becomes a deal?
thanks,
Kel