Marketing is essential for any real estate wholesaler. Getting distressed properties for sale from absentee owners is one thing. Executing the contract sale is a whole different thing. To complete the full cycle of wholesale real estate, you have to follow certain time-tested marketing strategies.
But how should you build your marketing strategy to appeal to the absentee owners? It certainly is a question worth pondering over.
Full disclosure here. There’s no set marketing strategy to get the lead conversion in your favor. It has to be unique otherwise it’ll be another stale marketing pitch ignored by the property owners.
But don’t fret so much over coming up with a unique strategy and hope it works out for you. You just have to get the basics right; the chips will fall in place.
This article will give you a step-by-step approach to building your real estate brand. We will tell you how to get precise leads on absentee owners and effective tips to market to them.
A brief overview of absentee owners
It’s crucial to know about the people whom you are devising a marketing strategy for before we start digging into the marketing pitch. These people are absentee owners in this context. Now the standard definition of such an owner is one who has a property but doesn’t live there. But this definition is slightly reductive.
Here’s an example of these property owners.
John is a hotshot investment banker with one of the Big Four. He has a lavish apartment in Manhattan. John is originally from Florida where he has a vacation home. Somewhere near Disneyland. John’s busy life as a financial analyst doesn’t leave him much spare time, let alone vacation. In fact, he rarely goes there and doesn’t have time to maintain it. Therefore, he decides to sell his vacation home in Florida.
Basically, John is an absentee owner. But why does John want to sell his prime property? Who lets go of the chance to own a property near Disneyland?! Maybe John took a hedge position that backfired and took out a huge section of the fund money. The prospect of getting fired looms large over his head.
John is not in a position to pay the mortgage on both of his properties. He is eager to sell his vacation home. His property comes under the tag of a distressed property for sale.
Marketing strategies to connect with absentee owners
But absentee owners like John don’t just go around advertising their distressed property for sale everywhere. You have to scout for these properties. Either on your car or on the internet. Then you have to find a way to get the contract from these owners. There’s a method to this madness!
Here’s the methodical way to market to absentee owners:
1. Subscribe to a quality multiple-listing service
The first step to follow is to find the absentee owner of the property you like! You can roam around the target neighborhood or visit the tax assessor’s office but it would do you little good. A better way to get a list of absentee owners is to subscribe to a quality MLS service. These are online real estate platforms that keep a detailed record of all off-record absentee properties.
2. Identify motivated sellers
Once you create the list of absentee owners in your target region, you have to make a distinction. All absentee owners can’t be painted in the same color. They have different motivational factors to sell their properties. You have to identify the motivated sellers in this list and half the job is done.
3. Create a unique selling pitch
Now you can bring your creative side to the fore with a personalized marketing strategy. The list of motivated sellers helps you craft a unique selling pitch for each of these absentee owners. You can contact them with an automated email campaign or get them to sell the contract over Facebook or other social media platforms.
4. Network with good prospects
Subscribing to MLS platforms that provide off-grid absentee property data is good. Networking with real estate stakeholders is even better. Use technology to save your time but never ignore the benefits of good old networks. Keep in touch with probate clerks, foreclosure lawyers, real estate agents, and other investors. You never know when these contacts help you close an important deal.
5. Build your brand
Building your reputation as a real estate wholesaler is important. It establishes trust and gets the motivated sellers to put their faith in you. Have a dedicated website and social media presence promoting your successful deals. Interact with your clients as well as prospective buyers and sellers. Active brand communication helps you grow your business.
Key Takeaway
A targeted marketing strategy is necessary to get absentee owners to sign property contracts. There’s no fixed strategy that works but there’s a methodical approach that yields good results. Identify these owners from a good MLS platform and identify the motivated sellers among them. Then come up with a unique and personalized marketing approach to bag the contract.
