Time and again, we’ve seen success come to those who are willing to do the hard work of prospecting for real estate. It can be a tricky business; finding properties with potential in prime locations is no easy task, but if you follow the right workflow process and use proven strategies for uncovering hidden gems, it can pay off greatly.
In this blog post, we will delve into the art of prospecting. We will take a look at how utilizing strategic tactics and proper workflow management can help you achieve desired outcomes – when searching for exceptional real estate investments – that may have not been previously uncovered or explored.
What Is Real Estate Prospecting?
Real estate prospecting is a form of marketing that concentrates specifically on finding untapped valuable and undervalued properties to invest in and make a profit.
It is most similar to outbound marketing, as it involves actively going out and searching for potential opportunities, understanding housing trends, driving for dollars real estate, and having a thorough knowledge of what constitutes a good bargain.
Instead of attracting the buyers or sellers toward you as with inbound marketing, prospecting requires reaching out to them and identifying properties that they believe they can successfully buy or market.
This approach allows customizing the campaigns based on what works best for specific areas and communities, rather than just waiting for interested buyers.
Prospecting also takes the initiative to reach out directly to sellers, builders, and anyone else who may be involved with potential deals rather than simply responding quickly when a lead is received.
Benefits To Real Estate Prospecting
Real estate prospecting provides several tangible benefits to investors. Take a look:
- It is a dynamic process that allows investors to quickly identify and capitalize on potential real estate opportunities.
- It also leads to an expansion of contacts and resources as investors can identify key individuals who can assist with locating desirable opportunities in the future.
- The cost is relatively minimal when compared with other forms of marketing, meaning potential returns are greater.
- By targeting prospects who meet certain criteria and actively engaging in conversation with those prospects, investors can qualify their leads more effectively than if they use alternative strategies.
Real Estate Prospecting Strategies
The process of prospecting, or searching for new opportunities, can be daunting. Finding those untapped properties can take research and dedication but with the right strategies you can succeed in uncovering great investment opportunities. Take a look:
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Set Up Your Daily Goals And Stick To Them
Establishing daily goals, tracking progress, and remaining consistent are essential components of successful real estate prospecting. Setting each day’s goals can take lots of planning to achieve maximum efficiency for the entire day.
Your target focus should range from following up with prospective leads and researching prospect areas and neighborhoods comprehensively, to networking with experienced real estate agents.
Focusing on these goals makes it easier to stick to your daily activity plan while navigating through changing market conditions. You must stay ahead of your goals every day, to be sure that none slip through the cracks.
It can also be beneficial to track what activities are leading to success and which strategies need further refinement before continuing.
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Reach Out To FSBOS
Prospecting FSBOs, or For Sale by Owner listings requires a good dose of understanding market conditions and local demographic data. An agent should reach out with well-crafted marketing materials via email or direct mail to create relationships with FSBO sellers.
As long as the approach is intentional and focused on generating meaningful connections, agents should have success finding hidden real estate gems among FSBO listings.
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Call And Email Everyone You Know
It’s important to always be on the lookout for new real estate opportunities, even if they may not be apparent at first. To that end, an effective strategy for uncovering potential properties is simply to start calling and emailing everyone you know who may have a connection to the real estate industry.
This includes family and friends, colleagues in related fields such as finance or home building, former co-workers, and even members of your professional network who don’t specialize in real estate themselves.
By reaching out and getting conversations started, you may be able to discover valuable leads that lead you one step closer to finding your next investment opportunity.
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Reach Out To FRBO Listings
FRBO stands for For Rent by Owner and typically describes housing arrangements where the property owner isn’t using a real estate agent, but instead has taken it upon themselves to find tenants or buyers directly.
By reaching out to these listings, you can often find deals that are unavailable or otherwise overlooked. Although extra caution should be taken when negotiating with house owners who don’t have any experience in real estate law and contracts and don’t know their home value.
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Network With Divorce Attorneys
Networking with divorce attorneys could be a great way to uncover hidden real estate prospects. Divorce lawyers may have clients who are forced to sell the property as part of the proceedings, or perhaps they know of certain parties who will want to liquidate a property due to other life events.
It’s important to build relationships and trust so that divorce attorneys can refer you, so try to interact with them in an organized and professional manner. Also, following up with them regularly is essential for building these meaningful connections and harnessing the power of potential new prospects.
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Utilize Technology
Technology is a key tool in the art of prospecting. By utilizing various online resources such as Zillow, Redfin, Trulia, and Realtor.com, you can increase your chances of finding the best property possibilities in the current market.
These websites provide an abundance of helpful data to assist you with assessing properties like estimated value and market trends. Helping you make an informed decision when exploring potential opportunities.
Besides, they offer a wide variety of filters to zero in on more specific criteria such as location preference, desired amenities, or price range.
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Try Circle Prospecting
One of the popular strategies for finding undiscovered real estate is known as circle prospecting. The idea behind this technique is to create a three to five-mile radius to target specific areas and neighborhoods.
This involves researching past property transactions, foreclosure records, and deed searches to analyze current market values as well as potential appreciation opportunities. It allows investors to become familiar with the area being considered so that they can better anticipate future trends and leverage them for their investment objectives.
With this method of real estate searching, investors can accurately gauge supply and demand as well as pricing dynamics that cannot be obtained from any other resource.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is no “one size fits all” approach to real estate prospecting. However, by following the tips we have outlined above, you should be well on your way to becoming a successful real estate investor. Setting up daily goals and sticking to them will help ensure that you remain organized, follow through with your actions, and become more acquainted with prospective buyers and sellers.