Cash In as a Neighborhood Expert

When I first got started in Real Estate I chased every lead I could get my hands on. It didn’t matter if the owner wanted full retail or how far I had to drive to see the house. I saw them all and made offers.

I remember getting one lead in particular that I thought looked profitable. It was located in a shore town. The comps looked strong. The asking price was within striking distance of my likely offer. After driving almost three hours to the meet the owner, I arrived at the property.

It turned out to be a small house on an odd shaped lot. The building was located on a busy street surrounded by commercial properties. The comparables I’d looked at were only one block away. But by comparison, the properties were worlds apart.

I’m a little hard headed. So it took me a few more similar endeavors before I realized I was wasting my time running after investments in towns and neighborhoods I knew nothing about.

Today my marketing for investment properties is limited. I’ve identified small neighborhoods where I and my company have become a household name. I’m not Coca-Cola or Comcast, but to the people who live in my target areas, I’m the local home buyer.

I’ve become an expert in my target market. And being the expert comes with perks.

Advertising is one of the largest expenses associated with finding good deals. I’d spent over $20,000 per month driving leads in my door before changing my strategy. By limiting the size of my interest area, my advertising has a bigger bang for the buck. My budget has shrunk to about 10% of what I was spending, and is now under control.

The secret to effective marketing is repetition. According to industry leaders, it takes 5-7 impressions before a prospect recognizes the name of a business or company. In a smaller geographic area, it’s more likely a home owner will pass one of my bandit signs or billboards, receive one of my postcards, or see one of my projects underway. Local residents get a constant barrage from my company.

The Number One perk of becoming a local expert is the time I’ve saved. Instead of spending 2 hours running all over creation, I take a phone call. I know my market. I know the streets. I know the types of houses. So with a phone call, I can confidently make an offer in 3-4 minutes. If the owner likes my price, I can meet him later in the day to sign the paperwork. If he says “No”, I’ve only lost a few minutes.

When you’re planning your marketing, I recommend identifying an area where you can become an expert. Stop squandering your hard earned profits, and worse, your time, chasing deals all over kingdom come. At the end of the day, the experts are the ones cashing in.