How to Find Great Real Estate Leads

By Cy V

Real estate investing is a form of investing that literally goes back thousands of years. The practice of taking a piece of property and making improvements to it to increase its value has existed in many forms. There have many people, for example, who have taken a piece of land and increased its value by simply removing the brush and rocks and using it for farmland. This farmland could then generate a lifetime's worth of income for the farmer and then be passed down to later generations.

Real estate continues today as a solid form of investing that has weathered the test of time. There are many different ways a person can use real estate investing to generate wealth. A person can buy commercial real estate to rent out to tenants for monthly income. Another popular form of real estate investing involves purchasing a distressed property at a discount and then quickly reselling it (called flipping) for a profit. Clearly, there are several ways to invest in real estate.

Where are all the great leads?

One common factor that all real estate investors must deal with is how they can find great real estate leads. After all, in most cases one just doesn't stumble onto an unimproved piece of land or distressed home (foreclosure). But how do you find great real estate leads? How can a person sort through all of the properties listed in the Multiple Listing Service to find the true gems? Does it even make sense to go through a traditional real estate agent to find the best leads?

In most cases you are not going to find the best real estate leads by going through a traditional real estate agent. And the Multiple Listing Service? That's a dead-end too. Using the traditional real estate services is fine if you are shopping for a home to live in but will usually get you nowhere if you are looking for an investment lead. Finding great real estate leads usually takes a different approach.

Consider Advertising

One often overlooked method you can use to find real estate leads is simple advertising. You can place an advertisement on Craig's List, for example, or even in your local newspaper stating that you are interested in purchasing real estate. You might at first think that such a simple form of lead generation is just too simplistic to find the good leads. This is far from the reality. Usually, the type of people who respond to such ads are those who are looking to sell their property very quickly. It could be that the property is nearing a foreclosure or perhaps they need to move quickly and don't have the time to wait for it to sell in the MLS market. These sellers are typically referred to as “motivated sellers” and will frequently accept less than market value for their properties.

Is It Really This Simple?

Another way to find great real estate leads is by word of mouth. Simply talk about what you're interested in finding wherever you go. Most people you encounter probably won't have a real estate lead when you first mention it but chances are, they will remember you when a friend or family member suddenly needs to unload some property. With this method you're planting a seed in someone's mind (figuratively). In time that seed could grow to become a great lead.

People tend to look at finding real estate leads as being a very complicated affair. It's not. You don't have to use an expensive lead service to find what you're looking for. It just takes some old-fashioned hard work.