8 Easy REI Strategies for Securing Consistent Leads

More Leads, More Profits

Consistent sourcing is the key to long-term profitability in Real Estate Investing. Like everything, REI is a numbers game: You can’t find great real estate investments regularly without a large funnel of leads. Your funnel needs to be big enough that you aren’t compromising on your buy-box, so that each investment fits your needs, and contributes to the overall success of your real estate portfolio.

In Sourcing Part 1, The Buy Box, we covered how to determine what you are looking for. In this article, Sourcing Part 2, we’ll talk about getting as many good leads as possible—consistently. The trouble with direct mail, skip-tracing, door-knocking, driving for dollars, is that the moment you stop or slow down your outreach efforts, your inbounds slow down too. So you always need a passive lead gen system running, too.

Since you can’t always be on the front line, working with wholesalers and bird-dogs, getting on distribution lists and notification services, is key. Here are 8 places to do it:

1. On Google

• Search “real estate wholesaler near me”, or on Google Maps, zoom out to cover your buy box geography and search “real estate wholesalers in this area”. 
• Enter your town name + “Powered by Carrot” (in quotation marks) to see every wholesaler nearby on Carrot.
• Once you have a list of wholesalers, navigate to their websites to add your email to their list, or to find their contact info and shoot them an email asking to join it.
• Some of the smaller wholesalers want you to talk to you by phone to confirm that you are a legit investor. Do it!

2. On Facebook

• Facebook (Meta) is where the party’s at. Join any active “real estate” and “wholesale” FB group for your area.
• For a proactive approach to finding wholesalers, join in discussions and show your expertise. They’ll come to you.
• Otherwise drop your email address on posts where wholesalers are offering properties: they’ll put you on their list. 

3. On LinkedIn

• Search on LinkedIn for real estate wholesalers in your town. You can sign up for the 1-month free trial to InMail any of them, even if you’re not connected.
• Consider tools like Apollo.io for qualifying and reaching out to entire lists of search results efficiently.

4. On Zillow and Auction

• Oftentimes, houses that are already on the market have been seen and turned down by other investors, but not always. Search these platforms effectively and you can find great leads.
• Go to Zillow.com. Click on For Sale. Set your area, price range, and keyword terms. Click More. Select “By Owner and Other” for properties that may not been seen by many professionals. Hit Apply. Save Search and set instant notifications to go to your email.
• Do the same thing on Auction.com.

5. On National Platforms

• Subscribe to national real estate investment platforms and services that aggregate wholesale deals in your market.
• Real Estate Bees is the biggest one. Sign Up to the Free Property Alerts, or use it to search top wholesalers nearby. 
• HouseCashin and Investor Lift are smaller sites to visit, too.

6. From Local Papers/Posters

• Wholesaler must also find deals as well as sell them, so just look in the places that they would be doing that.
• Call those ‘I buy ugly houses’ ads wherever you see a poster.
• Pick up a newspaper: you are bound to see two or three ads either looking to buy houses or trying to sell them. 

7. At Local REI Clubs and Events

• Establish connections with fellow real estate professionals IRL. Attend local real estate networking events and engage with real estate agents, brokers, and other investors. 
• If you connect with a local real estate agent, they can set up an alert for properties that match your buy box.

8. On BiggerPockets

• Participate in discussions on BiggerPockets forums to connect with wholesalers and bird-dogs.
• Use the BiggerPockets Agent Match to find investor-focused real estate agents.

Conclusion: Build a Sustainable Pipeline

Consistent lead generation is the lifeblood of successful real estate investing. Both online and in person, build a robust leads funnel that works for you as you sleep. By diversifying your lead sources and implementing passive strategies, you can ensure a continuous flow of opportunities. You should be getting 30+ leads every day. And now that you have a strong flow of properties, in Part 3, we talk about how to properly manage all these leads coming in…

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal, financial or investment advice. To obtain advice tailored to your particular circumstances, you should consult a licensed professional advisor.