As a software developer and real estate investor I can tell you that the hottest Real Estate is Page 1 of Google. Whether you are trying to sell a wholesale deal, or rent out an apartment, or trying to get a motivated seller to call… you want exposure! The more people who see what you are trying to accomplish, the more likely you are to accomplish it! Nothing will get you more exposure than being on Page 1 of Google.

I read that when it comes to search engines Google has 75% of the market share (in the US and UK) and 84% of searchers never make it past Page 2!!

So how do you get to the top of page 1? I will tell you that it is a lot easier than you think! The key lies in Backpage.com …. That’s right! A free online classifieds site that is very Search Engine friendly has pushed a lot of my deals to the top of Google! You don’t have to pay thousands of dollars to get to the top… You can do it all for free!

Here’s how…

Step 1 - Pretend you are your potential customer. What would you type into Google to find your service? As an example, lets say we are trying to find motivated sellers in Columbus, OH. We would expect motivated sellers to search for something like “sell house fast columbus oh”. These words will be your “key phrase”. Think of another key phrase or two.

Step 2 - Go to http://backpage.com and click on “Post an Ad” for your selected city

Step 3 - Using your key phrases create a Headline for your ad. In between key phrases I like to place a dash (-). to go along with our example I would make my headline read “sell house fast columbus oh - we buy houses - avoid foreclosure”

Step 4 - In the body of the ad describe your service, and try to work in your key phrases at least once or twice. Make it seem natural! Dont forget to give them a way to contact you!

Step 5 - Submit your ad

Now I can’t guarantee that you will be at the top of Google that day… or ever. I have had backpage ads push me up to #1 within 2 hours, and I have seen ads take me to the top 3 weeks later. I have had a bunch of ads never show up on Google. It can be unpredictable, but be patient. I have gotten a bunch of good calls from these ads. Keep in mind that you also have people looking through backpage.com that you could sell to.

Other important (free) online classifieds for real estate investors
Craigslist.org - This is probably the most popular, but isn’t very Google friendly. There are tons of people buying stuff over craigslist so do not forget to post your ads here. In 2008 I sold my personal home over craigslist so fast that I was “homeless” for a while.

MyNextRehab.com - This is a place for investors to post their wholesale deals for other investors. Rehabbers, landlords and wholesalers who have joined the VIP Investors Club ask to be notified about deals in their selected cities. After a wholesaler has posted a deal it is emailed out to the VIP Investors for that city. Similar to craigslist with an email twist.

Oodle.com - The more I mess around with Oodle the more I like it. It is a clean and more updated version of craigslist.

Shawn Wollenberg

One of the greatest tools for real estate investors is Craigslist. This online classifieds tool is super popular, FREE, and easy to use. Start using it and watch your business GROW!

The two major parts of a craigslist ad are the body and the headline. The body of your ad is where you put the description, pictures, address, and price of the house or apartment. The headline is what the reader clicks to see the body. Below are 3 useful tricks to getting your next buyer to click on your ad instead of the other 300 that were posted the same day.

1) More Space = More Attention
The Great Ron LeGrand always taught us to pay for an extra “blank” line at the top of your classified ads so it catches the viewer’s eye. With craigslist the ads run more left to right instead of top to bottom so I like to put the space to the left. I believe if you try to use the actual space bar in the beginning of your headline the craigslist software will “Trim” it off. What you will want to do is use the Underscore “_” key. I like to add about 4 or 5 underscores before I start my headline. This will indent it and make it more “eye catching” compared to the other ads around it.

2) Don’t be Afraid to be Weird… but don’t overdo it
I had a house that I rehabbed and was trying to sell. Every other day I would post the same old boring ad “3BR / 1BA, Great Neighborhood, Big Yard, Perfect Starter Home”. This type of ad gets me a few “good” responses each time I post, but one day I decided to try something different. In my headline I put “Is Brittney Nuts?”. Nothing about the house in the headline. When they would click on the ad I would put “She seems like it. I have a 3 BR Ranch…..”. I got about 4 times more responses about people interested in looking at the house. You dont want to do this too much because viewers will eventually catch on, but catching the eye and sparking interest so that they are forced to click and see what is inside is what it’s all about.

3) End BIG!
At the end of my headlines I like to put some more blank space and then end it with something big like “HURRY!” or “CA$H”. You dont want all capital letters in your headline because it is tough to read plus it is against craigslist rules.

You want to get more people into your shop. Think of the body of your ad as your shop where you are selling homes. When writing your headline, ask yourself “What would make a buyer click on my ad?”

Stand Out! Dont Blend In!

Shawn Wollenberg
http://myNextRehab.com

Hello Fellow Investors,

The rage these days is everyone is trying to figure out a way to Flip Short-Sales and Reo’s. Currently in my market in North Jersey there are great deals to be had if you know how to go about doing them.

First off, ignore the Lawyers or Realtors that say you ” Can Not” do something. What they really mean is that they just don’t know how, so in their mind it can’t be done.
Saying that, the easiest way to Flip a Short-Sale or REO is to do a same day close. Meaning you close a deal from the Seller (A ) to yourself ( B) and then from yourself ( B) to your end buyer ( C ). This is what would be called the normal Same Day or Double Close, A-B, B- C

Now this of course requires that you have an end buyer lined up to close with, and also that you have the correct clauses stating that if the first deal doesn’t go through, the B-C transaction does not take place and the funds are not released. This is a very nice way also, because that also makes it risk free.

The obstacles you face are making sure you have an end buyer lined up. Making sure you get the property at a good price to sell it to either an end investor or Retail Buyer. If you are going for the Retail Buyers than you can be more flexible on your price and still offer the Retail buyer a house below the current market value.

Another obstacle you will face is that if an end Buyer has a FHA loan this can not be done as easily. Title seasoning comes into play and is usually around 90 days. So to make your life easier stay away from any buyer that comes with an FHA loan.

Most deals fall through because all parties are not aware a flip is taking place. If you are very transparent in your contracts and upfront of your intentions with the bank and also your end buyer and their lenders this will work. The main reason deals don’t happen is because C’s lender wants to know why their buying from B which is you instead of directly from A.. Making sure they know why before any questions can arise is the key.

If you would like any questions answered or things further explained please contact me.

Take Care,
Jarred