How to Find Motivated Seller Leads

As real estate investors, we all know what a motivated seller is - someone who is in a situation where they need to sell their house fast or get out of their mortgage. Most of these sellers are ‘motivated’ by hardships such as bankruptcy, foreclosure, probate, divorce, or bad tenants. As such, they are desperate for someone to take their property off their hands at the best sale price possible.

However, the greatest challenge that real estate investors face is finding these people, getting them to respond to an ad, and convincing them why they should sell their house as-is for cash. Investors who have mastered the ability to find motivated sellers can usually stay ahead of the competition and land consistent off-market real estate deals. 

Common Types of Motivated Seller Leads

Before you can find motivated sellers, you need to know what types of sellers you are looking for. Many of these sellers fit into the same niche; meaning, they are great candidates for fast cash offers and are often the targets of your real estate investment marketing strategy. Some of the most common types of motivated sellers are in these situations:

  • Bankruptcy
  • Damaged house
  • Divorce
  • Foreclosure
  • Tired landlords
  • New job
  • Probate 
  • Foreclosure
  • Relocation
  • Vacant houses
  • Downsizing
  • Distressed house

Keep in mind that many of these motivated seller leads are not necessarily in ‘motivated seller’ mode. It’s important to dig deep into their motivation when speaking with them and find out what happens if they do NOT sell their house fast. If it’s not a big deal to them if they don’t sell fast, it’s likely the motivation isn’t big enough yet for them to take action. 

Some Strategies for Finding Motivated Sellers

There are dozens of ways to find motivated sellers in your market. When you’re first starting out, you likely have more time than money, which means you will be seeking out the most cost effective ways to find motivated sellers. Some of the cheaper ways to find sellers include

  • Buyers that need to sell a house to buy a house
  • For Sale by Owner listings
  • Expired or old listings
  • Driving for dollars
  • Craigslist
  • Zillow
  • Social media (Facebook)
  • Real estate attorneys
  • Home inspectors and appraisers
  • Real estate agents
  • Cold calling and/or ringless voicemail

You may also be able to look for motivated sellers in public access sites such as properties with delinquent taxes, properties under foreclosure or bankruptcy, probate real estate, and REO and bank-owned properties. A great platform to find this type of data is Propstream.

Marketing Strategies for Real Investors

While there are definitely lots of free or accessible sources for motivated seller leads, you may also want to consider partnering with a digital marketing agency that can help you refine your marketing strategy to find motivated seller leads. Some of the most powerful marketing tools that help investors include

Google Paid Ads

Paid advertising on Google, on average, gives you higher quality motivated seller leads than most other marketing channels. Google paid ads can get you and your brand in front of people actively searching to sell their house fast. Instead of you going to them, they are coming to you. A real estate digital marketing agency that specializes in ads for investors can help you develop the right marketing strategy to make your ads more effective and help you get more out of your marketing dollars.

Social Paid ads

Like Google paid ads, social paid ads such as Facebook can help you reach a wider audience than just posting on your social media page or boosting a post from time to time. With Facebook, because this audience is not actively searching to sell their house fast (like Google paid ads), it’s best to have a longer lead form to help prevent non-qualified motivated seller leads from coming through. 

SEO

While search engine optimization (SEO) does take time to develop, this lead channel can be your best lead source in terms of lead quality. Depending on your existing online presence and the area you’re located in, SEO can take 6-12 months in many cases to start seeing consistent results. We typically recommend our investors do paid ads alongside SEO so while they are waiting for their SEO to mature, they are still benefiting from online inbound leads.

Buy One to Three More Houses Every Month With Our Motivated Seller Prospects Online Marketing Program

Magnyfi can help you get more qualified, motivated seller leads through various paid and organic online marketing strategies. Learn more about how we can help you implement the Motivated Seller Prospects Online Marketing Program in your area.

To check the availability of your market, fill out our application form or contact us at (877) 404-1161, and we will walk you through the process. We only work with a limited number of investors per area, so claim your market today!

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