How do you find cash buyers for your real estate investing business?
For wholesalers, having a list of high-quality cash buyers is just as important as finding motivated sellers — if you don’t have someone to flip the contract to, someone you know you can trust, then you don’t really have a deal… do you?
In this guide, we’re going to explain the benefits of cash buyers and then share 16 proven strategies for finding cash buyers in any market.
There’s bound to be something in here that works for you.
Let’s get started.
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The Benefit of Cash Buyers
As a wholesaler, you promise to help sellers sell quickly, as-is for cash. You probably promise to pay closing costs and even let the seller pick the closing date.
But none of that is possible without a list of high-quality cash buyers — people who you trust to purchase quickly, people who trust you to give them high-quality deals and discounts.
The benefits of having a cash buyers list is that you’re able to fulfill the promises you make to the seller and the growth of your business becomes more streamlined. When you’re not trying to find a brand new buyer for every deal — but rather relying on a list of buyers you use over and over again — that gives you time to focus on doing more deals.
Put simply, without cash buyers, you don’t really have a business.
Not yet, at least.
So now let’s talk about 16 different strategies for finding cash buyers in any market.
1. Craigslist
For this first tactic, you’ll need a Craigslist account.
There are basically two different ways to find cash buyers on Craigslist…
- Rental property listings
- Posting about your properties or your business
The first is simply a matter of browsing through the rental listings…
…and finding the phone numbers of property management companies or landlords. You can then call these people, tell them about what you’re doing, and ask if it’d be okay if you add them to your email list so you can send deals when you have ’em.
“Hey, my name is Justin and I don’t want to take up a lot of your time here, but I’m a real estate wholesaler in Florida and I’d love to send you deals when I have them. Is it okay if I add you to my email list?”
The second method is reversed and allows cash buyers to find you — it simply requires you to post about your current deals (or your business in general) in the real estate for sale section. The hope is that cash buyers will stumble across your listing and either give you a call or go to your website and provide you with their email address.
Check out the examples below…
Now obviously, those ads are actually targeting sellers, which we think is a mistake… since sellers probably aren’t going to be browsing the real estate listings page of Craigslist. However, it’d be easy to swap those ads out for listings that target buyers — something like “Looking for great real estate deals? Give us a call today!”
With both of these strategies, give it at least a couple of months before calling it quits. It might take a little time to gain some traction. And don’t forget to renew your ads consistently and repost once they’ve expired.
2. Property Signs (Bandit Signs)
We’re not going to call people who use bandit signs “criminals” — heck, we’ve all been at that stage of business before where you’ll do whatever you can to find buyers and deals.
So no judgement either way.
BUT… you do run the risk of getting your signs taken down and/or getting calls from police if you put your signs where they’re not supposed to be.
Why not just put signs (especially the ones targeting cash buyers) where you’re actually allowed to put signs?
You can ask to hang fliers or put out business cards at coffee shops, brand your shirt or hat, and/or put signs in the yards of properties you, your family or friends own (with permission, of course).
However you do it, signage is a great way to attract buyers and sellers.
3. Foreclosure Auctions
Live foreclosure auctions might be the single best place to find top-shelf cash buyers.
Think about it. People who attend these auctions are looking for deals, they have immediate access to cash (they have to pay immediately after they win an auction), and they’re willing to buy homes sight unseen (since they won’t be able to see the inside of the home before they bid on it).
In other words, if someone is buying properties at foreclosure auctions, then they probably meet the criteria for being a top-shelf buyer!
You can find these auctions by visiting your county’s website or check out Auction.com or RealtyTrac.
Attend The Auctions & Get Contact Information
The next step is to attend the auction.
But you’ll want to get there a little bit early so you actually have time to talk with buyers and get their contact information without bothering them during the auction.
You can say something as simple as, “Hey, I’m a new investor here and we’re really ramping up our marketing to find leads. I’d love to send you over deals that fit your budget and buying criteria. I know the auction is about to start but could I just get your email address and phone number and then I can follow up with you about it later?”
You can also talk with people after the auction or even during the auction if they don’t seem occupied with bidding on the current property. Just be aware of what’s going on and try not to bother people while they’re involved in the auction.
Your goal is to get as much contact information from as many buyers as possible. You can even take notes on who buys what types of properties and how much they spend — this will give you some cues as to who the really serious buyers are.
Follow Up
The final step is to follow up with these cash buyers. You can ask them for more information about the types of properties that they’re wanting to purchase and about their buying criteria.
You can also ask them about when they’re wanting to buy a new deal.
Then you can find deals, send ’em to your new list of top-shelf buyers, and close much faster.
You might only find a few of these cash buyers every time that you go to an auction, but imagine having 30-50 of these top-shelf buyers on your list?
How much more smoothly would your wholesaling process go if that were the case?
Remember, quality over quantity!
4. Tax Assessor’s Website
It can be a bit tedious, but familiarizing yourself with your local tax assessor’s website is one way to find potential cash buyers.
On the tax assessor’s website, you should be able to search records and determine the owner of specific rental properties (this can work well in conjunction with searching rental listings on Craigslist).
Here’s what the tax assessor’s website in Hawaii looks like, for example…
How do you know if the owner of a property is a real estate investor (and thus a potential cash buyer) or not? Well, sometimes it’ll be hard to tell… but the most common sign is that the owner is an LLC. In that case, it’s very likely that a real estate investor owns the rental.
5. Google & Facebook Ads
As direct mail is a great way to find motivated sellers, advertisements can be a great way to generate cash buyer leads. The first thing you’ll need, though is a web page that’s dedicated to converting cash buyers (i.e. getting their contact info).
Here’s an example of what that looks like (this is a website built by Carrot)…
You can then use Google or Facebook advertisements to drive cash buyers to your website — although Google ads are definitely more effective.
Here are some keywords to start with for your Google ad campaigns…
- real estate deals in [target market]
- real estate cash deals in [target market]
- real estate wholesalers in [target market]
Facebook ads are a little bit trickier because the targeting can’t be quite as specific — in Google, cash buyers come looking for you; on Facebook, you go looking for cash buyers.
You can, however, select the city or state where you operate and target people who are interested in real estate investments — that’s a good starting place. From there, you can increase specificity as to the age, gender, or other interests or behaviors that you want to target.
6. Search Engine Optimization
Assuming you have a website that’s optimized to convert cash buyers into leads, another thing you can do is drive traffic organically through Google.
Keep in mind, though, that it takes a good chunk of time to get your website ranking on page 1. Search terms to try and rank for are the same as the one you’d run Google ads to…
- real estate deals in [target market]
- real estate cash deals in [target market]
- real estate wholesalers in [target market]
(This is also a great strategy for finding motivated sellers)
The question is, how do you optimize your website and/or individual pages to rank for those keywords in Google?
Here’s some starting advice…
- Choose your target keyword (what phrase do you want your page to rank for in Google?) — only choose one phrase to target per page.
- Include that keyword phrase in the title tag, URL, and meta description of your page. Also include that keyword somewhere within the first 100 words of the page.
- Look at the other pages that are ranking on page 1 of Google for your keyword phrase and try to mimic what they’re doing.
Since the keywords you’re targeting are local, those three tactics should help you make some signficant headway.
7. MLS/Real Estate Agent
The MLS is one of the best places for getting mission-critical real estate data — yes, it can be used to run comps... but it can also be used to pull a list of potential cash buyers.
(Which is building an ongoing relationship with a real estate agent in your market is so darn valuable)
For example, real estate agents are able to pull a list of all-cash transactions in your market that occurred within a certain period of time — say, the last 90 days. If you have a good relationship with said agent, and if they have a good relationship with you, then they’ll happily provide you with such a list. All you need to do is ask.
Then you can reach out to those buyers and tell them what you’re doing, ask them what types of deals they’re looking for, and then if they’d like to be added to your list.
“Okay I think I have a good idea of the types of deals you’re looking for. Is it okay if I add you to my email list so I can send you some info on deals that might fit the bill? I only sign on deals that are a win-win for me and my buyers.”
8. Public Records
A quick Google search for “public records” in your market can unveil a lot of useful information. Depending on the state where you operate, you should stumble across a result that looks something like this…
The website you find will be either for your state or your county — if it’s for your state, then it should allow you to search by county. You’ll be able to find information like deeds and liens on properties. You’ll also be able to see if there isn’t a lien on the property, meaning that the home was likely purchased with cash — i.e. by a cash buyer.
You can also find properties purchased without a mortgage lien via your local title company. Grab your list, find telephone numbers, and call to see if those buyers are interested in purchasing other properties.
“Hey, my name is [name] and I work with [company]. I’m a real estate wholesaler in [market] and I’m looking for cash buyers to purchase the properties I find. Are you interested in being added to my list?”
9. Networking Events
As an entrepreneur, it’s important to work to your strengths.
And networking in your local community can be a great way to find cash buyers if you’re an extroverted people-person with natural charisma.
In fact, if that seems like a good description of your personality, then you definitely shouldn’t neglect to go to networking events — nothing builds trust quite as quickly as face-to-face interactions.
So what do I mean by “networking events”?
Entrepreneurial meetups in the community, joining the chamber of commerce, charity events, etc. Everything is a networking event if you go with the intent of networking. And if you go to the right events, then you’re likely to meet the right people with cash on hand looking to purchase investment properties. Check out Meetup to see what is going on in your city.
10. Hard Money Lenders
For hard money lenders, we’re not talking about using hard money lenders to purchase properties, we’re talking about calling hard money lenders and asking for referrals to cash buyers.
Hard money lenders will be happy to help you out because it benefits their business as well — if a client uses the hard money lender to purchase one of your properties, that’s a win-win.
Do some searching for the main hard money lenders in your area, call those places, and ask if they could refer you to some real estate investors.
“Hey, my name is [name] and I’m with [company]. We wholesale real estate in town and I was wondering if you have some real estate investors you could refer me to. I have quite a few properties right now that I think they might be interested in.”
11. ListSource
ListSource is commonly used by wholesalers to pull data and find motivated sellers, but it can also be used to find cash buyers.
Here’s what BiggerPocket’s recommends…
“While Listsource.com is the most common place for wholesalers to create a list of potential motivated sellers, it can also be a great place to find cash buyers. Use the site to search for properties purchased within a specific period of time and focus on absentee owners who didn’t record a deed of trust. This will give you a list of cash buyers for just pennies per item.”
Neat trick, huh?
12. BiggerPockets
BiggerPockets is the largest community of real estate investors on the internet. It has every type of real estate investor imaginable — wholesalers, flippers, BRRRR’rs... and yes, cash buyers.
We highly recommend creating an account over there and engaging in the forums — maybe even contributing an article or two.
Make a habit of it. Post once a week, answer questions a few times per week, and see what happens as you become more engrained in the community.
There’s a very good chance that you’ll make valuable connections over there, whether cash buyers or even just like-minded people with pertinent advice.
13. LinkedIn/Facebook
LinkedIn used to be a ghost town, but ever since Microsoft acquired it, it’s become a lively space for business professionals to communicate and collaborate.
Some of those business professionals are real estate investors.
To be clear, creating a profile on LinkedIn and searching for cash buyers is not by any means an overnight strategy. It’s a long-term tactic where, over time, you can build a little following and create connections with like-minded investors.
Technically, you could do the same thing on Facebook.
To do this, you’ll want to transfer your in-person relationships to social media, get in the habit of posting at least once a week, comment on other people’s content, and generally seek out beneficial connections.
Again, it’s not a fool-proof strategy, but it can certainly help.
In fact, I see these kinds of posts all the time on my Facebook profile because I’ve spent the last few years building connections with real estate investors…
You can do the same thing.
Oh! And don’t forget to join Facebook groups geared toward real estate investors!
14. Co-Wholesaling
If you’re working to close one of your first deals and/or struggling to find a cash buyer, then you might consider teaming up with another wholesaler.
Give them a call, tell them that you have a deal under contract but that you’re struggling to find a cash buyer because you’re new and that you’d be happy to co-wholesale it with them and split the commission 50/50.
If the math works out and the assignment fee is beefy enough to make it worth the wholesaler’s while, then they’ll probably agree.
There’s nothing wrong with teaming up with your competitors sometimes when it makes sense — especially if it’s going to be a win-win for both investors!
15. Build an Email List
Obviously, it’s a good idea to streamline the cash-buyer outreach process as much as possible.
You don’t want to have to call each of your cash buyers one at a time every time that you secure a new deal.
That’s why it’s a good idea to build an email list — this is just a list of your cash buyers and their email addresses. You could store this information in a spreadsheet or use a tool like Mailchimp.
If you send these emails directly through Gmail, though, you’ll want to use GMass, which allows you to send hundreds or thousands of emails at a time without triggering spam filters.
That way, every time you get a deal, you can compile the details and just send one email to your entire list. Easy peasy.
16. Display Ads
We already talked about property signs and bandit signs, but those aren’t the only forms of display advertisements you can use to build brand awareness and find both cash buyers and sellers.
You could run ads on the radio, purchase a billboard, brand your car or clothing, put up posters in coffee shops (with permission), or even hand out business cards.
Since your real estate business is localized to a specific market, display advertising can work particularly well — and there are tons of different ways you can use it.
Final Thoughts
There’s the whole kitchen sink!
We tried to include as many ideas as possible because we understand that one business is not like another — what works for Ryan’s business might not work for yours and vice versa.
So pick a few strategies that seem promising and give ’em a try.
Action is [always] the only way forward. 😉