As you probably know, one of the big benefits of membership in REIAGC is your ability to post deals—wholesale, rental, or properties you don’t want anymore—on CincinnatiREIA.com, where they’re then sent to our nationwide list of over 4,700 potential buyers.
Lots of members are taking advantage of this and selling deals (and filling rentals) using it, as you can see in your weekly inbox.
But we’re also seeing lots of members who haven’t used it or who are using it in ways that aren’t as effective as they could be. So here are a few tips for increasing the effectiveness of your ads and staying within the law as we understand it so that this powerful tool works for you.
- First, in order to post ads on our site, you MUST have your own “Pros” website, which comes free with your membership, already set up.
If you log in to CincinnatiREIA.com with your password, you’ll see a tab at the top called “my account” and a dropdown that says “my website.” If you haven’t set up your site yet, you’ll be prompted through a series of easy steps to get it set up. If you already have your own website, we CAN NOT connect that one to ours; it MUST be the site that’s set up through CincinnatiREIA.com in order to push your deals out to our list.
- Second, some legal issues:
- Understand that your ads also go to a national site called REIPro and are publicly searchable. Anything you post can be seen by any member of the public who might Google the address; remember this, and don’t publish anything you wouldn’t want a seller, agent, regulator, etc. to see because they CAN see it.
- Do NOT post properties that you don’t either own, have under contract, or, if you’re a licensed agent, have an exclusive right to sell. You cannot legally advertise ‘deals’ that you have no legal or contractual interest in, and we will remove the ad. Once you’ve been warned once, a second infraction will get you banned from using the system, and that will be the least of your problems if the Division of Real Estate finds out. That’s not us talking, it’s the regulators.
- If what’s for sale is not a property but a contract, SAY SO. Put wording in your ad to this effect: “I am assigning my interest in a purchase agreement for this property. It is not the property that’s for sale; it’s the right to buy it. Price reflects total purchase price, including assignment fee and what you’ll have to pay the seller to close, but does not include any closing, financing, or rehab costs”. Again, this is necessary not because WE say so, but because the STATE does.
- Do NOT use other people’s photos or descriptions in your ad. Don’t co-opt old MLS photos; don’t copy the description that the seller, another wholesaler, or an agent used from Zillow, MLS, or other sources. This is a copyright infringement, and we HAVE had members get into trouble for this. Take your own photos if you plan to use them, and write your own text.
- DO NOT “puff” your numbers. Don’t guess that a property is worth $180,000 when the top sale in the area for the past 2 years has been $150,000. Don’t say that a property needs $5,000 in rehab when to really stabilize it, the cost would be $20,000. Yes, property values and repair costs are somewhat in the eye of the beholder, and no matter how accurate you are, not every buyer will agree with your numbers. But don’t lie. This may seem like a harmless sales tactic, but there’s a major lawsuit against a wholesaler who did this consistently, (allegedly) knowingly, and for years happening in Hamilton County right now. If it’s not a good deal using the ‘real’ numbers, you probably shouldn’t be posting it anyway.
- You will be automatically offered the chance to “Joint Venture” your deal, or to “Joint venture” on others’ deals. If we could turn this feature off, we would, because what it does is allow others to advertise your deal on their websites, and vice versa. PLEASE DESELECT THIS OPTION; our various attorneys tell us that if you’re not the owner of the property or the actual holder of the purchase agreement, you should NOT be offering a deal or being paid to find a buyer for it, unless you have a real estate license and an agreement from the contract holder about commission in advance
- Finally, let’s make these ads WORK for you:
- When creating the text for the ad, remember your audience. Our list is made up entirely of real estate entrepreneurs: retailers, rental housing providers, people who do lease/option and repair for equity deals, etc.
- Your goal isn’t to sell the property with the ad; it’s to get someone interested enough to contact you for further information.
- Therefore, you’ll do best if you avoid language that would be more attractive to homebuyers than to investors, such as “Make this house your home,” “Own for less than rent.”
- And focus on quickly telling your audience why they should be very interested in learning more, like:
- Neighborhood
- Square footage, rooms, bedrooms, baths
- Construction (brick, frame, etc.)
- Your estimated after-repaired value for the property, repair costs, quick list of the major items to be repaired, projected rent (if the property is likely to be a rental), and your TOTAL asking price, including your assignment fee, if there is one
- Who should be paying attention: is it a great rehab/resale? Rental? Lease/option? Repair for equity deal?
Our whole job here at REIAGC is to do what we can to support you in your journey toward financial independence; we hope this tutorial helps you get the most from this huge benefit of membership.