Ghost Ad Queston

Post it on CL under real estate for sale, the ad would be just as if you had & were selling a house listed there ...

I post my ads for wholesale deals in the real estate wanted section. Investors look there. I also offer my wholesale deals in the real estate services section. Investors look there also. And of course real estate for sale.

Michael Mangham
MD Home Acquisitions lLC

Thanks Gary

Thanks Michael, I will do that.

Yeah, put them in as many real estate sections as they'll let you. Don't forget Backpage.com and ebayclassifieds.com too... I've got a lot of deals and leads from those.

nick

We have a realtor who is also our property manager. We are thinking about advertising a couple of homes we are currently rehabbing as "lease to own" in the newspaper. First to build our buyers list and second because we need to get a renter set so we can refi as soon as rehab is done. Does this ever offend realtors/property managers?

I posted an ad on Craigslist trying to build buyers. I got a good response back, but there was one that after I emailed him back to let the property was no longer available. He came back at me and said " stop spamming people. Don't post if you don't have anything."

Has anyone ran into something like this. I figure this is the stuff that we have to deal with, in order to make it. Any suggestions.

Chris

I actually just got something like that today. Someone wrote back via email saying "Liar. What's the address? Dont waste my time. Have u ever done a deal or do u just waste the time of real buyers?"

I just deleted it. He/She's not someone I want to work with anyway. What's funny is that he/she had replied to my ad at 12:43AM, which was 12hrs after I posted it. Apparently this person thinks it's impossible to contract a deal sooner.

My advice would be to ignore it.

I am. I can't let that discourage me.
Thanks for the advice

I also had a question about ghost ads. Do you state a real address or do you just put something like

I have a home for sale. 3 br. 2 bath for 180,000. I mean do you put info about the area etc. Does anyone have an example of a post that works well for them?

Thanks,
Karemah

Hi Karemah, I am about to post an ad on CL and I remember in a video it was stated to be short and sweet and sound desperate. I will be using 1 like this. 3bed 2bath for sale, desperate. Hope that helps........Paul

Okay Thanks Paul,

That does help. I didnt know if I should make up an address, take pis or what.

I guess that makes sense. Keep it simple.

Thank You,
Karemah

Hello Karemah

I posted an add on CL, the thing that troubled me was there statement of false adds, this really troubled me and after only 1 day I deleted it.. I did get a couple of responces but not what I was looking for.. Any suggestions..

That is a good point Mike, I believe that also. We are taught to use what works, donot re-invent the wheel so to speak. I need this to work for my family. I will try to be honest also and see if I get a good response....Paul

They work but watch your wording. DO NOT be specific !! You can get busted so to speak . Get caught and the least effect is you'll be blocked for awhile. First hand experience . Was warned that it does come under false advertising . Working on wording some that are more honest and can back out of if things get serious .

are problematic for a number of reasons. The biggest one is that you are starting your relationship with investor/buyers on a dishonest footing. When I reply to a ghost ad and they have nothing "because it mysteriously got bought", I simply say thanks and put their phone number on my "never use" list because I can't believe what he (she) says. First impressions are lasting impressions. I know their are a lot of people who swear that using ghost ads are a good way to build your buyer's list but that is like saying robbing banks is a good way to build your cash position. LOL. Both are dishonest, albeit, one more than the other.

If there are so many investor/buyers out there, why not just advertise for them straight up. I think honesty is the best policy.

Why lie? Why misrepresent yourselves? You can post an ad in craigs list that does not say you have a property and then when some one replies you say "That one is gone, would you like the next one I get ETC" Every newbie that has taken some course or webinar or boot camp or read a book by one of five hundred gurus does that. When I am contacted by some one that asks scripted questions I just tell them call me when you have a deal. They ask, what is your criteria? I say "A real deal" Thats what you need to learn how to produce any way. I NEVER hear back. WHY? It is HARD to find a real deal that an investor will take. It takes a ton of marketing and looking at properties, learning rehab costs and actual ARVs before you can provide what you are "ghost adding" for any way.

So, my suggestion is, just post, "My company provides the best wholesale deals in town. Investors, rehabbers, landlords look no further. Get on our list and be among first to hear about our next deals!!" You did not lie and you are not doing the same thing 1,000,000, others are doing.

I don't do a major interview with my new buyers. I add them to my list and send ALL my buyers every property I get. Well, actually I do have about 10 guys/ladies I call first, then I blast out to the buyers list. If they want it they will call. Then I tell them the earnest money is non refundable. That gets rid of all the people that have no money and no real buyers. It is a streamlined system that allows me to concentrate on what this business is really all about. FINDING AND CONTROLLING REAL DEALS!

Michael Mangham
MD Home Acquisitions LLC

Excellent advice Bill& Mike, and i agree with you 100%, WHY LIE??

I like some of the others have hesitated about doing Ghost Ads because like others have said, it feels dishonest and deceitful and then not knowing for sure where and what to post on Craiglists.

I want to be able to sleep at night with a clear conscious. I believe I'll stick with the advise of the DG Superstars above - honesty is the best policy.

Thanks for the comments from both sides!

____________________

Treat others as you want to be treated.

This concerned me also. I can see the reasoning behind posting so-called Ghost Ads, but it does seem that in the long run honesty is always going to be the best policy, and that being sure the wording for any ads is not making false promises is going to be a better way to grow business relationships. Also, I think the psychology of it is probably healthier, especially for a beginner. If someone is already working on building their mindset, trying to get past a "fake it 'til you make it" stage, starting out with untruths or half-truths would seem to be setting an unhealthy precedent. I appreciate Bill and Michael's suggestions on dealing with this.

If you don't want to place a ghost ad, do one of two things...

Post an ad saying something like;

"We get the lowest priced wholesale houses and cheap properties in town. Call or visit our website to see what handyman specials and/or fixxer uppers are in our inventory! Get on our mailing list NOW to be the first to learn when we get a new wholesale deal at 50% of value or less... or better yet, call and tell us exactly what you're looking for and we'll bring it to you!

(notice the use of keywords for Google to send ppl to your Craig's List ad?)

Here's some wordage you can copy if you want. Feel free to include my phone number, lol! www.wholesalepropertydeal.com

You'll get just as many calls as a Ghost ad. Talk to them, that's what this business is all about... communication and networking. Our product just happens to be houses.

Or, find another investor in town and ask him if you can market his properties. Get an option, then add a few thousand and advertise it. You'll build your list and you may even make some money!

Nick

www.rei-tv.com

Just like the person responding to your ghost ad doesn't know you don't have that property available, you don't know about the person responding to your ad. I have found that the ghost ad yields more wholesale flippers than legitimate investors. I have much better luck using other methods.

1) Drive neighborhoods for a couple of reasons...get to know them and find potential deals where you can deal directly with the seller. When I see people scoping me out as I drive slowly, stop, take pictures, and write things down, I try to put them at ease by getting out and talking to them and let them know what I am doing. Nobody knows a neighborhood like the people who live there. Usually they give me the low down on the neighborhood...what it's like, who owns, who rents, who doesn't take care of their house, who just lost their job. I tell them what I do and leave a couple of business cards. The other reason is you find rehabbers working on homes. Get out and talk to them. I found one company that does 40 houses a year, another that does 30 houses a year, one small guy who does about one a month. I know these are solid buyers and I think it establishes credibility with them that I am out there working the business.

2) Call adds for houses that look great and have a recent rehab. Most times these are investors. You can check the property in total view and see when it was sold and how much they paid for it.

3) Local real estate clubs...I found 2 guys who have put together $8 million of private money to purchase homes. Found another lady working with an investor who will split profits 50/50 on commercial deals...only problem?....minimum $5 million deal. What a problem to have.

As I said, these techniques have yielded solid buyers. Here's a bonus tip to weed out the flippers from an investor on a ghost ad if you do run one...I ask "what kind of cash on cash return are you looking for?" Investors usually respond with a number....flippers come back with "it depends" or "anything that will make money". I am not going to say don't use a ghost ad, because for some people they work. I just choose not to because they are in reality, false advertising. It's up to you how you want to conduct your business.

I had the same concerns recently about ghost ads. I'm glad I saw this thread. It validates my decision to not use them. I figure promoting that I'm a wholesaler looking for investors will do more for helping me build a buyer's list than ads that pretend I have properties that I don't have. I'm much better at being straightforward with people.

Thanks for the info here.
~C