How to Start and Use a Database for Investing

The most important part of succeeding in your business and being able to sell your properties fast will be your database. The reason I say this is because to be able to sell your properties fast you must have ready, able and willing buyers to sell to. I have said it before that it is much easier to find a house for a buyer than it is to find a buyer for a house. Having said this, I want to share some different types of databases that you can use. We actually started out with Act! Database program and used it for several years. The only problem with this program is tying together your auto responders with Act! You will probably want to use an online database program to keep up with your contacts because an online service is usually more up to date and they have more features. Also, it is more automated than having your own computer program. For example, if you have your own program and someone wants to unsubscribe from your email list, you will have to go in manually and unsubscribe them. However, if you use an online service, when someone clicks on the link in your email to unsubscribe then it is automatic. You simply receive an email notifying you that the person has unsubscribed. Another advantage of an online system is that you can access it from anywhere and anyone’s computer. In addition to using your database with your auto responders you can email, call or direct mail them at anytime. If you have a special need for a particular property or buyer you can send out a quick email to your database. If you have a property you need to sell very fast because you are up against a deadline then you can send out an email about that too. There is no limit to the uses.

The other thing that you need to be aware of is that once you have built your database list there is a value to that list. Other people will pay you to joint venture with them to promote their products or services. For example, an investor may contact you and offer to split an assignment fee if you will send out details of a property they have under contract to your list. Is this great or what! Make sure to know your states laws on things like getting a fee for promoting a property as it may violate your state’s real estate laws. If you have built up a database and would like to do a joint venture with me promoting this course or any of our products, services or properties you can contact me at 803-831-0056 ext. 304 or send me an email to Larry@LarryGoins.com.

The database program we used before getting our own website (MyInvestorWebsite.com) was “One Shopping Cart”. There is a link for their website in your bookmarks. I think they are one of the best. Another one similar to One Shopping Cart is “A Weber”. A lot of online marketers use them as well. You cannot go wrong with either one. Both and more are in the bookmarks.

How to Build Your Database

Many of the items I have previously shared with you will be used to build your database but I am going to cover some of them again here as well as others.

Investors 1: Call every “I buy Houses” ad and sign that you see and tell them you are a wholesaler and want to add them to your database. 2: Run your own ad: “Handyman Specials, Cheap, Cash” and your phone will ring off the hook. Just tell them that you ran the ad to find some investors to buy the properties you are getting and that you will email or call with the next great deal you have. Now you can run this ad in the print newspaper but I suggest running it online on some of the FREE classified sites. You could even put in your email address instead of the phone number so you can simply add them to your database and never have to talk to them. Also if you have your own website you could just put it in the ad to send people to the site to sign themselves up automatically. 3: Join some real estate Yahoo or Google groups and email them asking for investors to sell your properties to. This is a great way to build your list fast. 4: Set up your own webpage on one of the social networking sites like “Myspace” and then invite others to become your friend that have the keywords “real estate” in their pages. There is an entire group of these sites in the bookmarks.

Realtors Every time you talk to a realtor ask them for their email address so you can “stay in touch” and buy more properties. This is all you will need to do in order to build a large list of realtors.

For Sale by Owners Every time you talk to a FSBO or see an ad on a website, call or email them and be sure to ask them if you can add them to your database to stay in touch. Also, any time you make an offer to a seller you want to get their email address so you can follow up with them as I will show you in a future chapter.

Retail Buyers The best way to build a list of retail buyers is to look online at some of the FREE classified sites that have buyers running ads. You can also run your own ad something like this: “Newly remodeled homes. Ready to move into. Payments to fit your budget. Down payment and closing cost assistance available”. Your phone will ring off the hook. Just let them know that you do not have any properties but you are going to have some soon. (this is true right?). Then you simply add them to your database. If you have a website like ours, once again you can put it in the ad so they are added to the database automatically. Another way to build your retail buyers list is to have a homebuyer’s seminar. This is very easy to do. You simply run an ad to attract attendees then follow the outline below. You can even invite others like a lender, appraiser, home inspector, etc. to speak and they will be glad to because they will also get business from the buyers.

Another advantage of having a database of vendors like these is in case you have a property where you need to get something done fast. You simply email your list of vendors to find out who can help you out. Ex: Say you have a property where the seller says they will take your offer but only if you can close in 3 days. You then need to email all of your rehab contractors and appraisers to see if they can do your inspection today or tomorrow so you can close on time. Also, if you have the cell phone number of your contact, you can simply send out a text blast to your rehab contractor or appraiser in this example and they will get your message right away. I have included in your bookmarks some sources for sending text messages.

I hope you have enjoyed this article taken from my course called the Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! which teaches how we buy and sell 5-10 properties a month, have them sold in less than 2 hours and never leave the office or look at them. For many more articles and a 10 part ecourse on how to create your own Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine! as well as over 50 training audio recordings you can listen to online, download and collect, simply go to www.LarryGoinsFreeOffer.com where you will gain instant access to all of this and 51 Exclusive Editable real estate investing Forms and Documents all FREE! You will also get two FREE real estate investing eBooks, A free Personal Coaching Profile to help you jump start your real estate Investing, FREE Nationwide Wholesale Property Listing Notification, FREE Weekly Training Teleconferences with Different Topic Each Week, FREE subscription to Larry Goins “Almost” Weekly Investing Newsletter, FREE Admission for Two to Investor Palooza 3 Day Training Event, FREE Admission for Two to Larry Goins 3 Day Boot Camp, Plus over 31 Exclusive Articles on real estate Investing and Much More! Just go to www.LarryGoinsFreeOffer.com. Thanks and I look forward to working with you, Larry Goins