Did you know that it’s possible to see ALL the steps of a lease option deal from start to finish in just a 1-page document?
Well it is.
I wrote it. (You’re welcome.)
To demonstrate that lease options really aren’t complicated.
I’ve laid out the first 4 steps:
Step 1: finding motivated sellers with marketing
Step 2: talking to sellers and asking a lot of questions
Step 3: Send offers with credibility kits
Step 4: getting the contract signed
Let’s get into the next step…
Step 5: marketing the contract or property
So, if you’re doing an assignment, you’ll market the contract. If you’re doing a sandwich lease option, you’ll advertise the property — because you’re staying in the middle.
When it comes to marketing the property, I list all the things that need to be done on a checklist. I used to think I didn’t need a list, but I’d always forget things.
I have 3 columns on the left hand side of my checklist of who’s supposed to do it — could be you or it could be your virtual assistant or it could be your local real estate agent who’s helping you market the home.
Another column has every item/task that’s supposed to be done. And the final column has the date completed.
If you have that checklist for every property, it’ll help you avoid a lot of headaches and hassles. And no matter what, you need to make sure everything on the checklist is getting done.
There’s really only a few things that you have to do when you’re marketing a lease option property…
And 1 of the things that’s important to remember is this: If you haven’t found a good tenant-buyer in 3 to 4 weeks, something is wrong — that something is usually that it’s overpriced. So you might be asking too much in rent.
Usually 9 times out of 10, if you’re not finding a tenant-buyer or not getting traffic to that property, it’s because it’s overpriced or you’re not advertising it in the right places.
So what do you do for the marketing?
#1: photos and video. Take a bunch of pictures and walk through the house with your phone recording it on video. Make sure all of the lights are on in all of the rooms. Just upload it all to YouTube or your website.
#2: signs. Put signs in the yard. And bandit signs in the neighborhood. Signs have always worked best for me. To get around code enforcement, put them out on a Friday night and pick them up on a Sunday night. You can hire a teenaager for a few bucks to do it for you.
I had a student who put this on his sign: “Rent to own — 3% moves you in. XXX-XXX-XXXX.”
He got tons of calls with that!
And with my CRM, REI Simple, you can set it up so that anybody who calls the phone number automatically gets added to your buyers list. You can also get a different phone number for each property, with an outgoing message — something like this:
“Thanks for calling about the house on 123 Main Street. It’s a rent-to-own home. It’s a 3-bedroom, 2 bath, the rent is $1,300 a month and it’s in nice shape. 3% moves you in. If you want to see pictures and a video, go to this website.”
Another cool thing in REI Simple is that when they call the number, it sends them an automated text message right away. So, it starts a conversation.
#3: Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Zillow. So, FB Marketplace may have replaced Craigslist in terms of where people look. It’s way better than Craigslist. Post lots of pics in the For Rent section, and try to post in the For Sale by Owner section, too.
On Craigslist, post in the For Rent and For Sale by Owner sections. I like creating 2 or 3 completely different ads and posting them on different days, so I can rotate through those and recycle them.
Zillow is tricky because if it’s already been listed there, you might have to try to claim that you’re the owner. And you don’t want to lie and say you’re the realtor if you’re not. If you are licensed, you can become a premier agent with Zillow, which means you get the rights to a certain zip code where you can advertise. As an agent, it’s a lot easier to post For Sale By Owner and rental properties on Zillow.
If you’ve done those 3 things and it hasn’t sold: it’s overpriced, or you’re not advertising it enough, or it’s a butt ugly house and you don’t want to do lease options with butt-ugly houses.
#4: Facebook ads. Facebook ads work really well… but they might work better for building your tenant-buyers list. If you do advertise properties with FB ads, our testing shows that cheaper homes work best. Then, nice houses, like 3-bedroom ranches in a suburban area.
And, that’s it…
You start marketing the property, then you start taking phone calls, then applications. You’re going to want to get somebody to do all of this for you like a VA or local assistant. You’ve got to outsource it… to a realtor or leasing agent and have the realtor or leasing agent do that. Find them by putting an ad on Craigslist and asking around at your local REIA group. Look, I’ve found realtors who advertise the property for me for $500 bucks.
Ok, believe it or not… the next step is the last! Step 6: flipping the lease option deal.
You’re thisclose to knowing how to complete a lease option deal from start to finish. 🙂
