THE WHOLESALERS TOOLBOX
  • Home
  • Wholesaling University
  • Wholesalers Blog
  • The Toolbox
    • The "Toolbox"
    • DealMachine Review
    • Wholesaling Spreadsheet
    • Real Estate Photography Pro Review
    • Capital Syndicate Review
    • REI Trifecta
    • My Private Toolbox
    • The 10 Hour Wholesaler
    • Investor Carrot Websites
    • Code Violations
    • Probate Real Estate Marketing Letters
    • Driving for Dollars
    • Mobile Wholesaling
    • Loan Signing Agent
    • Investor Friendly Title Company Directory
    • Mobile Home Investor Websites
    • Virtual Driving For Dollars
  • YouTube
  • Wholesaler Directory

Driving For Dollars - 5 Deals in 30 Days

10/11/2018

16 Comments

 
Picture
Do you want to be successful at wholesaling real estate?  If you really want to know how I'll tell you but I have to warn you that my method Doesn't require you to buy any expensive program. (If you're looking for something that will magically get you deals turn back now) 

My method is old school and that's probably why it works well for me because its dramatically different from what anyone else is doing. Even the few that are doing it are doing it wrong in my opinion and that creates a great opportunity for me (and anyone that reads this blog!)

Okay, you probably already figured out it's Driving For Dollars because you read the title or looked at the picture (you're so observant, that's what I love about you)...
BUT stick with me because I'm going to tell you how I landed 5 deals in the first 30 days of my wholesaling career with no experience, no training and no fancy tools of any kind.

***Read This Until The End And I'll Give You My Secret Weapon****

Step 1 - What is Driving For Dollars? 

I assume if you're reading this you know what driving for dollars is but I'll give you a brief overview. Driving For Dollars is a method of finding houses by hopping in your car and driving neighborhoods looking for vacant houses that potentially have owners that are motivated to sell.

If you find a house that is vacant, distressed, run down or boarded up there is a high likelihood that the owner would be motivated to sell the property because its become a problem for them. The best way to spot a vacant house is the look for overgrown grass, un-shoveled snow, lots of flyers/papers laying on the porch, no curtains, boards on the windows, missing or locked utility meters and lack of any personal items. 

Step 2 - Where Should You Drive?

Good question...  If you're like most real estate wholesalers you're looking for a property an investor would love to have. This is typically going to be something they can fix and flip or renovate and turn into a rental property. Most times you'll want to focus your efforts in low to middle income working class neighborhoods. Avoid areas that have a lot of abandoned homes and pass by the wealthy neighborhoods with Bentley's in the garages . 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Step 3 - What Tools Should I Have?

This is where I start to do things differently than others (remember this is the old school method) I want you to forget your Apple Maps, Google Maps and GPS and go to your local book store and buy a local street atlas. Just like in any search and rescue effort we're going to use a strategic grid search to find vacant properties ( vs randomly driving around town)
Once you have purchased your map pick the first city you'll target you efforts on. You'll drive EVERY street in this city from one end to another marking it off with a highlighter as you go.

​Up one street, down the next... Back and forth, side to side.. looking for vacant houses. Using this map/grid method will help you to cover the entire area completely and when you've finished a city move onto the next. 

​(resist the urge to use your smartphone... really!)
Picture
THE ONE THING I DO DIFFERENTLY THAT GETS ME THE DEALS!!!

This is so important and for the life of me I can understand why people don't do it... When I find a vacant property in addition to writing down the address in my notebook I tape my "Awesome Driving For Dollars Letter" to the from door.

Let's take a minute and analyze it's success so you know why it works so amazingly well for me....
  • Any competition that you have that's driving for dollars is just writing down the address and skip tracing to find an address they can send a letter to (That's Nuts) if you want to just send letters to vacant houses skip the driving and get the vacant house data feed by clicking here  (it will be cheaper than the gas)
 
  • If the property address is the same as the tax billing address and the house is vacant they're not receiving mail from anyone. So if you leave a letter you become the only one marketing to them (Sweet)
 
  • Almost always one of the neighbors is still in contact with the owner and if you leave a note the neighbor will grab it off the door and call the owner and relay the information (nosy neighbors are everywhere)
 
  • Lastly, If someone tapes a note to the door they're going to read it... or the curiosity will kill them!

That's truly why I believe this works so well... If someone took the time to write a letter, drive to your house and tape a note on the door you're going to take it more serious than just another piece of junk mail aren't you? (yes you would)
Trust Me, This Method Works!

Like I mentioned before I had no wholesale experience and no training when I started and within 30 days I had put 5 houses under contract with this exact method which made me $28,000 in assignment fees. (Not bad for a rookie right?)
Picture
Picture
Picture
We're almost to the part where I give you my letter...

But first here's a list of what you need
  • Reliable car with a tank of gas (of course)
  • Street Atlas ( I buy mine at Barns and Noble)
  • Highlighter (for marking off the streets you've been down)
  • Blue Painters Tape (why? It's noticeable and won't leave damage when its removed)
  • Notebook (for writing down addresses of vacant houses)
  • Pen (for the fore mentioned writing of addresses)
  • White Letter Envelopes (for placing your letter in before taping it to the door)
  • The Awesome Driving For Dollars Letter (That got me 5 deals in my first 30 days!!!)
I've been wholesaling for quite a few years and without a doubt Driving For Dollars has yielded far better results for me than any other method and I attribute my success to taping my letter onto the front door and I encourage you to do the same.

Finally, I know I said this method is free (and it still is) but I'm going to ask you for a favor... In exchange for this information and giving you my letter I'll ask you post a link to this blog post (or website) and share it with others... I'd truly appreciate it.  

If you have any questions just leave a comment below and I'll reply as quick as I can.

Good luck out there Wholesalers!!!

​David @ The Wholesalers Toolbox

Click Here To Download The Letter

Take your driving for dollars to the next level with Deal Machine - The Driving For Dollars App
16 Comments
Richard Cascio
11/22/2018 07:33:18 pm

I have to say again thank you for making these video's. I have subscribed to your you-tube channel and gave your video's a like each 1 I watched.
Can you tell me how many deals a month do you get now after the first month of 5 deals! That was amazing I have been doing this for years and never did 5 deals.
Please tell us how manage someone to do the driving for dollars. I mean how much do you pay them and how do you know they actually putting your letter up?
You don't put the letter in envelopes do you?

Thank you,

Reply
David @ The Wholesalers Toolbox link
1/5/2019 03:17:07 pm

Richard I think I already answered this for you on youtube maybe but I'll put it here for anyone else who might read it...

If you have someone else do it I think $1.00 - $1.50 per house is fair if you're in a very populated area, more if you're out in the country.

From my experience you can find 10+ vacant houses an hour if your driving up and down streets in working class residential area.

I'd set up a dropbox account on (Dropbox.com) and share a floder with your birddog and everytime they put a note on a door have them take a picture and put it in dropbox.

Also you can spot check addresses they turn in to make sure there are notes on the doors.

Hope this helps!

David

Reply
Cynthia Redd
8/3/2019 04:34:43 pm

David thank for explaining your method to me within this blog.

Darryl Johnson
2/17/2019 08:25:02 pm

Thanks for the value information you provide. I am new and getting started with wholesaling. I know people drive for dollars and get addresses then skip trace then send off mail, but wouldn’t it be smarter to just sign up for the vacant houses website that you shared, and download the vacant property list and drive to the house and tape the letter to the door? Thanks!

Darryl

Reply
David F link
4/8/2019 01:14:18 pm

Yes, it is the smarter way and that's how I currently do it.

If you're just getting started and don't have the money for the data feed just get out and start driving.

Good Luck!

David

Reply
Louis link
3/5/2019 06:01:26 am

Hey David! You're so awesome, and thanks for the valuable information that you present in The Wholesalers Toolbox. Without people like you, people like me wouldn't know where to start. I have a philosophy that if you teach someone valuable skills that you know, you will in turn receive valuable skills and rewards in abundance.

Reply
David F link
4/8/2019 01:16:31 pm

Louis, I wan't to thank you and also say your words are much appreciated.

I'm glad you found the website, please spread the word.

David

Reply
Ahmad
4/9/2019 05:00:16 pm

Hi David, thank you for the valuable info.When you pull out the vacant houses list before driving by them, do you include out of state absentee owners?

Reply
David F link
4/9/2019 06:18:19 pm

Hey Ahmad, yes I include out of state owners. personally I just drive high equity / free & clear properties.

Reply
Ahmad
4/10/2019 11:55:05 am

Ok gotcha, do you use 50%+ equity? and is there's a way to know if the property is free & clear in vacanthousedatafeed.com?
Thank you!!

David F link
4/10/2019 01:37:17 pm

Ahmad I like at least 50% but that's up to each wholesaler depending on their buyers & personal preference. The vacant house data feed allows you to adjust the equity criteria.

Get out there and find some deals!

David

Reply
Nicholas LaFontaine
4/10/2019 09:12:09 pm

Hey David I have the vacant house data feed, and have done skip tracing, cold calling, direct mail but have not gone and personally put mail on doors, but want to do so. I was just curious, for absentee owners are you taping the mail to the vacant house or the absentee owners address?

Reply
David F link
4/12/2019 07:40:20 am

Hi Nicholas, I always tape to the door of the vacant property and if its really distressed looking I'll also send a letter to the owners tax billing address.

You'll be surprised how well just taping the note to the door of a vacant house will work for you.

Good Luck

David

Reply
Nicholas LaFontaine
4/13/2019 03:22:00 pm

Ok thanks, and with the vacant house data feed, do you focus more on properties that have the same tax billing address as the vacant house, to increase your chances of getting a response since they're not getting mail from anyone else?

William Brobeck
5/19/2019 09:27:13 am

I love how you've taken your knowledge of wholesaling and are helping beginners learn the ropes. Thank you.

Reply
JAN JURCISIN
6/11/2019 07:39:17 pm

Hey Dave, amazing information. I've been sending everyone I know to your website.

Thanks for all you do for those of us in REI!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    The Wholesalers Blog

    Picture
    Written By:
    Beach Bum Wholesaler

    Archives

    November 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017

    Categories

    All
    Finding Sellers
    Probate
    Reverse Wholesaling
    Wholesaling 101

    RSS Feed

The Wholesalers Toolbox
​
Affiliate  Disclosure   
 Privacy  Policy

  • Home
  • Wholesaling University
  • Wholesalers Blog
  • The Toolbox
    • The "Toolbox"
    • DealMachine Review
    • Wholesaling Spreadsheet
    • Real Estate Photography Pro Review
    • Capital Syndicate Review
    • REI Trifecta
    • My Private Toolbox
    • The 10 Hour Wholesaler
    • Investor Carrot Websites
    • Code Violations
    • Probate Real Estate Marketing Letters
    • Driving for Dollars
    • Mobile Wholesaling
    • Loan Signing Agent
    • Investor Friendly Title Company Directory
    • Mobile Home Investor Websites
    • Virtual Driving For Dollars
  • YouTube
  • Wholesaler Directory