Driving For Dollars - 5 Deals in 30 Days

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 . 

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!)

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?)

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