Jeffrey has asked me to lead another Round table discussion on my method of locating Motivated Sellers who are willing to sell me their house for $10,000 or less. (I am paying more now, than I use to).

Between 2005 and 2009, I burned up a lot gas and shoe leather driving and walking around Class C neighborhoods in search of a motivated seller who would make me a deal on a fixer-upper. (small, SFH 2/1 fixer-uppers are still my specialty because I know how to convert them into cash cows). Currently I have 15 cows and I am now in the mood to locate another one.

In 2009, I dreamed up an idea that, if it worked, would get Motivated Sellers to call me at my home office instead of me driving aimlessly around town trying to find them! So, I created what has become known as the Handyman Ad. The AD was published in the classified section of my local hometown newspaper in the "Real Estate Wanted section". The Ad cost me $60.00 for 7 days but it was well worth it.

Long story short, since 2009, I have bought numerous houses (cheap ) from the people who responded to my AD. I will give more details at this years Round Table discussion.

Now, at my first Mr. LL convention in 2011 (St. Louis), I went public with my Handyman Ad. What I want to know now is this: since 2011, has anyone here ever used my AD to find Motivated Seller for themselves? I would hope so. I want to know if my AD works in YOUR CITY. If it does not, I want to know why.

I did run the ad for 14 days. 3 calls, none of which were at all realistic about the price.

I can't tell you why it didn't work for certain,b ut I have a few guesses:

Lack of readership: uur town has a population of about 165,000 and surrounding communities bring the metro area total up to 250,000. Whereas the local paper used to have a circulation of over 150,000, last I checked they were down below 40,000.

Online tools: I don't think people read papers as much any more. Craigslist, Facebook market, and Zillow have crowded them out.

Competition: LOTS of local wholesalers, bandit signs, and direct mail campaigns.

I am finding my deals now via word of mouth: people know I buy stuff and let me know. My handyman also works for a local auctioneer and he keeps me up to date when he hears of LLs retiring and unloading their portfolios or if there's an auction property that doesn't sell. So I guess he's may walking, talking "handyman ad".

Sid,

Great,..finally I getting some much needed feedback from someone who has used my AD.

I tried putting a Roy ad on Craigslist a few years ago but around here the LAND is worth more than any house that sits on it. In fact you will hear Realtors say it is "priced at land value alone." And it's over $100k...

WMH,

I have tried CL too and it does not work and there is a good reason for it,...demographics.

My target market are people who have inherited a house from a deceased relative and don't know what to do with it. These people are usually over the age of 60 and this group of people still get their news from the local newspaper,...not the Internet. They may own a desktop computer, but they only use it to play games with. My own father was a perfect example.

Mickie,

The only problem I have with my cows is they only give milk once a month. :)

JB,

Ken (NY)

I am of the belief that any AD can get 'stale' if it runs constantly. When a MLS listing runs forever generally it means there is something wrong with the house, the agent, the seller or whatever. I do not want my AD to get stale or boring from constant over-exposure. In many cases, I get some calls 30 days after my AD has expired. (They keep the newspaper with my AD in it).

In the past, I have learned that I will get the most responses when I run my AD around a major summer holiday (Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day). The worse time is between Thanksgiving and January 1st.

Speaking of Memorial Day, I called my local newspaper this morning and asked them to re-start my AD on Sunday May 27th for 7 days. I WILL get some calls on Monday-Memorial Day. I will have returned from the convention all pumped up and ready to deal! Let the games begin.

Ken (NY)

This is "Not" an original idea but a "Spin" on an Old Idea.

A Retired Construction worker, some 40+ years ago,

ran a (Local) add after He got tired of fixing up

"Other" peoples houses.

The Original Add, as I remember it:

Retired, Elderly, Construction worker, in seek of His next

project. Looking to buy "a" house that needs work.

Would prefer a Smaller sized house and I will pay Cash.

Now you know, "the rest of the story".

NE,

Bring your restaurant table placement Ad to the convention. I want to see it. And any other oddball things/gadgets you have used to get the word out.

I want to make one final comment here before I start packing my suitcase for St. Louis.

"Roy Deals" are not found,...they are CREATED via Negotiation with a Motivated Seller.

Considering all of the Motivated Sellers who have called me via my Handyman AD,...not one of them ever said "I have a house for sale and all I want is $5K for it". Most of the time, they wanted a lot more than $5K for their house.

In John Schaub's book, Building Wealth One House at Time, he has an entire chapter titled "Secrets of Professional Negotiators". If you read nothing else in this book, make sure you read this one chapter. Negotiation is something you have to practice to get 'good at it'. Half of the negotiation challenge is learning when to 'Talk' and when to keep your mouth shut and just 'listen to the seller ramble on'. Eventually, they will tell you everything you want to know.

I am done rambling now. See you all Wednesday evening.

Roy,

Your ad must work in my city because my competitor runs it!

My best ad ever for selling "EL DUMPO, 2 bed,"

BRAD

Charlie,