Private Lenders:  How to Use List Brokers to Find Money for Real Estate Deals

One of my newsletter members recently asked if using a list broker was a good source of leads to attract private lenders and, if so, how is it done.  The answer is yes but with several precautions. 

Precautions

It is important to understand that I strongly recommend that marketing for private lenders is done on a local and low key way.  I do not recommend any sort of website advertising or newspaper advertising because it can be viewed as a solicitation to an unsophisticated investor and attract calls from your state's SEC.    You do not want one of these calls!

The SEC and state authorities monitor Craig's List and other similar bulletin boards for people doing unauthorized advertising for private lenders.  When you advertise in this fashion, you can not restrict out of state people from reading your ad and as result certain authorities may deem this a solicitation across state lines.  If this happens you may be required to register with the federal SEC.

How To Use List brokers

So how do you market to potential private lenders using a list purchased from a list broker?  You can start with a national list broker like InfoUSA or Melissa Data and purchase a list that is tightly defined to fit your needs.   In fact, most large list brokers already have a predone list targeting high net worth investors.  You may want to go with this type of list or customize to fit your needs.

I would start with people that have significant net worth over $500k and have IRA's or CD's investments.  This fits the profile of typical private investors.  You may also want to add retired people who have IRA's over some fixed dollar amount.  It is critical, however, that you only allow people with a primary residence in your Local County or state.  Even once you receive your list, I would recommend you proof it once or twice to be sure you only have addresses in your county or state.  I know it may be shock that someone may make a mistake, but it does happen and guess who will pay the price for the mistake.  The SEC does not care that a clerical error was made.

Once you have a clean list, you can send each person a postcard or letter.  Be sure that the message you use on the postcard or letter is more of an offer to provide more information or an invitation to a seminar as opposed to an offer to directly invest with you.  You may even want to offer a free voice recorded message or website where they can go and get additional information about your company and investment information.

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