Whether you are a home seller, a real estate agent or a real estate investor you should be using Craigslist to advertise your home as a lease option or rent to own.  I do almost all my advertising exclusively on Craigslist now and generate tons of good rent to own buyer leads.

It’s free, it’s easy and the competition (at least in my area) is low.  Buyer’s look here though and it has served as a powerful lead generator.

Here are two sample ads I have used:

Ad 1:

$2195/4 BR – Great Home on Rent to Own (Wayne)

A great home in Wayne on a Lease Option/Rent to Own.  Call today to find out more how I can help you.  I help buyers find lease options or contract for deed homes.  Working with buyers that have credit issues is my specialty.  Own a home even if you need some time to improve your credit.  STOP RENTING!  There are no fees to you for my service. Wendy at Keller Williams Realty, you can email me at wendy@wendypatton.com – You will need a minimum of $10,000 to get into a home with this type of transaction.  I look forward to working with you soon to buy your new home.

Ad 2:

$1695/3 BR – 3/2/2 in Great Area – Lease Option (Clifton)

Clifton great home with 3 bdrms, 2 baths, and a 2 car garage.  Nice area.  Lease to own with $7,500 down.  Credit problems ok.  My specialty is working with buyers who have less than perfect credit   There is no fee to you.  Email me today, Wendy at Keller Williams, wendy@wendypatton.com

Both of these ads have drawn solid responses from lease option buyers.  If you are a real estate agent or a lease option investor you can use these ads even if you don’t have a lease option home available yet.  Once you get the buyer leads then you can find a lease option home that works for them.

I did a big post yesterday on becoming a Realtor, looking at the pros (many) and cons (next to none in my opinion).  But I left out one of the biggest, most important reasons for becoming a real estate agent when you are doing lease option investing – Networking.

Lease option homes are by and large pretty homes.  The pretty home market is pretty much controlled by real estate agents.  When I say controlled, I mean that they are the ones doing the massive majority of the listings for these homes.  With that being the case you need to make real estate agents your friends to get deals in your pipeline.  Becoming a Realtor gives you an inside track.  For one thing you can start networking with other agents in the brokerage where you have your license.

Then you can expand out to other offices from there.  Just ask people in your office if they know of other agents who might have a home that isn’t selling where the seller told the agent that if it doesn’t sell they might have to rent their home.  Those agents are bound to know other agents that have mentioned something like that to them.

In lease option investing all it really takes is a handful of good networked real estate agents to keep your deal pipeline full.

I recommend you become licensed and consider Keller Williams as an office for you.  I will gladly sponsor you and also assist you in working as a Realtor.  I can help you get started in the right direction. I have been licensed over 20 years.  Let them know I am your sponsor and we can work together to help you as an investor and also to assist you to recruit other investors (Realtors) in your team.  Please email me to find the closest Keller Williams office to you.  Wendy@WendyPatton.com or call me at 248-394-0767 and I will assist you in making a great choice for your future.

I became a licensed agent in 1986. Why?  I had started to invest in real estate and realized that I had to rely on a Realtor to get me in to see some of the properties I was interested in purchasing, and then I had to wait for them for the comparables.  Comparables (aka Comps) can best be found on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). Only Realtors have access to the MLS in most parts of the country.  There are other websites and systems that have comparables in some parts of the country, but nothing is like the MLS.  That is where the true sales information lies.  After I purchased my first several homes, I decided that I did not want to wait for or rely on a Realtor to buy and sell my own properties.

Becoming a Realtor, as a real estate investor, will give you many advantages. There are no disadvantages that I know of.  Investors tend to be adamant one way or the other about being a licensed Realtor.   I am definitely on the side of becoming licensed.  Being licensed has been one of the best tools that I have as an investor.  Being licensed allows access to your database of ‘comps’ or comparables.   This is the data you need to buy and sell real estate – with good information.  If you have a great Realtor, or you can get access to the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) without being licensed, great, but I still think it is better to be licensed than not.  I personally like to do my own comparables. (maybe that is the controlling part of me J ).

Some investors say it gives them more liability to be licensed.  I have two answers to that:

1. What are they doing to create liability?
2. Don’t they think a judge is going to consider them as an ‘expert’ when they find that you buy and sell real estate for investment purposes?

Some investors say that sellers won’t sell to you if you are licensed. I find the opposite is true. Most sellers are happy that I am licensed and “know what I am doing”.  If you are licensed you will also get commission on each deal you buy or sell (if it is listed on the MLS). Every office is different on how they split the commissions received by the office.

My recommendation is to GET LICENSED!!!

When becoming a real estate agent you must work directly under a licensed broker. To become a broker, each state has their own requirements.  I have been a broker since 1997.  When you are a broker you can have other Realtors work underneath you, but becoming a broker should not be the “be all end all”, unless you really choose to own a real estate company.  There are many expenses when you own your own office.

As I travel all over the country, I am asked frequently how to locate a good broker.  This is always an important part of working as a licensed Realtor. You will want to work in an office environment that encourages creativity, investing and entrepreneurship. You will also want an office that provides exceptional real estate training.  The company that I have found to be the best overall, in all states, is Keller Williams.  I personally owned 4 real estate offices prior to joining Keller Williams.  I am now an associate broker in a Keller Williams (Keller Williams) office, as well.  Why?  For the above reasons.  Keller Williams has a fantastic training program along with several other key ingredients.  Keller Williams is open and focused on real estate investing and entrepreneurship.  The founder of Keller Williams, Gary Keller, along with Jay Papasan and Dave Jenks, co-authored several books on real estate investing.  I was featured in their book, “Millionaire Real Estate Investor”.  Gary Keller also endorsed my book “Investing in Real Estate with Lease Options and Subject Tos”.  Much of my investing strategies and techniques have personally been focused around working with Realtors. Being part of an office will give you access to listings and relationships with other Realtors.

Keller Williams hosts a radio show on Mondays called “Millionaire Mondays”.  I have been on that show many times now.  Keller Williams is the fastest growing real estate company in the U.S. and they are currently the 4th largest, with over 600 offices.  Gary Keller invented a system that no one else has been able to reproduce.  There are many companies that have tried.  It is essentially a multi-level marketing company. Each person you recruit becomes part of your “downline” and you start to receive a small part of the commissions they earn as well as the ones you earn. It does not matter what office (market center in Keller Williams) they are a part of, you will be rewarded on who they bring in and how much they buy or sell.  It is a fantastic approach to becoming a Realtor which gives incentives for Realtors to recruit other Realtors.

Some of the best advantages to becoming licensed are:

1. The training that comes with becoming a Realtor – especially in Keller Williams
2. Access to the MLS – to get comps
3. Part of the commission on each purchase or sale you make
4. A network of Realtors (many opportunities might come to you before anyone else even knows about them)

I recommend you become licensed and consider Keller Williams as an office for you.  I will gladly sponsor you and also assist you in working as a Realtor.  I can help you get started in the right direction. I have been licensed over 20 years.  Let them know I am your sponsor and we can work together to help you as an investor and also to assist you to recruit other investors (Realtors) in your team.  Please email me to find the closest Keller Williams office to you.  Wendy@WendyPatton.com or call me at 248-394-0767 and I will assist you in making a great choice for your future.