Not too long ago I was talking to the son of a friend. The kid, just out of college, was looking to get into real estate investing. He had always been good with fixing things and seemed to have a real mind for business. So we were talking about lead generation and the subject of how to find motivated sellers on Facebook came up.

This was a really interesting area of conversation because we were both pretty skeptical about it. I had assumed that he would be all about using Facebook, but he admitted he thought it was clunky, a little out-of-date, and hard to use. I still think of Facebook as being really new, but he thinks of it as pretty old-fashioned, which I suppose makes me a dinosaur.

The thing is, I’ve used Facebook for lead generation. Like with everything else on social media, there are pluses and minuses. You can find motivated sellers, and it truly has had a transformational impact on the industry. If you know how to use it, it can be a good tool in your toolbelt.

How To Find Motivated Sellers on Facebook

There’s no one right way to use Facebook as a lead generation tool. There are a lot of options, from the orthodox ones to the more…creative approaches. Which of these you use, or don’t use, is up to you. Like I told my friend’s son, all tools have their use, but not every tool is the right one for every job. Here are a range of ideas for how to find motivated sellers on Facebook.

Buy Paid Advertisements

This is the most straightforward one. Create an ad and pay to promote it. Facebook, through their algorithms, knows which individuals and groups to target. They know how to find people selling their homes. Those people will see your ads.

To do this right, be prepared to do a lot of A/B testing. You’ll want to tinker with your ad over multiple iterations in order to determine what is working and what isn’t. It’s possible that just cutting five seconds from the video will help. Maybe changing the wording at the top will drive more engagement. You won’t know what works until you test, see your analytics, and test again.

Make Helpful Videos

Remember, you don’t just have to make ads about your business. Another strategy is to advertise your business by demonstrating your expertise in ways that are helpful to the viewer. For instance, if you are targeting distressed homeowners looking to sell, make a video debunking home seller myths about selling on their own. Show how they can save themselves money and stress.

If they ‘Like’ or comment, they are a potential lead. They might call you or you might message them, but either way, you have established at least some trust. You can promote this video the same way you would any other ad, targeting as broad a collection of people as possible.

Search for Specific Keywords

This is Facebook 101. Looking for specific keywords like “distressed homes” or “need to sell” or “how to sell my home” “home sellers New England” will get you to people who are searching for the same things. It can help you find the right groups that people are joining. That’s a lead, though it is essentially cold-calling.

Join Buyer/Seller Groups

There are hundreds and hundreds of Facebook groups dedicated to home buying and selling. These can be very regionally-specific or broad in their focus. But, joining these groups lets you see who is selling and when. They can offer tips and advice on how to get leads. They can give you a sense of market trends. You’ll interact with peers and with sellers.

The problem is that everyone is on these groups. Your peers are looking for the same things you are. Every lead is seen by everyone in the group. The idea of exclusivity is a myth. Open media means open markets, and that means more and more competition.

Have a Successful Feed

How do you achieve a successful Facebook feed? Basically, by doing all of the above. Promote your videos so people ‘Like’ you and ‘Follow’ you. Be helpful. Give advice. Create content that people want to share. The more you are shared, the more people see you in their feeds, and the more you are shared, and so on.

This is probably the best way: be helpful and interesting enough that you are able to be promoted and passed around without having to pay. That takes serious time, and initial investment in promoting yourself, and honestly a substantial amount of luck, but it can be done.

The Problem With Facebook and a Better Way to Get Leads

The main problem with all of these is that they have a not-insubstantial investment of time and money—and carry a lot of risk. You have to somehow cut through all the noise and be the feed that people want to see. And, you may not have the time to devote to killer content. You might not have the budget for video. Or, you may not be an expert on SEO.

I’m not. That’s why I’ve moved away from Facebook and get my leads as an independently owned and operated HomeVestors® franchisee. Homeowners who are looking to sell call the people with the strong, national brand “We Buy Ugly Houses®” ads. After all, they’ve been seeing them since 1996. When I get these qualified leads, I can go directly to inspect the house and make an offer.

Not depending on Facebook to get leads means there’s no noise you have to compete with. There’s no chance someone is going to scroll past you to watch a cat video. And, your Facebook feed will not somehow degenerate into a really angry discussion on whether the world is flat. It’s just qualified leads from motivated sellers, delivered right to you.

If that sounds interesting, call HomeVestors® to request more information today. It’s a much more personal experience than social media alone.

Each franchise office is independently owned and operated.