When I first started buying real estate 15 years ago, marketing was about the last thing on my mind. Over the years as my portfolio grew, I began to notice an underlying trend in those that were very successful in this business and those that were simply mediocre or not successful at all. The difference was an understanding of the importance of marketing, how to use it effectively, and the confidence that comes from it.

Successful real estate investors have learned how to market… either intentionally or by the experience of trial and error. This skill (and it can be learned) often makes the difference between those that are tremendously wealthy and those that simply get by.

Several years ago I had purchased 5 properties at some very good prices. I was in “buying mode” and these deals happened fairly quickly in a period of about 60 days. I began thinking that I was really getting somewhere because I had so much “inventory” in my possession. Over the next two months, that feeling was rapidly being replaced by fear. You see, I had no intention of keeping the properties as rentals. I simply wanted them sold as I had most of my money tied up in them. There were holding costs, some fix-up costs, and maybe most importantly…marketing costs.

It was almost funny as I look back. I didn’t think a whole lot about paying the mortgage on the property for $1,250 or the carpet guy to go in for $1,000 or the painter $600. What was bothering me way paying the newspaper about $150 per ad for something that was definitely NOT working.

It was one of those times in my area late in the year when it rains a lot and it had been raining now off and on for about two months. My properties were not selling, Christmas was coming, and every day I shelled out another check on these properties I began to question why the heck I ever thought I could be a real estate investor. If the phone would just ring a little more often, maybe I could get through this period. As the days progressed the questions came more and more often and sleep was becoming a problem. Why had I bought 5 houses anyway? Who did I think I was? Why would anyone want to buy these houses anyway? Would I ever get them sold?

I remember repeating to myself over and over these three words “They will sell,” “They will sell,” “They will sell.”

Sure, I had been to the seminars, owned a bunch of courses, and was pretty good about getting leads and buying properties. I remember the instructors telling me “you make money when you buy” and while that’s definitely true, unfortunately you don’t put a check in your pocket until they sell.

So, I devoted myself to learning more about how to get these properties sold. I had to rapidly switch to “selling mode” and really work on my skills in this area. As I read more and more, I realized that marketing applied to generating leads and selling property equally. I had to put more “lines in the water” so to speak to get these properties sold. In short…I had to become “active”.

My ad in the paper was a “passive” form of marketing. I was hoping that someone who wanted a property would see it, call me immediately, and demand to see it with a fistful of dollars ready to buy. Since this was obviously not working, I had to do something different.

I began thinking about ways to become “active” in getting these properties sold and got some ideas from some more experienced people I knew and some things that I had read. The telephone all of a sudden became my best friend. To begin with, I sat down and called all the investors I knew (which weren’t as many as should have known) and told them about the properties. I offered them a quick $1,000 if they referred someone to me who was interested in one of them. I then picked up the phone and began calling real estate agents and offering them the same deal. I called every agent I knew and then began calling agents I didn’t know. Then I went to my local real estate investors group passed out some flyers with the same message and collected every name and card I could find. I called all of these people too and then called some more agents I found in the phone book.

I vowed to myself that I would make at least 25 calls to new people each day until something began to happen. The ideas started to come faster at this point. I then called all of the people I had sold homes to in the past and asked if they had a friend or a relative that was looking for a home and offered them they same referral fee.

After a week of calling things began to happen…three real estate agents called referring people who had less than perfect credit. Great! I was advertising this wasn’t I? Two investors called to refer a few people who wanted homes they did not have. I promised to help them in the future if they needed it. I sold the first home in the middle of the second week and something almost magical happened…my confidence improved. I kept calling people the whole time and sold two the following week and the final two the week after that. I was on “Cloud Nine” at this point! I had sold all of the homes and four of them had come from referrals for which I happily paid $4,000. My ads which had been running for over 14 weeks had cost me almost half that!

Something strange happened after I sold all of the homes. People were still calling and asking if I had a home to sell. Talk about a confidence booster!

After this experience, I continued to study marketing more and more. I learned how it applies to generating leads and making sales. I continue to be a student of marketing today. Sure…I buy houses…but I never forget that I also “Sell Houses!”