It can be said in any market though it’s especially true in the current one: we have to be purposeful about finding business. Plano, Texas agent Jessica Maddern has taken this message to heart as she’s grown her business through targeting potential investors. In fact, since she’s intentionally targeted these potential clients, she’s both grown her business and increased the share of investor-related business from 6.5 percent to 23 percent.

How did she do this in such a tough market? Two key tactics: investor seminars and a Best Buys List.

1. Deliver Investment Seminars

Jessica and her team first started hosting seminars based on the book, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor. While these seminars were based on information based on the book, Jessica and her team were able to personalize it by including their own first-hand experiences with investments.

To get the word out about the seminars, they ran Facebook ads and told their database about them. QR codes were utilized as a sign-up mechanism. These seminars were hosted both in their office and simultaneously on Zoom so that more people could attend. They found approximately 35 people were interested and attended. These people became the foundation for their future investor-targeted work.

2. Create a Best Buys List

The next step in Jessica’s investor strategy was to create and distribute a Best Buys list. As she explained, this is a list of homes that are “hidden in plain view.” In other words, these are properties that she and the other agents on her team curate from the MLS that they believe would be great buys for investors.

To introduce the concept of a Best Buy list, she began by sending the list to her whole database. She then used an opt-in to make sure that only those people who were interested in investment opportunities received the list. This audience is small – about 65 people currently receive the list. However, it’s important to note that this specific newsletter has a much higher open rate and double the click-through rate of one of Jessica’s usual newsletters. Not to mention this targeted group of people is responsible for the growth in her business and the share of investor business her team does.

Jessica and her team look for two basic types of properties when searching for potential investment homes: homes in good condition that can be turnkey properties to buy and hold, and homes that may require a bit of work. She also keeps an eye out for properties that are already rentals as the current owners may be looking to move away from being a landlord or property manager. Great investment opportunities in her market tend to have been on the market for more than 30 days and are interested in selling under list price or taking price cuts.

Each home featured in the Best Buys list includes information of interest to a potential investor. For instance, where the home is located, what it could rent for, and why Jessica’s team considers it a good investment buy.

As Jessica shared, sharing a Best Buys list with a small and targeted audience has had several benefits (in addition to the big returns she’s seeing). For instance, it’s started warm conversations with people in their database. She has a reason to reach out and see what peoples’ plans are, talk about their financial interests, and can bring them opportunities when they may not have otherwise known about them. In addition, she’s able to share her own listings in a different light. After all, why wouldn’t you want to position your listings as great buys?