Last post I talked about my first customers, the sellers and their needs. Now lets discuss what a buyer will need. Without the buyer I might as well be buying tires with no car.

Buyers Needs

I will have several types of buyers, jut like I will work with several types of sellers. Each of their needs can be vastly different, but they all need a house or home.

• Homeowners;  These folks will be looking for a property in move in condition.
• Landlords;  Will be looking for properties that will provide positive cashflow or extreme appreciation potential.
• Rehabbers; Are looking for a home that they can rehab and sell for a profit.
• Wholesalers; Will be looking for a property they can make a profit off of by selling to one off the above three.

I can fill the needs of all four.  Filling all the buyers needs will depend greatly on the house, location, profit potential and purchase price.

• Homeowners needs can be filled by providing two types of properties.  One that is turn key ready and one they can build their own sweat equity.  The turn key ready folks will be very particular on the house they want.  I need to provide them with a good deal based on market conditions.  This will often mean a house that is 100% up to date, move in ready, and in a desired location for the price.  The price will always be a key factor, but I want to sell properties very quickly and will therefor provide the best property for that price in that area.

The sweat equity folks will be less particular on area (although still important) and more particular on their potential upside for fixing the property themselves.  These will be tricky, but I want to make a spot for them.  I will need to provide them a house that still qualifies for financing and provide them a way to pay for the fixup costs without having to tread water.  This means working with local banks on home repair loans and mortgages.  I think there are many folks very interested in flipping.  Why not make your first home your flip while you learn the ins and outs.  I will have to do some hand holding here.  Thats okay, these folks can also be future buyers.  Especially if I can make them money.

• Landlords will need to cashflow their properties.  Landlords will want to buy a property with very little cash out of pocket and have a property that cashflows for them.  Having 2 rental properties myself, I understand that the costs without debt service can exceed 35-40% of the gross income.  That means they will need to be able to service the debt for less then 50% of the properties income.  This provides an upside of 10-15% cashflow.    There are several options to make this work.  Again I will need to work with local banks for financing options.  This is one area, I need to do some more brainstorming.

• Reahabbers are looking to rehab a property and make at least $15000 after expenses on the flip.   I will need to account for all the rehabbers expenses, their profit and my profit in order to sell to them.   I also need to look at who they are trying to sell to.  I know in my market their are plenty of rehabbers and not enough good deals.  If I can find them a deal that makes money, I am sure to have repeat business.

• Wholesalers need to make their profit while still providing a profit to their customers.  This one sounds trickier and more complicated, but can be the easiest person to sell to.  Its simple, I don’t sell to them, I work with them.  They have a buyer lines up and we can do a joint venture.  Or they can bird dog the buyer and make a commission.  Either way.  If I can sell a property quickly, I will not hesitate to sell this way.  Many folks have much better lists then me.  Plus, I will be working all over the county, I need folks that know buyers in their little pocket neighborhoods.

Whomever I sell to, its obvious I need to help them get a good deal.  They will come back for more and refer me to all their friends if I do the job right.  The needs for each are specific, but they all fall into the broad category.