What is driving for dollars in real estate?
Driving for dollars means driving or walking neighborhoods to spot houses that look neglected or vacant, then finding the owner and asking whether they want to sell. Owners of these houses are often motivated and may not be reached by other marketing yet.
Each house you note becomes a lead: look up the owner, how long they have owned it, the equity and any liens, then find a phone number or mailing address. Long ownership and high equity usually mean more room to agree on a price.
Driving costs time and gas instead of list fees, and it works best in neighborhoods you know. Reach out the way you would any lead, by letter, or by phone or text where the rules allow, and follow up on a schedule.
Signs a house may be a lead
- Overgrown yard, piled-up mail or newspapers
- Boarded or broken windows, or a tarp on the roof
- Code-violation or utility shut-off notices
- A vacant look: no curtains, no cars, no lights for weeks
- An old vehicle or trash left in the driveway
More questions
Is driving for dollars worth it?
It can be, because you find owners other wholesalers may not have mailed yet and you see the condition yourself. It takes time, so pick a few neighborhoods with older homes and long-time owners and go back on a schedule.
What do you do after you find a house?
Look up the owner, equity and liens, find contact details with a skip trace, and reach out by letter or phone. Save the house as a lead with a photo and a follow-up date so it doesn’t get lost.