The 15-Point Wholesale Deal Marketing Checklist

1. Lock in your numbers. Run your ARV analysis with at least 3 comparable sales within 0.5 miles and 6 months. Calculate repair estimates for flip, rental, and wholesale exit strategies. Know your MAO and your asking price before showing the deal to anyone. Buyers smell uncertainty.

2. Set your asking price strategically. Your asking price should leave enough room for the buyer to profit while covering your assignment fee. Use the formula: Asking Price = Contract Price + Assignment Fee. Make sure the spread between asking price and ARV is attractive enough for your target buyer type. See our guide on pricing wholesale deals.

3. Get photos. Real photos. Google Street View is a fallback, not a strategy. Walk the property and take photos of every room, the exterior from multiple angles, any major damage, and any positive features (new roof, large yard, corner lot). A phone camera is fine. 15-25 photos is the sweet spot.

4. Verify the title situation. Before spending time and money marketing, confirm there are no liens, code violations, or title defects that would kill the deal. A title search costs $75-$150 and saves you from marketing a deal that cannot close.

5. Create a deal page. Every deal should have its own shareable URL with photos, property specs, pricing, comp analysis, and an offer submission form. This is your deal's landing page. If a buyer has to email you back asking for basic information, you have already lost their attention. Deal Run creates these automatically from your deal data.

6. Write a deal description. Two to three sentences that highlight the opportunity: location, condition, upside, and why this deal makes sense. Do not use hype language ("AMAZING DEAL!!!"). State the facts. "3/2 in Oak Forest, needs cosmetic renovation, ARV $285K based on three comps within 0.3 miles, asking $175K." Facts sell deals. Exclamation points do not.

7. Prepare both flip and rental analysis. You do not know which buyer type will bite first. A flipper needs to see ARV and projected profit. A landlord needs to see rent estimates and cash flow. Present both in your marketing package so every buyer type can evaluate the deal through their own lens.

8. Run a fresh investor search. Do not blast a generic buyer list. Run a targeted search for landlords and flippers within 1 mile of the property. Focus on investors who have transacted within the last 2 years. These are your highest-probability buyers.

9. Skip trace your top prospects. Trace the top 30-50 investors from your search. Prioritize by proximity and transaction recency. Verify emails before blasting to protect your sender reputation. Check phone types so you know who to text vs call.

10. Send the email blast. Subject line: property address and one key metric. Body: 3-5 sentences with asking price, ARV or rent, repair estimate, and a link to the deal page. Include one photo. Send between 9 AM and 11 AM on Tuesday through Thursday for the best open rates. See our email templates.

11. Send SMS to high-priority prospects. Text your top 10-15 prospects — the investors closest to the deal with the most recent activity. Keep the message under 160 characters: address, asking price, key number, and deal page link. Respect TCPA — do not text DNC numbers or known litigators.

12. Follow up at 24 hours. Send a second email to everyone who did not open the first one. Change the subject line. Add a new detail or angle: rental analysis if you led with flip, or a specific comp if you led with summary numbers.

13. Call your warm leads. Anyone who opened the email, clicked the deal page link, or responded to your text gets a phone call within 4 hours. These are active signals. Strike while the interest is warm.

14. Schedule walkthroughs efficiently. Batch walkthroughs into a single day if possible. "I have three investors walking the property Saturday between 10 and 2" creates social proof and urgency. Always accompany walkthrough requests with the deal page link so the investor has full information before arriving.

15. Track everything. For every deal, record: emails sent, open rate, click rate, responses received, walkthroughs scheduled, offers submitted, and final sale price. This data tells you what is working and what is not. If your open rate is below 20%, your subject lines need work. If your click rate is high but offer rate is low, your pricing may be off.