Jake Burhans defines a qualified lead in real estate wholesaling as a seller willing to accept a lower price in exchange for speed and convenience. The wholesaler's value is solving a problem the MLS can't: closing fast without hassle. Without that problem, the seller just lists for full price and there's no deal.
It's important to understand what a qualified lead is in real estate wholesaling or off-market acquisitions. Someone who is willing to trade price for speed and convenience. It's really that simple. How does a business make money? Any business? There is a value exchange. What is our value? Our value is speed and convenience. What does the seller give us back? A discounted asking price. That's how we make money. So in order for us to be able to make money, there needs to be an opportunity for us to provide value, which means the seller must have a problem. That is the underlying tenet here to a qualified opportunity. The seller has a problem that is not solved by listing it on the market. That's the thing, because if people are just looking for price, they go list it on the market. But if they have a problem that is not solved by listing it, right, they need it done quicker or more conveniently than the MLS route allows. That's where we come into the situation. That's where we have an opportunity to provide value and thus make money. Or you don't get something from nothing, right? Unless you're stealing. So understand that we need to be able to provide value, which is speed and convenience. And in return, the seller gives us a discounted asking price. So look for those problems.
