Steve Keighery
Steve Keighery has been a guest on Collecting Keys, the real estate investing podcast hosted by Mike DeHaan, Dan Austin and Dylan Koch.
Developing Sales and Marketing Expertise to Become a Wholesaling Master with Steve Keighery
Steve Keighery moved from Sydney to New Orleans and built a wholesaling business by applying the sales and marketing skills he developed running a tech company he took public in Australia. He walks through his lean team structure (one US-based acquisitions person, a VA for comps, a per-inspection realtor), his 65% of ARV minus repairs offer formula, and how he built a buyers list by networking, buying a database from another wholesaler and swapping lists with investors in other markets. He also explains why he leans on SEO, paid search and branded video content rather than texting or mail.
Key takeaways
- One buyer is not the market — passing on deals because they don't fit a single buyer's box costs you deals; build a range of buyers (landlords, flippers, high-end, lease option) so any deal with workable numbers can move.
- Ways to build a buyers list fast: attend and help run local meetups, buy a database from a wholesaler who needs cash, and swap de-duped lists with wholesalers in adjacent markets (he swapped New Orleans for Baton Rouge).
- His process: acquisitions rep takes the call and gets the story and price, a Philippines-based VA pulls comps into a spreadsheet, Steve sets max offer at 65% of ARV minus repairs (down from 70% a few months prior), and only sends an inspector (who is also an agent and pulls a second CMA) if the seller is at or within roughly $5K of the number.
- He pays his acquisitions person a base plus commission on assignment fees and on kept deals, so she isn't stressed and can play the neutral middle person rather than the one writing the check.