The Move That Turned My Real Estate Hustle into a Scalable Business
- Oct 8
- 2 min read
By Matt Taschner
CEO of SOTA Home Buyers
When I first began SOTA Home Buyers, I was working my butt off but in a loop that was more of a job than a business. I was following up leads, balancing deals, and wearing all the hats-acquisitions, marketing, and paperwork. We were finishing off some lucrative deals, but the growth was excruciatingly slow and burnout was always looming.
My largest strategic step ever, the one that changed everything, was to stop being in the business, and work on the business. In particular, I have made a promise to develop a repeatable lead generation machine based on data-driven marketing and automation.
It began by taking a tough look at my numbers. I followed all the deals over 12 months: the source of the lead, the cost of the lead, and the conversion rate. I found out that only two channels were providing 80 percent of the best deals we were making, but I was wasting time and money on six. The light bulb moment was that I did not require more marketing ideas, I required more concentration and improved implementation of what was already working.
It was executed in three phases:
Doubling Down on What Works
We eliminated the poor performing campaigns. All the marketing dollars were spent on the two channels that had the best ROI; targeted direct mail to the absentee owners and very focused PPC campaigns to the motivated sellers.
The Construction of an Automated Follow-Up Machine
The majority of investors allow leads to go cold after one or two touches. I purchased a CRM that was capable of automated text, email and ringless voicemail follow-ups six months after initial contact. This kept us on the top of the mind and boosted conversion rates by 40%.
Recruitment of Strengths, Not Convenience
I did not hire fast, but rather people who could offload whole functions off my hands. A marketing manager was put in charge of campaigns, an acquisitions manager was put in charge of negotiations and a transaction coordinator was put in charge of streamlining closings.
This left me free to concentrate on strategy and alliances.
The effect was quantifiable and quick. In 18 months:
The conversion of lead to deal improved to 11% up to 6%.
The volume of deals doubled and the expenses did not increase twice.
The ROI of marketing grew by 65%.
I gained 20 hours a week back to work on development rather than grind.
The lesson? Scaling is not about doing more, it is about doing the right things better and creating systems that do not require you. The shift did not only increase our revenue but also provided me with time to work on larger opportunities, such as entering new markets.
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