The answer... without the scenic route
There are two broad paths. On-market deals are publicly listed through a marketplace. Off-market deals begin with direct, respectful contact to an owner who may not be actively selling.
Inside this guide 7 parts
Choose your sourcing lane
There are two broad paths. On-market deals are publicly listed through a marketplace. Off-market deals begin with direct, respectful contact to an owner who may not be actively selling.
Public listings are easier to browse and compare. Direct outreach can produce less competitive conversations, but it takes more time and earns far more "no" responses.
Build a weekly pipeline
Use a simple tracker with columns for source, channel, contact date, asking price, stated profit, normalized profit, status, next action, and rejection reason. Set a weekly review schedule.
A healthy pipeline includes:
- New leads
- Listings awaiting initial review
- Sellers contacted
- Analytics access pending
- Deals in diligence
- Offers made
- Clear passes with documented reasons
The pass column is valuable. It teaches you which red flags keep repeating.
Protect the relationship and the asset
Do not spam owners, scrape private contact details, evade community rules, or imply an affiliation you do not have. Use public business contact routes, personalize the message, and make it easy to decline.
Before you act
More leads do not automatically mean better deals. A disciplined filter beats an overflowing inbox full of assets you cannot operate or afford.
Do this next
Compare the tradeoffs of public marketplaces and direct sourcing before choosing where to start.
Keep these three things
The short version
- On-market and off-market sourcing require different effort.
- Track every lead and every pass so your judgment improves.
- Ethical, relevant outreach protects your reputation and response rate.
How this was made: Adapted from Roman’s channel operating curriculum, expanded for public education, and reviewed against the ChannelFlips editorial policy. Examples are educational, not promises.
Published
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