Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeremy Brandt.
Hi Jeremy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My entrepreneurial journey started at the intersection of technology, marketing, and real estate.
Before I started REILeads.com, I was an internet architect building dot-com startups for a large global consulting company. When the dot-com bust happened, I started flipping houses and applied what I knew best – the internet, SEO, paid search, conversion strategy, and online marketing to attract homeowners looking to sell for cash to a real estate investor.
At the time, almost no real estate investors were marketing to sellers online. Google Search was still new, Facebook did not exist, Bing did not exist, and pay-per-click traffic could cost as little as three cents per click. Because there was so little competition, we quickly ranked at the top of Google for nearly every important motivated home seller keyword.
As things took off, homeowners from all over the country were contacting us, looking for a faster and easier way to sell their houses. The problem was, we could not buy every house ourselves, and we certainly were not going to fly around the country making offers in every market.
That became the “aha” moment for REI Leads.
Instead of trying to buy every property ourselves, we started connecting motivated home sellers directly with serious local real estate investors who could help them. Rather than taking a percentage of the deal, we charged investors a marketing fee for exclusive seller leads. That model took off quickly and we became the first company ever to do pay-per-lead marketing in the residential real estate investor market.
Over the years, online marketing has become much more complex, competitive, and expensive. But because we have been in the space for 25 years, we have the data, systems, experience, and scale to keep evolving. Today, through REI Leads and WeBuyHouses.com, we help real estate investors and home-buying companies connect with motivated sellers across the country.
Over the years we’ve helped over 4 million home sellers connect with a buyer.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve been nearly bankrupt multiple times over the years.
During the 2008 housing crisis we lost half our customers and nearly went out of business (all our competitors did go out of business). I had to lay off all our employees and shut down the office space in order to keep the business going as I restructured it for where the market was.
The silver lining to the crisis was the media wanted to talk about housing every day, so I was interviewed multiple times on CNBC, FOX News, CNN, the WSJ, USA Today, the AP, and hundreds of other outlets across the country.
As you know, we’re big fans of REI Leads. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We have two amazing businesses focused on helping residential real estate investors grow.
REI Leads is a lead generation company that sells exclusive motivated home seller leads to house flippers, real estate brokers, and other real estate professionals on a pay-per-lead basis. Founded over two decades ago, REI Leads is the longest running company of its type and invented the pay-per-lead business for investors. We use AI tools to vet home sellers so we match each person with the right local home buyer and connect sellers and buyers within 2 seconds. All leads come with an iron-clad 100% guarantee.
WeBuyHouses.com is the most well known consumer brand in cash home buying. We license the WeBuyHouses.com brand to locally owned and operated offices run by experienced, professional home buyers. Our licensees operate under the WeBuyHouses.com brand, and we provide support, systems, and marketing (TV commercials, radio spots, direct mail, paid search, SEO, etc) along with an annual mastermind meeting where licensees get together in person and share what’s working.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is building something that lasts. A long-term enduring business that is rooted in trust, integrity, and providing real value to the people and companies we serve.
We believe real estate investors are the backbone of America, cleaning up run-down communities, increasing property values, and helping people out in tough situations.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://reileads.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rei.leads/
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jeremybrandt
- Twitter: https://x.com/jeremybrandt
- Other: https://webuyhouses.com
