What's the product? How to describe your sourcing business in one sentence
The question I ask most often on mentoring calls is the shortest one: what's the product?
Most sourcers answer with a paragraph. They do BTLs, some HMOs, a bit of rent-to-rent, maybe a flip if one comes up, and they're "looking at" social housing. They can find anything an investor wants.
That's the problem. An investor can't buy "anything". They can only say yes or no to something specific.
Investors buy a product, not a property
When an investor sends you money, they aren't buying bricks. They're buying an outcome they can picture: this much in, this much out, this much work for them. That's a product.
A property is one example of the product. The product is the thing you deliver again and again.
If you can't describe it in one sentence with numbers in it, the investor has to do the thinking for you. Most won't. They'll go quiet, or ask you to "send over whatever you've got", which is the polite way of saying they don't know what you sell either.
What a one-sentence product looks like
Here are three, in the style I use:
"Two-bed terraced houses with two reception rooms, one turned into a bedroom, fire safety added, leased to a social housing provider for five years. Light refurb. Around 9% yield, with the lease rent guaranteed for the term."
"Five-bed HMOs leased to a provider, refurb budget agreed up front, rent and return shown before you commit."
"Buy-to-lets in Manchester and Liverpool at 6–10%. If that's not your thing, I'm not your guy."
Notice what they have in common:
One type of property. Not three.
One place, or a short list of places.
Numbers. A yield, a rent, a refurb range. Real ones from deals you've done or can do.
A clear edge. Leased, refurbished, hands-off. The reason it's yours and not anyone else's.
The last one is the most honest sentence a sourcer can say. It tells the wrong investors to leave, which saves you weeks.
The test: is it a yes/no question?
Read your sentence to someone who invests. If their answer is "yes, that's me" or "no, not for me", you've got a product.
If their answer is "tell me more" or "what sort of returns?", you haven't. Something they need to decide is missing, usually the number or the place.
This is uncomfortable at first. A sharp product turns some people away. But an investor who says no in ten seconds hasn't cost you a viewing, a spreadsheet and three follow-up calls.
How to find yours
You probably already have it. It's hidden in the deals you've done.
List your last ten deals, or the last ten you seriously worked on. Type, area, price, refurb, rent, yield.
Circle the ones that went smoothly. Not the biggest. The ones where the investor said yes quickly and completion didn't turn into a fight.
Look for the pattern. Same house type? Same area? Same budget? That's your product.
Write it as one sentence with the numbers from those deals in it.
Test it on five investors this week. Count the yes/no answers against the "tell me mores".
If the circled deals don't have a pattern, that's useful too. It means you've been taking whatever comes, and the first job is to pick one lane and stay in it for a few months.
What a product changes in your week
Once you have one sentence, a lot of decisions make themselves.
Viewings: if the house doesn't fit the product, you don't go. "I only leave the house if it's a slam dunk."
Agents: you can tell them exactly what you want, so they think of you when it comes in.
Marketing: every post, advert and forum listing says the same thing, so people remember it.
Investors: you stop building bespoke searches for people who haven't bought anything yet.
The honest downside: a narrow product can feel like you're leaving money on the table. Sometimes you will. But one deal a month on a product you can repeat is a business. Five different strategies that each happen once a year isn't.
Frequently asked questions
Can I have more than one product?
Eventually, yes. Get one working first, so investors know you for something. Add a second only when the first runs without you thinking about it.
What if the numbers in my sentence change?
Change the sentence. Markets move, and rents and prices with them. Check your numbers against your last few deals every quarter.
Does this apply to landlords building their own portfolio?
Yes. The product is what you buy. One type of house, in one area, at one target return makes every viewing a quick yes or no.
Free workbook: write your one-sentence product
I've put the whole exercise into a four-page workbook: the rule, three example sentences, a fill-in builder, the five-investor test, a score for your last five deals and a 30-day commitment.
Get the one-sentence product workbook (PDF). It's free: leave your first name and email, and it opens straight away.
Want a second pair of eyes on yours?
This is the first thing we work on in mentoring. In the first month we look at your deals, find the product and write the sentence together.
If you're already doing deals and want to sharpen what you sell, book a mentoring call. It's a one-hour video call, and by the end we'll both know whether mentoring is the right fit.
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