Guide
How does a Deal Acquisition tool score incoming deals against a buy box?
A Deal Acquisition tool underwrites MLS and off-market deals against your buy box and stages them from new to in review to under contract. You only spend time on the ones worth pursuing.
Most incoming deals die in a spreadsheet. A VA screens one listing at a time. The numbers get typed in after the fact. By the time a property is worth a look, it is often gone.
What does the buy box do?
The buy box is the rule set you already use to say yes or no: price, beds, location, rent-by-room spread, and whatever else you will not break. The Deal Acquisition tool applies that box to every new MLS and off-market lead before you open the property.
| Before | After a Deal Acquisition tool |
|---|---|
| A VA screens listings one at a time in a spreadsheet | Scoring and underwriting sit on the deal before you open it |
| MLS and off-market leads live in different inboxes | Both land in one pipeline |
| Status is a note, or nothing | Staged new, in review, or under contract |
Try the live demo - a sample pipeline of Zillow and Redfin listings, each scored against a buy box.
Has this been used on real deals?
Yes. A Deal Acquisition tool built for a coliving real estate investor, Christian F., put a Georgia property under contract, with a second offer out. The work it replaced was a VA screening deals one at a time in a spreadsheet.
Is this software you can buy, or a custom build?
It is a custom build. The buy box is yours. PillowMarkets is the self-serve tool for comparing markets before you buy. A Deal Acquisition tool is for investors who already have incoming deals and need them scored against their own rules.
Related: What a custom build is · PillowMarkets · All guides