Residential Real Estate Agent · Mc Keesport, PA · Member since 2012 · 449 posts · 154 votes
13y
I have apprehensions because any system that is made super easy and highly accessible to the general public has the potential to become over-saturated very quickly. As an example, on this program you can target high equity vacant homes and mail the letters with just a credit card and a few mouse clicks. Great right? But how many other people are on their laptop with a credit card doing the same thing? How many other people think this is so great and they're right beside you mailing the same addresses with the same letters? Nobody is able to scrub their list to filter out duplicate addresses, that is, addresses that others in the system have or are about to mail to. It would be fantastic if Kent had incorporated this scrubbing into the system, but no such luck. And, of course, that would cut down on the profits that are being generated from the mailers.
In this business the more work you have to do to get the leads the less competition there is, which equals a higher response and more high-quality deals. Conversely, the easier it is to get the leads the more competition moves in and the effectiveness of that strategy dwindles. The real deals in this program may very well be found in skip tracing the owners of the returned mail. That's additional work, and more work means most others won't do it.
You could approach the lender and ask if they want to sell the note - at a discount of course. Then you could foreclose on the property to gain possession.
Real Estate Agent · Attleboro, MA · Member since 2014 · 91 posts · 15 votes
12y
hello everyone,
I'm a new real estate investor/wholesaler who is new to the business and this website. I was a realtor for a few years in San Diego before moving to Massachusetts. I recently saw the webinar for this software and I'm really on the fence about buying it. I have yet to close my first deal but I have my website, business cards and my LLC ready to go. 995 bucks is a little to steep for me to pay but I would be willing to go half on the price with someone and share it. Does anyone have any recent results or report from using the software? I've been burned a lot over the past few years by real estate "gurus" with courses that didn't work for me and 2014 is my year to finally change my life and hopefully fire my boss one day. Any help and advice would be appreciated.
Specialist · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2014 · 1 post · 1 vote
12y
I haven't heard of it and if I did, why would I pay for something like that when I can do it for the price of gas. I come up on vacant properties just about every day in my RE business. And the only hard part is tracking down the owners. I should be paid by him to put something like this in his data base for it to really work. Based on what every one here has said about vacant homes not being documented. Use that money for gas with the way prices are these days or use it for an EMD or for marketing purposes. Good Luck out there bro.
Real Estate Agent · Attleboro, MA · Member since 2014 · 91 posts · 15 votes
12y
Originally posted by Account Closed:
@Clary C. have you considered just signing up for a monthly package ($97) and giving it a try. Then revisit if $1k is reasonable for unlimited use.
Account Closed I ended up purchasing the course for 995. It seems ok so far. I will post updates to my success rate using this software. FYI if anyone wants to buy a list of motivated sellers in their particular area from this software send me a private message and let's talk.
Multi-family Investor · Charleston, SC · Member since 2010 · 9 posts · 3 votes
12y
I use both the find motivated sellers now and find cash buyers now. While the response rate on the cash buyers is around 3%, the motivated sellers is around 10%. I've had great success using both of these products and made my money back in the first deal plus some. I don't focus on wholesaling that much, so I have been consistently doing 1 to 2 deals a month just to help me buy more rentals. If I ramp it up, I have no doubts it would go great.
Lake Havasu City, AZ · Member since 2014 · 2 posts · 5 votes
12y
Regarding Kent Clothier's "Finder of Vacant Houses" creation, first of all, it is not software, it is a website. You select either your city, state, county or zip code and you get a list of properties that are either owner occupied or vacant. I targeted the so called vacant properties using one of their template letters, and what a big mistake that was. I sent out 1400 letters, received maybe 7 or 8 phone calls, none of which have led to a contract, and received many more calls from very irate people who were hurt and very upset that I had assumed their properties were vacant. I even had one guy screaming at me on the phone, causing me to hang up, and then I received another call from him stating he was filing a complaint with the BBB. So bottom line, tons of letters were returned, very few leads and spent over $700 to send letters, plus the $995 for access to the website. Was it worth it? I'll you, the reader figure that one out. As for me, I am going to other sources to get my leads.
Lake Havasu City, AZ · Member since 2014 · 2 posts · 5 votes
12y
I used Find Motivated Sellers Now to do a mailout to 1400 people over a period of 3 months. I received about 12 phone calls, some who called to voice their anger and discontent that someone could send a letter with the assumption that their house was vacant. The remaining 5 or 6 people that had houses for sale all wanted full price so I did't spend much time with them. So not one deal with 1400 letters. Inaccurate data that I won't use again.
Realtor · Orange, CA · Member since 2014 · 12 posts · 3 votes
12y
Looking at buying this program and just listened to the webinar today. While I don't think this is magic I do think it could be a highly cross-referenced list from many different avenues to create a list of highly probable vacant homes. I don't expect any list to be 100% accurate (nothing ever is) and I don't anticipate every call back being a friendly motivated seller. That being said, I just don't quite understand why the reviews are varying so greatly? Some have posted they are getting no return while others are singing the praises. Just wondering what the gap is here? I would immediately assume that markets are different in different areas of the country however it seems like most who have ordered it are receiving calls but some are closing deal and others say it's a waste of money.
Are there any full time, heavy marketing investors out there that have given this a true test run (25,000+ per month) that can share their results and opinions? We are in a very dense market, many vacant homes, and cover a very large territory (could not be fully covered by driving for dollars) we do this full time and employ a heavy mail marketing campaign. While I appreciate everyone's helpful reviews I am looking to see any results from a high production run from this system.
Flipper/Rehabber · Arlington, TX · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
12y
My guess is you will not find anyone who has done that kind of a test at that volume.
It would cost about $12,500 to mail a postcard to 25,000. $25K to send letters at that volume. Very few investors have that kind of marketing budget for the stuff they KNOW that works. NO ONE in this business is doing $12,500 to $25,000 per month "test runs" of any unproven method.
I did small runs in several markets using the data. None of the calls we got were from owners of vacant houses. A couple of good leads, but again, the whole "vacant" idea did not pan out. Make your own decisions. I think people are giving you pretty loud feedback on this, regardless of their volumes.
Real Estate Investor · OR · Member since 2012 · 390 posts · 133 votes
12y
This program is not going to be any better than buying a GOOD list of out of state owner props. Believe me, you will gets lots of responses from owners of vacant props. Most are pretty motivated.
The main problem with a lot of these vacants is people bought during the bubble and are underwater or were of some fantasy that they didn't need PM so the props are either financially or physically a disaster---or both.
It is not necessary to pay big bucks to buy a system that you can formulate with a bit of elbow grease and a VA. Put your money into mailings. There is no magic bullet
You should properly use the system, which means Skip Trace All Good prospects.
2.Skip trace all those good leads.
3.Call them and Lock it down!!!!
Thanks all
Raphael
Raphael,
I'm assuming "Skip Trace all good prospects" means skip trace vacant properties where owner address is the same as the property address? Or do you mean something else?
What skip trace source do you use? Most I've found want $60+/skip trace. This can get pricey pretty quickly.
Thanks for feedback!
p.s. I just sent out my first mailing with minimal scrubbing. I agree that you should not just take the list as it comes out from your search without doing a good scrub first. I also noticed that several on the list had recently sold, which probably means another investor got to it first. There has to be some latency built in, it can't be spot on up to the minute. I'll see how this mailing goes and report results. Investors in my market are really aggressive, so we'll see. I did check with the mailing company I used they recommended and asked if there were any recent mailings to my area, they said no. Also, I asked if there were any "repeat" mailers in Florida, which could possibly indicate the list was producing and they continued to do mailings. They said no repeat mailers in last 6 months.
Investor · Dearborn, MI · Member since 2014 · 23 posts · 8 votes
11y
I don't know what Kent Clothier's system pulls the vacant property information from but I get the USPS vacant property list and match it up with the county property ownership records. I delete any records that doesn't have a separate tax billing address and mail to the rest... It's like driving for dollars without all the driving.
Real Estate Investor · Apopka, FL · Member since 2013 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
I don't know what Kent Clothier's system pulls the vacant property information from but I get the USPS vacant property list and match it up with the county property ownership records. I delete any records that doesn't have a separate tax billing address and mail to the rest... It's like driving for dollars without all the driving.
Just curious, but how are you getting the USPS vacant property list? I havent been able find that anywhere...
Rancho Cucamonga, CA · Member since 2014 · 4 posts · 0 votes
11y
@Jason Willis , do you think he meant to say absentee owner? I've noticed many people call them vacant when they are absentee owner. To me "Vacant" means no one occupies the house it's either abandoned or it's sitting empty with no one living in it. I've bought vacant home data in the past and come to find out it was just absentee owners, which I could have pulled myself through my title co. I've been thinking about trying out Kent Clothiers system. Any updates on this system would be appreciated.