Rental Property Investor · Lawrenceville, GA · Member since 2014 · 32 posts · 12 votes
Has anyone tried out HappyInvestor.com ? They aggregate wholesale deals and private lenders, and use algorithms to find properties that are (supposedly) below market, or have had big price drops. Sounds promising, but they don't let you see much without paying.
Wholesaler · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 3 posts · 15 votes
8y
Hey guys. This is Trent Smith, owner of HappyInvestor.com ... Hopefully I can answer some questions and help in general.
1. The site uses algorithms to estimate ARV.. But there's more to the site than that... The site shows properties that are below County Tax Appraised Value, ones reduced by over 10-20% by the seller, ones that describe the seller as motivated, Pre-foreclosures, and more.. So, the ARV is indeed a value that needs to be double-checked, but there's no motivation to inflate this # since we do not make money when homes are sold.
2. I do about 20-25 deals per year and find many on HappyInvestor.com, so I'm motivated to make the site extremely useful (for my own good).
3. Also, there is a 100% money-back guarantee to protect anyone who doesn't like the site for any reason. We had $0 in credit card disputes last month and are very proud of this. We do have to charge money for the service since we do not make money when a property is sold, and the monthly cost of programmers to run the site is over $20,000.
4. I created the site because I had some of the same complaints you guys had with other services and wanted to make something much better.
5. Also, Steven, the site sorts the homes by price, so sometimes the cheap properties (such as mobile homes) show first. Changing the price filter should help with that. But, LMK if you're still having that problem.
I love feedback and want to keep making the site better!!! So, feel free to ask me any questions. I'll reply as quickly as I can.
We get many emails each month of people making deals on the site, so hopefully that will be the case for you as well.
Real Estate Investor / Joint Venture Specialist. · Crown Point , IN · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 238 votes
9y
Just looking at the site and the numbers for my market which is Northweest Indiana it just doesn't seem like any would work for an investment. But again they don't show addresses unless you pay. Are you looking for properties for flips or rentals?
Investor · New York City, NY · Member since 2015 · 388 posts · 563 votes
9y
@Christopher Silich - haven't tried it. So many of these sites attempt to automate the real estate investing process, or lower the barriers to entry. I wouldn't trust these sites as far as I could throw 'em. If you want a hands-off RE investment, why not try REITs? At least they face SEC and investor scrutiny, if they're publicly traded. Turnkey companies also try to automate the process, but starting from the markups above fair value and ending with the inability to perform magical acts, I think most "turnkey" investors end up with a raw deal.
Rental Property Investor · Lawrenceville, GA · Member since 2014 · 32 posts · 12 votes
9y
Michael Gansberg Good input. I'm just adding to the top of my "deal funnel" in every way I can. I see this more like those lists that wholesalers buy, based on specific criteria, to find distressed homes. Not a magic bullet like the turnkey companies claim to have.
Still hoping to find someone who can say if it's any good on or based on experience.
Investor · Miami, FL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 390 votes
9y
Interesting how would they aggregate this information, what is the equity upside assumption based on. Are these homes just off the MLS? Who is going to manage this home?
Project/Construction Manager · Costa Mesa, CA · Member since 2015 · 11 posts · 1 vote
9y
Im looking at some of the deals they show in CA and they seem a little to good to be true. (the few that aren't mobile homes). Has anyone been able to confirm if these deals are real? I guess its worth a call.
Investor · Spring Valley, CA · Member since 2017 · 1 post · 8 votes
8y
I have tried happy investors and all the investor properties seem to be old and most already renovated and back on the market. I just didn't see any deals for investors or deals worth while.. the rest of the categories just didn't posses any or very little upgrades. it turned out to be a waste of time and money for me.
Wholesaler · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 3 posts · 15 votes
8y
Hey guys. This is Trent Smith, owner of HappyInvestor.com ... Hopefully I can answer some questions and help in general.
1. The site uses algorithms to estimate ARV.. But there's more to the site than that... The site shows properties that are below County Tax Appraised Value, ones reduced by over 10-20% by the seller, ones that describe the seller as motivated, Pre-foreclosures, and more.. So, the ARV is indeed a value that needs to be double-checked, but there's no motivation to inflate this # since we do not make money when homes are sold.
2. I do about 20-25 deals per year and find many on HappyInvestor.com, so I'm motivated to make the site extremely useful (for my own good).
3. Also, there is a 100% money-back guarantee to protect anyone who doesn't like the site for any reason. We had $0 in credit card disputes last month and are very proud of this. We do have to charge money for the service since we do not make money when a property is sold, and the monthly cost of programmers to run the site is over $20,000.
4. I created the site because I had some of the same complaints you guys had with other services and wanted to make something much better.
5. Also, Steven, the site sorts the homes by price, so sometimes the cheap properties (such as mobile homes) show first. Changing the price filter should help with that. But, LMK if you're still having that problem.
I love feedback and want to keep making the site better!!! So, feel free to ask me any questions. I'll reply as quickly as I can.
We get many emails each month of people making deals on the site, so hopefully that will be the case for you as well.
Real Estate Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 10 posts · 8 votes
8y
Trent can you email me actual deals your members have closed through your Home Investors website? I like your website and I would like to gets some deals done. I look forward to your response.
San Antonio, TX · Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
8y
The deals are good, but the properties listed are a bit dated at times. I called the point of contact listed about a few properties, and they had been sold already.
I looked at 8 different properties there are multiple listings that claim to be discounted yet they are right on the market for the "discounted price" and they have never been dropped in price at all as the site claims.
Used it for maybe 15 mins and won't be back. No magic deal machi
Atlanta, GA · Member since 2019 · 1 post · 6 votes
7y
I just had a call with Happy investors to get a customer profile set up and maybe explore funding options. They actually asked me for my credit card numbers in order to do a review for funding. They also wanted the last 4 of my social security number and birth date. That seem to me to be a lot of personal information for a review. I don't trust it. I have no idea how secure their data may be.
Like most of you i came here because I wanted to check the credibility of the site. What i found when i looked into it my self was the following.
1.) The properties are re-posted from other sources such as the zilliow, american tax fund ext.
2.) If you see a property on the website that doesn't have an address just right click the image and select "search image in google" and google will find the original/other pages where the properties are posted.
3.) If your not a real estate agent with access to the MLS this might be a good tool for you as it condenses the information into one website, however websites like zillow do it for free.
4.) What i was hopping, was that it was a wholesaler website where they were posting off market deals. I went through all the properties in my area and they where all on the mls/zillow.
I recently contacted happy investor and before they would tell me whether they could fund me, they want to put me through their "education" training? I'm going to find out if they charge for this service. I told the guy on the phone, I may not know everything, but I am looking for funding, not an education class. I'm going to see what they actually offer.
Total waste of time. They want 4K for education I don’t need.They do not know anything about my market at all. All in all huge waste of my time and my $37.
Rental Property Investor · St. Louis, MO · Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 6 votes
7y
Thanks for all the experiences with Happy Investors, I can always count on Bigger Pockets for the truth about anything/all things real estate! Anytime I get anything regarding real estate investing, I check here for legitimacy and it is guaranteed to be some feedback... Thanks BP!
We just signed up w HappyInvestors and they have been very professional. At first we did not go through the funding process but after speaking w an advisor we decided to do our finance report w them. Yes still a little concerned abt giving them our information but they said it would help us determine what we can afford and they will help us w everything. The advisor we spoke w was very knowledgeable, we are new to real estate and he seemed to want to help us. I hope we didn’t make a mistake! We did have an appt yesterday but my husband had to work late so we rescheduled to this Friday evening. Hoping for the best and praying this isn’t a scam.
Investor · Highland Mills, NY · Member since 2015 · 5 posts · 3 votes
7y
I just signed up for a free trial. I saw some properties that looked promising. Since signing up, I received calls several times per day from one of their reps. I finally answered today. He asked a few questions and wanted to set up my profile. They wanted to use the last four of my SS# as my customer ID. They also asked for my date of birth. I was taken aback and the rep said he would have his manager call to discuss my concerns. I spoke with the manager and mentioned all the data breaches and ID theft. He said that was their policy and nothing was wrong with it. He went on to say that if that made me uncomfortable, then RE was probably not for me because the info is needed for underwriting. I let him know that I have pretty good experience and have no problem giving that info when it is necessary. The fact that he was unable to see the distinction between giving your SS# for a loan and using a part of it for my client ID ticked me off. I'll be cancelling at the end of the trial.
I have been looking at the happy investor site and the appraisal values seem to be off. I have found properties listed with high appraisal values. I did put in the area codes of some of these properties into realtor.com and found properties listed on the Happy Investors site. I then copied the address of these properties off of realtor .com and put it in Zillow to get estimates. Zillow estimates may not be correct but they seem to appraise the value of these homes for what the happy investor sale prices are and not the appraisal prices that appear on the happy investor site.