All Forum Posts by: Allen Maris

Hi Scott,

Tons of info on here and online in general about adwords. I'm not an expert so I'll let other people jump in with their tricks. But one thing I've gotten from lots of reading (and some experience) is to go very very slow with google. Start very specific on your keywords and make sure you set a max daily budget. Else you could wake up with a very large spend and not get any leads from it.  

Once you see what's getting traction or giving you poor leads, then you can increase your spend and modify key words to go after your target. 

Allen

Hi Ryan,

I am sort of in that situation, but I have my license now. My take, and I'd love to hear some Broker's opinions, is that even if you are sending out marking in your name, he's still your partner on the transaction so disclosure is required.  
At least in CA, they seem to be tightening the rules up even more with the latest round of laws that just kicked in.

As far as what disclosure to put on the card, I can't answer that since I know nothing of what MO might have in place. His broker should be able to help or contact the MAR legal line, which is what I ended up doing (except CAR of course)

Good luck.

Allen

Hi Chris, I'm doing direct mail and adwords. 

Allen

Thanks, Chris. I haven't had much luck recently at auction. Either bank sets min too high or people come in and pay too much so there's very little room.

Good luck, hope it works out.

Allen

Yes, I'm getting an error message when I tried to PDF it, but it says they've been notified now.

Hi Chris,

Seems your best options are private money (someone you know, family, etc) or hard money lender.  Private is the cheaper option, hard is less cheap. You'll need someone that will move fast since you have a short turn around. 

Good luck!

Allen

Hi David,

Well, the cheapest option aside from a bank is usually private money. Parents, siblings, aunts or uncles, friends, etc. You might be able to find something under 10% and if they know you, then your personal credit might not matter if the numbers work. Just be careful about who you talk to so you don't break any SEC rules about investment solicitations.

Depending on the amount you need, even a credit card might be cheaper if the math works out. Just be cautious of that approach as fees and special deals could expire and you'll be in at 20%+.

Good luck.

Hi Roc,

I've found pretty consistently that most houses purchased from 05 to about early 08 usually are underwater or have a little equity. 

List source has % equity and LTV % parameters but the data doesn't always get reported to them, so take it with a grain of salt, it might not be accurate enough to guarantee anything.

Allen

Hi Aline,

From what I've seen, most gated communities are HOA controlled. I stay away from most HOA's due to fees, assessments and rules unless it's a special circumstance.

The pluses are that usually the houses are maintained better, the bad part is that you can get fined for having a couple weeds in the yard. I know because I've been fined for it. They can also decide to do some major upgrade that could be a huge amount of money you weren't planning for.  

A good property manager should be able to help with maintenance and upkeep and doing inspections. 

Good luck.

Allen

Hi Chris,

Personally, I'm always of the mind to try to get the rental option to work first if it makes sense. I want to accumulate as many properties as I can. That's my strategy of course and your personal desires need to play into this and what your long term goals are.

If it were me, I'd create a spreadsheet with the 3 options. Don't forget to include realtor fees/closing costs for sale option and also to include the refi fees in that option. From what I've found, unless there's a decent interest rate change or you plan to keep the property more than 5 years (give or take of course), refi will end up costing more over the short term. Your mortgage broker can give you that break even point. Also don't forget to include management, vacancies and repair reserves in the options for keeping the property.

The last thing I would think about, is what's the rental market like where you're moving. You may be moving to a weak demand area or an area where you might not be able to cover costs of the mortgage.

Good luck, you have a lot going on.

Best,

Allen