All Forum Posts by: Bill Bodziak

Great idea with the movie nights, Colin! Congrats on the turnout. I have been using Zillow for about 4 months now. I spend about $100 per month in a solid community that borders a college town, high income city and low income city.

I typically get 3-4 call per week and have converted 3 into clients, one being an investor---so is it worth it? YES.

I get a lot of calls from first time home buyers, which I don't mind because they are fantastic referral bases to all their peers.  

Zillow charges on how many impressions you get. Since, there are 3-4 other realtors sharing the space on the page I show up in about 1 in 4 property searches in that city (about 5,000 out of 23,000 impressions).  

I have a great Zillow who rep who keeps me posted on where I stand on various waiting lists and will maximize your marketing $$$. Let me know if you would like his info.

@Qulia Brunson @Colin Smith

Keep us posted with those movie nights! I might give that a shot. Thanks for sharing!

Welcome!

Check out the podcasts. They are a great stress reliever and information resource when you get stuck on route 8 or a bridge for an hour ;)

Good luck and keep us posted!

Hi Michael,

Specifically where in Detroit/Metro do you want to live?

Avoid marketing to any specific current listing...period. Ethics complaints from competing brokers will be a huge headache and could be very costly. Many agents target expired listings, good luck!

Contact a motivated Realtor and share your goals. Maybe they will spend the afternoon with you looking at homes for lease and then they can pitch the lease option to the seller.

It sounds like you are definitely getting attached to some of these houses. With the funds you have on hand in a hot DC suburb market I would search for a motivated seller and offer to buy their property on a lease option. No need to get another investor involved, unless you must have that must have house.

Good luck!

Hi Lambert,

Welcome to BP. Check out the podcasts! There is one or two that focus on mobile home investing.

Good luck and keep us posted with your progress!

Hi Stephanie,

I have wondered the same thing over and over and I think it is a legitimate concern for fix/flippers. I attended an investor meeting last year and a speaker made a good point about market cycles. We looked at some data showing real estate following the stock market by a couple years. It was determined that, historically, when the stock market gets shaky many investors take their funds out put them into more tangible assets like real estate causing less supply in the housing market, causing a bubble.

Who knows? Banks are still holding inventory of foreclosures so I think it really hard to determine the near future in today's economy.

Stick to the strategy....buy at a huge discount and make sure that a plan B rental will cover your costs. If we do have bubble burst more people will need to rent.....right?

@Rob Beland

Geez Rob, little harsh eh?  @Karen Dayley Just make a quick call to a real estate attorney who can give you good advice, without being demeaning.

Good Luck!

Hi Dennis,

I have a few Coldwell Banker agents that can help you in Fairfax/Vienna. I know the market is competitive there, my sister recently purchased in Vienna. PM me or give me a ring if you would like a great agent to help in your journey.