All Forum Posts by: Braden Smith

I'm a bit confused with your statement. With 203k loans, the contractor must be a licensed GC and approved by the lender. The funds from the loan are then disbursed by the lender in draws as the project progresses and inspections are passed. How did you pay the contractor directly rather than it going through the lender?

The most common place to get marketing lists is Listsource, but 400 is not nearly enough. Direct mail has a response rate of 1-3%, but in highly competitive markets it is often less than 1%. For just 400 mailers you would be lucky to get 2-4 responses. Direct mail requires volume and consistency. You must mail a large volume on a consistent basis, such as one piece per month for 6 months. 

Hi @Ashley Vranek. I am both an investor and managing partner of a local real estate brokerage in New Orleans. I've been in the REI game for about 10 years and licensed for about 8 years. Metairie has areas that are better than others so you can't lump all of Metairie into one when discussing the market, but overall the market in Metairie is very active as is the rest of the Greater New Orleans area.

I live in Metairie and my office is in Metairie. The market is on fire in Metairie and everything is selling for top dollar. For example, I just got an appraisal on my house for a line of credit I am getting and my value came back at $264/sqft which is up about $54/sqft from just two years ago when I renovated it. That's an insane level of appreciation! 

I agree with @Stephen Keighery and would caution you about buying now and only holding for 3-5 years as the current market values are inflated due to extremely high demand and very low supply. 

See below for some stats on Metairie: 

(These charts are for all dwelling types over the last 3 years)

Due to much more government scrutiny there are additional regulations that are coming out later this year that will make SMS & RVM marketing increasingly difficult and much more risky.

Check this out: The Advent of 10DLC & What it Means For Real Estate Investors

Also, have you noticed that caller ID on your cell phone is now showing names of people not saved in your phone? The cell phone carriers are taking proactive measures to comply with the STIR/SHAKEN protocol that they are required to implement by June 30, 2021.

See here: FCC to require phone carriers to authenticate calls by 2021

If you use something like Callrail for tracking purposes and use their numbers for cold calling they are now showing up as "Spam Risk" on caller ID which has dropped the contact rate significantly.

You can rotate numbers about every 30 days and that can help, but it seems that soon the only viable marketing channels will be SEO, PPC, internet marketing and direct mail.

What are your thoughts on the future of REI marketing?

@Travis Steinemann Due to much more government scrutiny there are additional regulations that are coming out later this year that will make SMS & RVM marketing increasingly difficult and much more risky.

Check this out:  The Advent of 10DLC & What it Means For Real Estate Investors

Also, have you noticed that caller ID on your cell phone is now showing names of people not saved in your phone? The cell phone carriers are taking proactive measures to comply with the STIR/SHAKEN protocol that they are required to implement by June 30, 2021. 

See here:  FCC to require phone carriers to authenticate calls by 2021

If you use something like Callrail for tracking purposes and use their numbers for cold calling they are now showing up as "Spam Risk" on caller ID which has dropped the contact rate significantly. 

You can rotate numbers about every 30 days and that can help, but it seems that soon the only viable marketing channels will be SEO, PPC, internet marketing and direct mail.

Hi @Austin Ashcraft. I own both a real estate investment company and a local real estate brokerage here in New Orleans. I can recommend someone for you depending on the property and what all you are looking to get done. I work with a few different contractors and each has their own area of expertise. 

Hi @Garth Aaron Presgrave. Welcome to BP!

I am both an investor and managing partner of a local real estate brokerage in New Orleans. I've been in the REI game for about 10 years and licensed for about 8 years. You've come to the right place to learn anything and everything about real estate investing.

Be sure to check out the "education" tab at the top. Lots of great resources there. A good place to start is with the free guides, such as "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide To Real Estate Investing". The bookstore has some great books and the podcast is full of valuable information.

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users

Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

Check out BP Podcasts: https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast

See here for the Guides: BP Guides

See here for the FREE video series: The Financial Independence Blueprint

See here for the blog: The BiggerPockets Blog

Search MeetUp.com for local meetups. The Baton Rouge area has one called The Ring. See here:  The RING: Baton Rouge REIA

Good luck to you and Happy Investing!

Direct to seller marketing. 

That could be direct mail, google ads, PPC, cold calling, SMS marketing, RVMs, SEO, door knocking, etc, etc, etc

Check out @Anson Young's book:  Finding and Funding Great Deals

Also see this post:  Driving for Dollars: How to Find (and Buy!) Distressed Properties

Hi @Josh Smith. Welcome to BP!

I am both an investor and managing partner of a local real estate brokerage in New Orleans. I've been in the REI game for about 10 years and licensed for about 8 years. You've come to the right place to learn anything and everything about real estate investing.

Be sure to check out the "education" tab at the top. Lots of great resources there. A good place to start is with the free guides, such as "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide To Real Estate Investing". The bookstore has some great books and the podcast is full of valuable information.

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users

Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

Check out BP Podcasts: https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast

See here for the Guides: BP Guides

See here for the FREE video series: The Financial Independence Blueprint

See here for the blog: The BiggerPockets Blog

Search MeetUp.com for local meetups.

Good luck to you and Happy Investing!

Hi @Joel Dawson. Welcome to BP! 

I am both an investor and managing partner of a local real estate brokerage in New Orleans. I've been in the REI game for about 10 years and licensed for about 8 years. You've come to the right place to learn anything and everything about real estate investing.

Be sure to check out the "education" tab at the top. Lots of great resources there. A good place to start is with the free guides, such as "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide To Real Estate Investing". The bookstore has some great books and the podcast is full of valuable information.

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users

Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

Read Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

Check out BP Podcasts: https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast

See here for the Guides: BP Guides

See here for the FREE video series: The Financial Independence Blueprint

See here for the blog: The BiggerPockets Blog

Search MeetUp.com for local meetups.

Good luck to you and Happy Investing!