All Forum Posts by: Brian Knox

For finding your first Direct Mail marketing list, which site did you use?

I know there are variety of them: MelissaData, ListSource, Listability, etc.

Which sites are a simple for a novice to navigate?

Thanks!

I love the Map my Run idea! Solid!

Hey guys, I'm just now getting more and more into D4$.

Can you possibly say a word or two about what you do once you have a list of 4-6 abandoned houses? In order to begin your proactive marketing, I mean.

I do know to go to the tax records. But so far, all of my mailing addresses line up exactly with the property addresses. (but clearly no one is living there).

Do you have tips, techniques, or insights that I could put into practice? Or do I just gather a few addresses and then send them a letter? I am well-known for over-thinking and over-complicating stuff.

Fully agree with @Craig H. While I am a total rookie and have only had two rental properties, I put a Section 8 tenant in each.

In both cases, the government's portion has covered our PITI. (Yes, I know there are plenty of other expenses that crop up throughout the year). But it's awfully comforting to know that - should a terrible situation arise - at least you have your mortgage paid.

Having a good screening process (maybe a written app + a www.cozy.co check-up) is of immeasurable worth for weeding out the losers.

I wasn't able to get the technology to work. Dang!

Hey, hey Mark! I just had the exact same questions in Dec '14 when I was going through the same thing.

The BP community was so helpful. For the lease, they suggested:

Use your state's Realtor Association Rental Agreement. Here in SC, we had one. It's some sort of official-ish document that they said is recognized by most judges in court.

I then got a copy of that lease in .pdf and simply typed every single word into my own Word document. This allowed me to 1) make sure I understand every sentence in that lease and 2) edit/add whatever clauses I wanted to. I think I found an article called "10 Power Clauses every Lease should Have" or something like that.

As far as collecting rent and screening tenants and stuff, I'm having good luck with Cozy.co (not .com). Cozy.co seems simple and fresh. And FREE! The dude that runs it - Lucas - was on a podcast I listened to (The RE Loop with @Gavin Welch) I do want to give big props to the RE Loop podcast for being hyper-practical.

I hope my ramblings help you!

Knox

Julia, this is a great question and one I've wondered about as well. Here in Greenville, SC I'm aiming to get 9% cash-on-cash conservatively on the first deal I found for my partner (am hoping for more like 11-13%).

We bought 401 Canterbury St. in Simpsonville, SC.

PITI is under $400 and I have it rented out for $835/month. We put 20% down, did a tiny bit of cosmetic work, and have an interest rate of 4.85 or so.

It may get me burned at the stake, but I am a fan of the 50% rule so I used it for estimating expenses. I believe it to be quite conservative. So if my cash-flow analyzer (a super-simple Sheets thing I made) shows positive cash flow of near $100 per month, I know things should work because the 50% rule is so conservative.

Just my opinion, but if I see a property that looks likely to get to 7-13% cash on cash, I'm all over it.

Unlike some folks, I'm not on the hunt for RIDICULOUSLY GREAT deals. I'm on the hunt to build a stable of 22 decently cash flowing houses and attain financial freedom.

Open to your thoughts!

Knox

Looks like this would be about 2pm EST. I LOVE Chad Carson so this looks pretty awesome. Solid leases rule!

If I can subversively watch from my work computer, I'm gonna go for it. Shhhhh. Don't tell. : )

Welcome, Michael! I'm here in Mauldin SC. I'm aiming for long term financial freedom (to work out of passion as opposed to working out of necessity) through collecting long term buy and holds.

I think you'll find value in:

The BP Podcasts

Danny Johnson's Flipping Junkie podcast

Mike Butler's Landlording on Autopilot

And networking with the bright folks here on BP.

Live large,

Knox

You guys RAWK! Many thanks for the awesome advice!

This is super-duper info, guys! I REALLY appreciate the feedback. I'm off to research a bunch of them and read up more on online payment acceptance. Again, thank you!