All Forum Posts by: David Lecko

Awesome! Welcome to the community! Be sure to check out the ultimate beginners guide if you haven't already which can be helpful in deciding on your strategy: https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

Welcome @Matthew Cochran! Be sure to check out the beginner's guide if you haven't already. https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing

@Quinton Slay, I feel for you. There have been a ton of great comments above. I think one of the top pain points people experience in relationships is money in general. You're not alone!

My girlfriend and I approached the subject by setting aside 1-2 hours per week to talk about it together. So far it has been really helpful. We have it on our calendar and can mentally be ready for the discussion every week.

I wish you the best of luck!

Thumbtack is a good one. Also I like Homeadvisor and Taskrabbit.

@Account Closed I was thinking the other day that I'd like to hire someone local like yourself to help me with real estate marketing tasks. I think finding a local Meetup for you would be perfect to get connected with someone you can help with real estate tasks and get paid, also while learning what you want to learn. 

Hi @Grant Smith, I like that you are asking this question about direct mail. I think a lot of people are using direct mail, and a key to buying direct mail or any other form of advertising is reaching the right audience. A lot of new investors do drive for dollars, reaching their hand-selected audience of run down or vacant houses in a certain area. That usually yields a response rate of 10-20% calls back from interested sellers, after sending 1-3 mailings in my experience. I've heard recommendations that you should aim to get at least 100 houses driving for dollars to get 1 deal, which can be a helpful benchmark to aim for.

Thanks @Erik E. I agree with your advice @Steve Wilmers and @Dan Rosenberger Yes, once you're able to track down the owner's address, I'll typically send a postcard mailer to the owner every 3 weeks until I hear back. They don't always respond on my first postcard, so repeat mailing has been helpful to getting more calls.

Great job finding properties! A good place to start would be looking at your county website for property information, where the owner would be listed. Then you can send mail to the owner offering to buy. Also, a good idea would be to follow up a few weeks later with another piece of mail.

@Paul Rodgers I know @Iqwe Haywood is looking for someone to help find deals in North Carolina.

@Jeff G. great advice btw!

I also have the August Lock set up at one of my properties and have been happy with it. 

I can add a tenant as a guest for a specific time period, which is nice...

The guests receive a text when I add them, and they've been able to figure it out from there without me explaining anything which makes things easy.