All Forum Posts by: Dev Horn

Heidi Rogers It just seems to me that if you go into to list the property first, the agent/broker has the obligation to list for a reasonable (retail) market value. Once they have set that amount, to then switch gears and offer to buy it for cash at a significant discount seems a bit awkward. Maybe Tom has figured out a way to make that flow better than I imagine.

But if you first offer them cash for their house (and you have already disclosed that you ARE an agent/broker) and they say I really want to get more, I'm not in a hurry, I'll make the necessary repairs, etc. then you switch to, "I understand your goals, let's LIST your house instead...".

If I listed my house at a retail price and all of sudden the agent/broker tossed me a "lowball offer", you would see "WTF?" in the thought bubble hovering above my head...

Good Lord. OK, so some of you think bandit signs are the cause of global warming, the ebola virus, and terrorism. It's so nice to have a forum where people can appear to be smug.

I know a guy right now that is KILLING IT with bandit signs. But he's not in here arguing with the social elite, he's out buying houses today.

Why the focus only on subject-to's?

And if your focus is on subject-to's, why pull only absentees?

Love em or hate em, they work... when you can get away with em!

We use stand-alone signs (not attached to utility poles) and we put them out on Friday night and pick them up on Sunday night. Yes, that's a hassle, but if you just ride around and put 50 or 100 of these things out and you never go back and get them, then it IS littering!

Nonetheless, no matter how careful you are, people are gonna b*tch about them. You should try to find out if people in your area are getting hit with code violations for putting them out, and if so, what the fine is. If the risk is too great, don't do it.

For most big investors, it's all about Direct Mail... having several lists that they touch every 4 to 6 weeks. I like to overlay targeted direct mail with some "broadcast" techniques such as door hangers to reach people who are not on the targeted lists.

Thanks, Jenkins Ramon for the shout out. I will offer this - we work with MANY investors who are also Agents or Brokers. And I'm actually developing some marketing to offer both choices very similar to what Heidi Rogers mentioned in her OP.

I think each of our investor/brokers handle it in their own way right now, but I really like what Jesse Rivera said above. You generate the lead via your own marketing effiort, and you start the conversation as an investor. Once you find out they are not motivated or don't have equity, you then offer them the option of listing the property.

Our larger investors keep these activities separate - the person that offers to buy the house is not the same person who would list it. But I know people that play both sides all the time. The key is disclosure and being aware of the rules you must always follow as an Agent or Broker.

Hi Bradley White - Our goal is to hit someone with the message every 4 to 6 weeks, whether that is door-to-door, direct mail, or a combination of those.

And here is a benchmark on delivery (for anything door-to-door). If you were to hire a company there in Atlanta to put door hangers on doors, they would do that for around 15 cents per door (just the delivery, the door hanger printing would be another 5 to 7 cents). They usually require a minimum of 5,000 pieces.

I'm going to be doing a small run of about 2,000 in my personal market area in a couple of weeks and pay my teenage sons & their friends 12.5 cents per door + gas money. You mileage may vary =)

Now, you could just print a couple hundred of the flyers and drive for dollars and stick them on doors of places that look "unloved". But try to get 1,000 or so out there if you can, targeting specific areas that are your "farm" areas. Disclaimer: You're going to end up putting flyers on rent houses and the actual owner will never see it. So, about 1/2 of what you put out there, just consider that "branding"...

Oh, and a WARNING about SEO! Do NOT pay someone to create a bunch of bogus inbound links to your page. If you do, Google will PENALIZE you for links generated from spam. That can KILL your domain in search. Build REAL links to your page and do it consistently over time. SEO is a journey, not a destination. Stay at it - creating QUALITY inbound links to your page, and you should see gradual improvement over several months. SEO just takes some time, but it is WORTH IT in the long run.

Hi Deborah Saddler ~ I bet there is something in here if you search around, but the point is basically, Google likes your page more if other well known sites have links TO IT (aka inbound links). Once you have a motivated seller form page set up, you post that website address to your Facebook page, your LinkedIn profile, your Trulia profile (and create blog entries with inbound links to your website address), Twitter posts, YouTube videos, etc. etc. etc.. Google highly values all those sites, so if they link to your little page on the Web, Google will like your page more and rank it higher in search results.

Here's an EXAMPLE of a Trulia blog post - notice the links from it into my "city page":
http://www.trulia.com/blog/devhorn/2013/06/we_buy_houses_now_in_arlington_tx

I hope this is helpful!

There are 2 red flags (or maybe they're yellow =) :: (1) Townhouse and (2) Ski area -- sounds like a "vacation property" and the dynamics of that market can be very different from the regular SFR market. With that said, I have no expertise in vacation/resort housing. It may indeed be a deal where you can make some good money.... But I sure would like to see you, as a new investor, finding that first deal back down the mountain in a nice mid- to lower-priced neighborhood of SFRs in the suburbs.

I wouldn't give up on this deal - look for a way to score there, but don't take your eyes of the ball - continue your quest for more traditional types of deals where it will be easier to find eager buyers.

Whoop! Whoop!

Yea Mehran!