All Forum Posts by: Dev Horn

Marketing is the way to go. Expired listings (from MLS) might be interesting as they may indicate a house that has some issues - but might also indicate a seller with unrealistic expectations on price that was not will to come down to sell it. And again, lots of people mine the expired listings.

You are in a SUPER competitive market. Consider investing in marketing systems/programs that will help you to rise above all the noise in your market.

GREAT POST Arthur Garcia!!

Agree with Braden C. - too many people try to start their new career in real estate investing by doing "no money down" wholesale flips. This allure of a fantastic business that costs NO MONEY to build or run creates too much false hope and dashed dreams, IMHO. Everyone needs to approach this as a business; if you have not capital, you need to partner with someone that has it, because at the end of the day, this is about capital.

And it's dang hard to be a wholesaler - especially a "no money down" wholesaler - with no buyer's list. Chicken and egg problem...

Hi Fontaine Willis - best bet for investors is a property with considerable equity but also a number of issues that prevent it from being sold at full retail (repairs, mold, foundation, etc.). A homeowner in that situation can sell their home to an investor - at a discount - and get out of it without having to bring it up to retail condition themselves.

In the case of foreclosure, best to know about pre-foreclosures because it gives you more time to find a solution. But if there is no equity in the house, the only way to get a discount is probably thru the lender via a short sale.

Hi Stefan Kooistra, yes Will Barnard is so right. This is a numbers game, and a MARKETING game. Think of your efforts as a funnel and what you need to put into the top of the funnel (i.e., sending direct mail to 2,500 addresses, putting out 100 bandit signs, etc.) to get one actual deal to fall out of the bottom of the funnel. Without marketing (contacting possible home sellers directly), you have to fight over listings that everyone has access to, which often means a competitive situation that drives bids way above what you want to pay. That said, you may have some good deals identified - best way to tell is start making offers as Will advised.

When you don't have a marketing budget, you can still find ways to feed your funnel. Print up cheap half-page flyers and go with your kids on the weekend and put them on doors in your target neighborhood. You may find what you're looking for with your current method, but to turn this into a business you'll want to develop a marketing plan so you can consistently find good deals that others are not aware of.

I wish you much success! Keep us posted!

Yes, click2mail.com is a good vendor. We also like imageMEDIA.com. Postcards are considerably cheaper than yellow letters (almost 1/2 the cost), so I haven't been a big fan of YLs, but I think Michael Quarles has convinced me that the best approach is probably a mix of the two over the duration of a multi-drop campaign to the same list.

Hi Eric Rohver - print off about 6 flyers for your business (we use simple 1/2 page one-sided flyers) and walk around the neighborhood knocking on the doors at that house and all around it. Just say, "Hi, I'm just dropping of a flyer to let you guys know that I'm interested in purchasing real estate in this neighborhood." and just ask the neighbors, "Do you know anything about that house?". Point is, why not do something that gathers information while also doing a little marketing for you...

P.S. Never obsess too much with any one property. This is a numbers game. Always be casting your net.

Daniel Hornsby, Couple of thoughts:

REACH - I think your target list is way too small. Whether via direct mail or other marketing method(s), you need to find ways to significantly increase the pool of homeowners you are targeting with your message/offer.

FREQUENCY - Reduce the cost of your direct mail per piece - use smaller postcards, etc. - so you can increase the frequency of hitting them with your message.

Wish you best, Daniel (and Scotty!)

Hey Dick Rosen - off the top of my head, not sure about that. I will check into it tho because we're working on some designs the incorporate personalization. Excellent question - sorry I didn't have a ready answer for you!

We like the lists from Listsource.com, which is CoreLogic. They collect data from county courthouses, etc. and you can dial in things like % Equity, Loan to Value, etc. They may offer the best list for REI's.

Click2Mail.com offers a pretty good list - they have one (filter) called the Real Property List that make it easy dial in your targeting criteria. Their printing and mailing services are on the high-end of cost, but their list cost (per record) is very good...