All Forum Posts by: Dev Horn

As a user of the service (and the properties offered), I love VRBO; we've used it for years to book condos and houses down on the Texas Gulf.  If I owned a vacation property, I'd use it to make $ when not in use.

Another option is AirBnB.com.  I haven't used it and heard it's more expensive for property owners, but it's hard to argue with their mega-success.  That said - VRBO is very well known and should deliver good traffic & value to your father-in-law.

This might be apples and oranges, so I'd say do both and a lot more.

I've purchased a gazillion pens for various brands over the years, and I never recall a single phone call or lead that could be attributed to one.  They can create brand or name awareness, but I like small notepads even better because you can put all your info and your FACE on them, and as they are used the pages may be handed to someone else, so your brand could be shared with a larger audience.  A pen can stick around the house for a lot longer, but probably just stuck in the dreaded kitchen "junk drawer".

I like postcards with tear-off business cards so that a truly motivated seller or buyer can choose to retain your info to follow up with you.

Direct mail works when done at volume and consistently over time.  Those "Just Listed" cards really only have one purpose, and that's to remind people about YOU.  I don't know what the response rate is on those, but I've always thought a better offer might be the "What's Your House Worth?" postcards - it speaks to MY house, where a just listed card is about my NEIGHBOR'S house (from a marketing psychology standpoint...).

"The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Many larger investors I work with want better capabilities for lead management and follow-up. There are a number of solutions on the market tailored to REI but no clear winner, and most people are relying on things like email software like constant contact in addition to maintaining seller info in spreadsheets.

When the right words are in the right order, you are a genius!  Seriously,  I don't know anyone else that offers so much wisdom in BP posts.  Sometimes your posts are books, but they are always instructive.  Thanks for sharing.

And for the record, BP nation, @Brian Gibbons has taught me and a bunch of other successful investors & educators a lot about this business.  He's the real deal.  Perhaps the best coach I know in RE investing....

Your post convinces us that you prefer owner financing to renting.  That's cool.  What are we supposed to do with that info? I'm lost on this one....

@Brian Gibbons you are a brilliant man, but you have convinced me that Apple's speech-to-text still has a long way to go!

OMG I would NEVER have that conversation with a seller over the phone.  I don't blame you because a smart person told you to do it that way, but what you fell into was the DEEP DARK HOLE of trying to negotiate price over the phone with someone with whom you have established ZERO rapport & you have not seen the property so you could be a mile off anyway.  What works for Michael Quarles may not work for mere mortals like you and me.

On the call, I just want to make sure they have (1) equity and (2) motivation and from there I set an appointment and go see the house before getting into the numbers.  But I'm also interested in helping them in ways other than a simple cash purchase if the cash does not meet their needs (e.g., lease option, list with my agent partner, joint venture, etc.) so I see every caller as potential $$ via several different exit strategies and would personally never handle them as was described in your post.

We deal with the disclosure issue for our (investor) clients that are also licensed, so I've dealt with the disclosure & disclaimer requirements in quite a few states.  Our default disclosure/disclaimer method and language is based up CA BRE rules, so I'm very aware of those.  (P.S. Among the strictest requirements we've found is Ohio).  I'd also point out that the issue I'm talking about is the disclosure that is required when an investor is also licensed.  In many cases I've found that (licensed) investor clients were not even aware that they had to disclose if they are offering to BUY real estate (vs. agency/brokering it).

Now, given the forum we're in here, I'm guessing you're talking about disclosure on licensed sales rep materials (biz cards & emails) where they are offering to REPRESENT the buyer or seller.  I can't imagine a licensed person being unaware of the requirement to disclose and disclaim in that scenario.  And I can't imagine licensed people using business cards or email that does not have at least their BRE# on it!

The problem in this business is the "failure rate" (people who start in REI and then quit) is sky high --- I've heard as much as 95% within a year of taking guru courses or coaching. In many cases, the quality of the (often overpriced) education is actually quite good. The challenge is that real estate investing is not the easy, no-money slam-dunk that it's sold to be. It can hard. It takes investment of working capital. You can LOSE money on deals if things go wrong. And the competition in major markets is stiff.

People start doing REI after being sold a dream and sooner or later they encounter reality.  Some do well in the real world of real estate.  MOST DON'T.  Whose to blame?  The teacher?  The student? Both?

Fortune Builders is legit.  Than Merrill is the real deal.  Whether it's a "good investment" or not will ultimately depend on (1) what you would DO with the information, as well as (2) what are your alternatives to get that same information via other (perhaps less expensive) sources.

"You never really lose until you stop trying." ~ Mike Ditka

OK, I've had this idea for a while, but the conversation above is just BEGGING ME to share this at it combines the BANDIT SIGN idea with the I PICK UP SIGNS & TRASH idea: