All Forum Posts by: Dev Horn

Absentees with equity is the most productive pool.  Max out your opportunity there before you add regular Owner Occupants (OOs) with equity.

If you are a RE investor - i.e., cash buyer - you need equity in order to do a deal.  If you are an agent that can list them, or you do other things like lease options, you can market to people with less equity, but for cash buyers equity% > 50% is MUST on ANY list.

When you mail to OOs, don't expect the kind of response rate you get from Absentees. It's harder to find motivation in the OO pool.

When we mail to OOs, we hit specific groups that might have higher motivation such as senior citizens (who may be moving in with kids, going to assisted living, have houses that have not been updated since the 70's, etc.).

Be SMART with your direct mail investment.  You can waste a ton of money if your list is not well-targeted.

The ads you see around the page are served from the Google Display Network.  Google tries to target them to the interests of the site but doesn't always have a "real estate" ad to show.  Anyway, being part of the Google network is surely an important part of the revenue stream that supports this site.

I see a LOT of value here and I'm proud to support this site with my Pro membership!

I like Absentees because we often find motivated sellers in that pool.  Going after NODs is a different pitch than I would make to absentees in general.  So, going after ABSs who are also NODs, that is an interesting mix - it does make for a bit of a messaging challenge.

I suppose you'd just market to them as you would to any others who in default on their home loan? 

Hang on - let me ask, how did you get to those criteria?

Do these guys have at least 60% equity?  If not, what are you going to offer them?

Why mail to people in "pre-foreclosure" (those who have received a Notice of Default)?  I'm not saying that's not a good list but just wondering why you chose it??

Your title is more accurate - rather than building a list so to speak, you need to FIND motivated sellers, or really - get them to find you.

You do that with MARKETING / ADVERTISING.  That could be anything from bandit signs to mailing postcards or letters, to posting ads  on Craiglist, etc.

You'll find your buyers by talking to other investors and finding out who actually BUYS houses (guys with CASH - harder to find than you might think). You might find some of these at REIA meetings. There are also ways to find these guys in your county records, or you might use a service like FindCashBuyersNow...

Man, it just seems you are trying to re-create a system that already exists > the MLS. It's purpose is to expose your property to the largest possible universe of retail buyers so the one that wants YOUR HOUSE can be found. Creating a website and running Google or Facebook Ads makes no sense - you would be trying to find a needle in a haystack, and I can confidently predict you would waste every dollar you spend on that strategy - and lose a lot of TIME as well.

If you're trying to save money, find someone who will list on MLS for a flat fee, like $500. They just put it on there, no marketing... If you want to make sure the house gets sold as fast as possible for the best possible price, hire an experienced real estate agent and LET THEM DO THEIR THING.

YES.  For example, in Listsource.com, on the PROPERTY TAB, select EQUITY % and in the box click on 91-100%.  Using that filter you can get a list of homes that are either paid off or very near it.

P.S. There is a process to use that site - select your GEOGRAPHY first, then go to the PROPERTY tab. Click on Property Type and in the box that appears, scroll down to "SFR" (single family residence). Add that filter to get a list of only houses, then you can apply the Equity %, Total Assessed Market Value, and other filters to your list.

OMG, why do you guys screw around with FORECLOSURES???  Worst seller segment - filled with people with no equity, no drive to solve their problems, etc. etc.

Watch this 10-minute video from Phil Pustejovsky - "Is Buying a Foreclosure a Good Idea?"

RUN, don't walk, from this prospect pool.  GO FIND PEOPLE WITH EQUITY.  If they don't have EQUITY, you don't have any opportunity for $$$.  Go to where the $$$ is!

HF & RP?

This is like going to FoodNetwork.com and posting - "Tell me how to cook."  =)

There are entire BOOKS written on these subjects.  I suggest you start by reading the Flipping Book available here on BP - worth every penny! ~

http://get.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook/

After that, post more specific questions and it will be easier for us to give you advice & tips!

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." ~ John Quincy Adams

This is an interesting discussion.  Sometimes I see people who are very smart, working on the wrong things because it's what they know or enjoy.  I'm guessing you enjoy working with and learning technology.  That's all good and it should be a big benefit for you.

But I kind of feel like your cart is before your horse here.  Databases are irrelevant if you have no sellers to put in there, no data about houses, no info on cash buyers.

My focus is on activity that generates MONEY.  Get activity going first.  I do this for a living and I can tell you - until you have a $5,000 a month ad budget, you can pretty much just capture this info on spreadsheets.  Unless you are spending BIG BUCKS on marketing, you won't have enough data to create an "organization" problem.

You may already be working on all the right things (other than this DB thing), so I'll just say to others: Don't spend you time on adminisTRIVIA - focus on finding SELLERS.  Nothing happens until you generate leads and find deals.  If you are not 100% focused on that, you are probably not working on the most important aspect of this business.