All Forum Posts by: Todd Heitner

What type of leads are you trying to generate?  Motivated sellers, rent-to-own buyers, etc.?

I've had good success with rent-to-own buyers using bandit signs, but not pre-made generic-looking ones.  I wouldn't think those would get very good results for anything.

As with any kind of marketing, you need to stand out as different.  When I did bandit signs, I used neon colored poster board cut in half so the signs were huge and really bright and I hand-wrote a message with a giant marker and attached them to wooden tomato stakes.  Keep the message very brief and make sure the phone number or your website can be read from really far away.

If using this approach, be sure to reinforce the back of the poster board because the wind will blow it around.  I used two small cross boards.  Otherwise it will curl and fold and no one can read it.

For certain lead types and in certain areas it can be really effective.

I'm a little late to this conversation, but I think it's important to establish a web presence as early as possible.  Don't get in over your head with expensive options, though.  There are some very affordable (and even free) options available.

Sometimes people say they'll get a website after their first deal, which makes sense.  But sometimes it's hard to get your first deal without a website, mainly because of the credibility it can provide.

Just be sure that you own your domain name so if you want to switch it to a better solution down the road you'll have the ability.

@Dominick Hayes

 Hey, I just wanted to say welcome!  

Bigger Pockets is a great community.  With some sites you might have some initial excitement but then it dies down.  I haven't found that to be the case at Bigger Pockets.  I find that the more time passes and I learn more about all BP has to offer, I keep getting excited all over again.

We're glad to have you on board!

Sorry to hear about this, it must have been quite a surprise.  Thanks for sharing your experience.  Even if you can't do anything about it for the current contract, maybe others can avoid this situation.

I agree that it seems fair to give you the late fee or to at least to split it with you.  If you have a mortgage on the property, you're the one being hurt by the late payment.  It would be better to have things set up where the PM doesn't make money off things that create problems for you.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience!

Hi guys, I just posted an article called The Top 7 WordPress Plugins for Real Estate Investors in case it's something that would help you. :)

Also, I'm giving away free websites right now to Bigger Pockets Members at:

DoneDealWebsite.com/biggerpockets

Enjoy!

-Todd

I think you may have misunderstood that site.  $295 is for ONE site.  I selected the option for four sites and the price changed to $1030.

That site has been around for years, but I don't know anyone first hand who has used them.  I don't think the site has been updated in many years because it looks really dated (as of this writing).  It seems like the websites you get are pretty dated too.  In other words, they don't look like modern websites.

Someone earlier in this thread said they had an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau.  I checked just now and it's "C-"... still not great but a little better:  bbb.org/dallas/business-reviews/real-estate-investors/real-estate-investors-websites-in-plano-tx-90250423

I'm not trying to bash them or anything, I don't know much about them, only what I can see from their site and the BBB.  However, my opinion is that there are some much better options out there.

Just stumbled across this.  Great points in this thread about the importance of keeping buyers and sellers separate.  Definitely important, especially to keep sellers away from your buyer information.

One option for those starting out, rather than having two separate domains, you can also have your home page be your seller site, for example, ibuyhouses.com.  But you could put a buyer page somewhere like ibuyhouses.com/buy.  The key is that your seller site should not link to the buyer page.  If you don't link to it, they shouldn't be able to find it.  If the buyer leaves off the /buy part and ends up at your seller site to see what's there, no big deal really.

It doesn't really hurt in most cases for buyers to see your seller page.  But you don't want to reverse this because if sellers see your buyer pages it can scare them off.

Welcome Marty!

You're in a great place.  I love your "Why's".

I wish you success on your new journey. :)

Todd

It probably varies from state to state, but in my state there are city commissioner's offices and county commissioner's offices.  It's likely the same place you'd pay property taxes.  Worst case scenario, just call the local chamber of commerce and they should be able to direct you to the correct place.

A business license usually costs something each year, but not too much.  In my area it starts at 50.00/year.

Just to clarify what some were saying, I believe what they meant is, let's say you come up with a name you want to use, like ABC Investing. Initially, you'd just use ABC Investing and later, if you register an LLC for example, it would be ABC Investing, LLC.

Your business license would say something like James Sotipalalit doing business as ABC Investing.

From a legal perspective, if you register a company called ABC Investing and don't have an LLC or corporation, you're considered a sole proprietor. In other words, the business is not a separate entity. When it comes to taxes, you wouldn't file separate taxes for the business. If someone sued your business, they'd just be suing you. Many LLCs are considered this way too as far as the IRS is concerned (called a disregarded entity), usually when it's just you in the business. As far as legal protection with an LLC, it's best to talk to an attorney. I'm not sure how much protection an LLC would provide if the IRS doesn't view it as a separate entity.

Please note:  this isn't legal advice, so don't take it as that.  Just trying to share my experience. :)

I think squeeze pages can be OK for certain lead types (wholesale buyers, rent-to-own buyers, etc.) but for motivated sellers, they tend to be skeptical already and may be looking for more information.  So you may want to try a more educational approach with them as Antonio mentioned.  That's one site where you don't want to cut corners.

For certain lead types, though, a simple squeeze page can be OK.  And sometimes simple converts better than pretty.  But it's best to test it because results can vary a lot.