All Forum Posts by: Eric Wagner

Ayman, I'd recommend you calculate the return per lead that's acceptable to you, and work from there. What percentage of leads turn into actual deals? What's your average profit on a deal? How much of that are you willing to invest in getting that deal? With that, you can come up with a maximum amount you can spend per lead, whether those leads are from SEO, online or offline advertising, sales commissions, whatever. Any source that gives you a quality lead for less than that amount will be worth it. 

Looking at it from that perspective means that any source with a acceptable ROI (or costs less than that maximum cost per lead) should be ramped up as much as possible. You don't want to limit the number of profitable deals that you get, if you have the cash reserves to cover the interim.

That's my philosophy, at least, as a business owner (and co-founder of a marketing agency, for that matter). Message me and I can get you in touch with one of our marketing coordinators or provide a referral to another reputable agency. 

Does anyone here have any experience either working within or negotiating with build on your lot companies? I'm currently in negotiations with one of those companies building in the Pacific Northwest, and any information you have would be very useful for me. 

I'm particularly interested in your thoughts on which areas of the contract typically have the most profit margin built in (I believe it to be most upgrades), what margin percentage the companies usually target, how the commission structure is set up, and any stories of what has worked for you. 

I need to hire an assessor to take a look at a piece of property I will be acquiring. In this case, It would be better for me if the value assessed is on the lower end of the scale. I know you're not supposed to be able to influence that, but I really don't want them over-inflating the assessed value. 

Any tips on how to choose a good assessor, and how to interface with them?

Welcome, Skyler! I'm from the Grants Pass area. 

I'd highly recommend listening to the Bigger Pockets podcast - it's a goldmine of information as you get started.

@Zachary Wagner Congrats to you and your wife on your marriage! 

I'd guess you'd be able to find a multi-family in Chicago that cashflows better than near Portland. 

If you do decide to keep them, the sooner you refinance the better, though, as most people expect rates to increase soon.

@Bryan O.I would not recommend duplicating much content on other websites that you also posted on your own website. I have a marketing agency, and we sometimes have clients post content on their own website first, and then push it out to other magazines and publications. In those cases, though, the client has more domain authority than the places that are duplicate, and we know from experience that if google thinks anyone is duplicating the content, it will be the other site. 

In search engine algorithms, it actually might be a compliment - other people think your content is worthy of copying. The issue arises if they think your site is copying the other site. 

I'm guessing BP has much more domain authority than your site, and search engines might think you're copying them. 

If you think there's enough value to be gained from posting on BP, then I'd recommend taking the time to just leave it as unique content. 

I would definitely say that a professional-looking website is in order. First, if people in your local area can't find you by searching for your name or your business name, you're in trouble. 

(Note that google adjusts your search results based on your past searches and location, so use this tool to preview results that are less biased and more likely to be what your potential customers will see: https://adwords.google.com/d/AdPreview) 

Next, you want people to be able to find you using other keywords, like *town name* house buyers" or similar. You'll probably find some very motivated sellers by showing up at the top of the results for those types of searches. 

Welcome, Patrick, from a fellow Oregonian! I just got back from a trip to Eugene not too long ago. Lovely area.

Google & Bing are doing their best to make sure "What's Best for the User" and "What's best for SEO" become one and the same thing, so use that as a sanity check. Without getting into the technical specifics (I co-founded a digital marketing agency) create good quality content, do it often, make sure you're website has a good user experience, and is consistently visible throughout the rest of the web (like on Google Maps and Yelp).

There's a lot more that can be done but those details are usually more technical and best left to the people that do that day in and day out. If you focus on creating a good user experience and great content that is truly useful to your marketplace, you'll have a great foundation.

I'm looking at a house that isn't directly adjacent to a freeway, but is quite close, and above on a sloping hill, so it's quite noisy outside. In your experience, what price modification might be appropriate for this house?