All Forum Posts by: Vanessa Blais

Bandit signs are a 'code enforcement' violation here. It's not a 'crime' so to speak. You can be fined, if caught, for putting them out, but you're only going to get arrested and go to jail if you don't pay the fine.

Couple of things some investors do to get around it....

1.) Phone number on signs went to prepaid cell phones that were set up with made up names.

2.) Signs go out at 5:30 PM on Friday night, and what doesn't get ripped down by kids or competitors by Sunday at 7pm, gets pulled back up. (Code enforcement doesn't work weekends here.)

As for the 'ghost' ads, you really should only need to run a "Handyman Special Quick Cash Close" ad to 'build the buyer's list' a couple to a few times. By then, you'll have built the list of wholesale buyers and seller's in your area, and they'll start to recognize your ads, your phone number, etc so they won't call because they already know that if you have a property that meets their criteria, you would have already called them and/or emailed them.

(Trust me, I've been marketing on Craigslist for years, and the 'ads' always have tells that are easily identified by anyone who watches Craigslist on a regular basis.)

Plus, it trains them to get on your list when every time you post an ad, the deal is gone by the time they call. It trains them that if they want good deals from you and your efforts, they need to make it easy for you to contact them directly as soon as it comes in, rather than have to post an ad and hope they see it.

JMHO.

@JScott,

Ahhh I see it now! Thanks. :)

Interesting Raymond. I just realized there is no 'quote' option on this forum. I guess the @ is sort of like 'tagging.' Cool TY.

Doug, thanks for sharing that info. Back when I first started investing in 1999... I'd read the home study courses, and the concept of hard money, but it wasn't until I started going to the networking group meetings that I actually found any HML's who did what the books said they did.

One of the groups was run by a brokerage house that hooked us up with the hard money lender, so they did all the work to find the guys with the money and we just paid them their points for doing it.

Hubby is in the medical field and he does a split shift from 6am-8am then 2pm-8pm, M-F. (And the 8am usually winds up being 9am, LOL.)

He's going to try to hit the SREIA luncheon with me on the 2nd Wed of the month since the kids will be in school.

Doug,
I actually have a pretty comprehensive list of all the REI meetings (REIA and non-REIA) from Hillsborough to Citrus. I'm limited to the ones that happen during hours that the kids are at school or when I have a sitter (RARE). :)

LOL! DUH! Sorry, it's been a LONG day.

I think you are right. I can wholesale flip for cash. That's not a problem. I know how to do that.

And I was a member of SREIA in Tampa for years, and I'm planning to go to the General Meeting this Tuesday night.

Back in my day, finding hard money was easy, today, not so much.

BP? Not sure what BP means...???

Hey Kyle!

I don't even know any rehabbers anymore. I rehabbed quite a few properties back in my 'active' investing days (1999-2007).

That said, I'm not opposed to partnering with someone, but without cash or credit of my own to bring to the table, I'm not sure why anyone would be interested in partnering with me.

I've spent the past few months trying to find out what the hard money market is doing these days, and I'm getting nowhere.

Every source I find either wants a good credit score or 'skin in the game,' (40% down on purchase price) and usually both.

What has happened to the no doc 65% of ARV LTV loans?

Are they all gone?

Sure I can wholesale flip, but I've also heard that hard money lenders won't pay assignment fees, which will limit my buyers to 'cash buyers' only. Not to mention that that won't build any long term wealth.

I'm feeling lost in the weeds right now. Nothing is as it used to be, and I don't have the first clue what's working now.

Hi Brandon, thanks for the warm welcome. I just don't want to give any wrong answers. So much has changed since I was in the business, that I don't even know what does or doesn't work anymore. :)