All Forum Posts by: Gustavo Munoz Castro

Too soon to worry, they need Congress to repeal the major parts of Dodd-Frank and they don't have the votes. We'll see what happens.

Automatic dialer to call neighborhoods - Mojo Dialer or Five9.

CRM - Market Leader - I just use the basics, nothing fancy

@Eric Herbert, we work with real estate agents and for a full time VA cold caller with a decent auto dialer, they should be dialing 800-1000 numbers per day, talking to 80-100 people, generating 2-3 solid prospects per day (buyer and sellers that are at most 12 months out). Would love to see folks share their stats. This is calling random neighborhoods.

I've worked with Filipino folks, folks in the US, Central America and most recently Mexico to outsource cold calling. Bottom line: no, they won't be as good at it as you (assuming you do cold calling). But as Devin says, its a numbers game, if they're 50% worse than you but only cost 5% of your hourly wage, then it could make sense. My recommendations:  

1) If you're going to use Filipinos, interview folks thoroughly. There is a language barrier as well as a cultural barrier. They will lack all sorts of context and lingo to talk with regular folks in the US. There are some exceptions, find THOSE folks. You may need to interview 20-30 candidates (no joke). Accent and context matter a lot when you only have 5-10 seconds to connect with people.

2) Set daily calling metrics/goals. If they will be using an autodialer like Mojo, they should be dialing 500 folks, talking to 50 of them and getting you 1-2 solid leads every day (within 30 days or starting). Review these goals EVER Y DAY.

3) Listen to the calls, if possible every day, that's how you teach these folks to do it. Listen to the call, point out what they should have done/can do better, and repeat. You'll need to do this every day for the first 30 days until you see solid improvement or move on to the next person. Then move to every other day and at some point maybe 1-2 per week.

Honestly, if you can, find other options that include native English speakers if possible. I've had some luck finding expats and other folks on upwork and other VA sites. Prices can go to $7-$10 per hour but the results will be much better too.

Who do you use to outsource cold calling @Ethan Summers?

This model is totally doable, we use it to cold call for listings for real estate agents, should totally be doable for investors.

@Natalie Kolodij Those are fair points. Is the roof leaking, damaged or just near the end of life? If its just old, normally buyer and seller negotiate a discount, could be lower than full replacement cost since it may still have some good years left. Also, its hard to tell if the home comp'd at $320K didn't have an old roof on there as well.

Square footage is gonna hit them too, 5-10K if they need to list it smaller than full 1700, although some realtors will go with the larger size and ask "buyer to verify all".

I'd make emphasis on all the work that needs to be done and the hassle ("have you tried getting a contractor to do anything below a major rehab in this market? GOOD LUCK!"). Sellers are an optimistic bunch though, especially in this market. Best of luck!

btw, does Chili == Chile the country in South America?

The main challenge I've seen in Mexico (I've lived in TJ, Monterrey and Uruapan Mexico) is that the prices are very high with regards to the rents, the only play seems to be appreciation, so flips and new construction, which require more capital... capital that can be used in the US to buy and hold. But if the right deal comes along with great terms, then maybe it makes sense for Jim.

Cheers!

@Natalie Kolodij I just ran some quick and dirty comps for Snohomish (I assume that's where the home is). Without the address these don't mean much but I was able to find two 3/1 -1.5 stories houses built in 1900 that sold within the last 90 days. http://www.matrix.nwmls.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.a...

Check out the one that just sold on 1/10, its 1400 sqft, no renovations in the kitchen and sold for $320K in 5 days for 100% of list price. This isn't gonna as precise as the comps the realtor sends you but in my napkin math, if I were the seller I'd do some fixing and shoot to list at $330K and hope I don't get any competition. Its a sellers market as you mentioned.  

Unless the seller had no funds or energy to do the renovations and put it on the open market, I don't see how they would accept anything under $310K (their net minus commissions roughly). If you're looking for a cashflowing deal that is financed, you need to look furter north in Snohomish county or Skagit. Those deals are hard to come by if the house doesn't need a major reno. Best of luck!

@Account Closed how high tech is your area? You can also try marketing yourself online for low cost like creating community web pages, school district pages, local business reviews, write about what's awesome about your community. CHeers!

Hey there Jim. I'm originally from TJ and have been to real estate conferences there so I have a few contacts I can ping (in Zuksa and Bustamante Realty Groups). There are several hoops to jump through for foreigners to own property in Mexico but its definitely doable. I love how TJ has risen from the ashes of 2008-2010, and become a vibrant city with tons of development.

@Wes Blackwell, the digital mayor of Sacramento! I love the analysis you put down on this thread, please PM me for some further questions I have, thx!