All Forum Posts by: Lucas Machado

Welcome @Andrea Gomez! I always recommend getting out there and networking! You can learn a lot about this business by reading books, BiggerPockets, etc, but ultimately the bulk of your learning will come while you are just doing it. While you're going through deals you're bound to have questions, at which point you can either: a) just make a decision, see how it goes, and learn from your mistakes, or b) ask someone else who has already done it. BP can be a great resource in these situations, but so can a local investor who you can quickly talk to on the phone. 

One of the first things I did when I got into this business was attend the Dade REIA meeting. At my first meeting I gained priceless connections that I still cherish and communicate with to this day. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made, and that's why I never miss that meeting. Not sure where I would be today had I not attended that meeting. A lot of people don't like those kinds of meetings because they are always trying to sell you on their courses and mentoring programs, but: 1) they gotta make money somehow - they aren't doing this for charity, 2) there's plenty to gain from going to the meeting, ignoring the sales pitch, and just networking with other attendees.

Best of luck to you! Hope to see you at one of the many investor meetings in South Florida!

Owned the home for at least 3-years is very short.  I would stretch that out to at least 8 years.  I actually use 10-15 years back depending on quantities.

@Cristian Yepez Just google yellow letter.  You will find 100s instantly.

Welcome @Patrick Benn! Sounds like you are off to a good start!

@Terry Power There's no age limit on successful investors, I believe you can do it.  Sure you might be starting relatively late to the game, but it doesn't take 20-years to build your business.   Not sure how you will proceed, but for us the day-to-day is like this: track marketing, answer phones, follow-up on phones, work deals.  None of that requires any specific age!  Real estate investing is not easy, but it has nothing to do with age.  You might even connect more with older home sellers.

Welcome @Richard Bazile!

We are executing direct-mail on a relatively large scale in out-of-state absentee, and some smaller probate and eviction direct-mail campaigns.  I received guidance on BP that owner-occupied could be an excellent list, so I'm beginning ~2,500 lead owner occupied test (with tight criteria for last sale date, non-corporate, year built, and number of properties owned by owner).  

For probate, we use a white business letter with business card.  We average a deal about~6 months from probate; but for only $350.00 per month that is more than fair.

For residential eviction, testing a mixture of postcards / business letters to see what produces the better results.  For commercial eviction (targeting 5-12 units, non-corporate owned, last market sale pre-2001), using a business letter.  No deals here yet; but it's under $300.00 per month at current volume so I haven't drawn any conclusions.

In the last leg of our out-of-state absentee, we landed two large deals (one we took ownership and listed immediately; another we purchased and are working with the current tenant on his exit plan). We are working on a moderate level rehab from our online PPC campaign (which I expect to pay for PPC for 4 more years given our current budget).

My main goal right now is to increase the number of deals completed per the number of leads generated.  Perhaps we are too picky on the numbers and leaving deals on the table, because every deal we contract is a "home run" but the "home runs" don't come as often as I'd like to continue to scale up.  The other issues with regard to closing more deals could be improving "targeting" on the DMM (which I'm aiming to do when I refresh lists in August - based on all I've been learning on BP), and being more creative on providing value to homeowners.

Listening to the BiggerPockets podcasts is a huge resource.  The information shared by investors is so valuable.  You can certainly learn plenty about generating leads there.

@Meghan Helbick - As was previously mentioned, if an existing lease is in place you'll have to honor it. You should probably chat with a landlord/tenant law expert for guidance on this. I actually know a guy who has a bunch of great free forms/templates on his site - I'll send you a link to where you can find his really great template lease agreement.

As for insurance, in addition to what @John Thedford mentioned, you should also try to get renter's insurance in place for the tenant if they don't already have it...Without that, damage to the property caused by the tenant's negligence may not be covered by your insurance.

Welcome @Marcus Handley!

Welcome @James Fisher! Sounds like you are off to a great start...Let us know how we can help!