All Forum Posts by: Mark Sewell

Yeah man my first flip was a big learning event, which is a nice way of saying I lost my @ss on it.  But true, I did learn a lot.  I was so embarrassed about it that I finally sat down and wrote it all up as a blog post right here on BP.  It was kind of a way of getting it behind me and moving on...

Sorry if I have hijacked this thread.  I just realized that I am getting a click through rate of about $0.70.... have spent about $302 so far this month to push 435 clicks through to my page.  But no leads....  Well one, but I think that was probably SEO/organic.

So might be I need to focus more on tightening up my content/credibility on the page.  I do have a carrot site, and I have tried to customize it, but I understand more is needed.  Feels like I got a big hole in my bucket.

And strangely, I don't show anywhere near 435 page landings.  Maybe FB is counting clicks to my FB page and not really clicks to my site.  Actually, I see now in the definitions that this is true.  I need to be measuring 'outbound clicks'....  so my cost per outbound click is $1.48 so far this month, with a little over 200 outbound clicks (this is closer to what my page is reporting but still higher).  Still not sure if that is good more or bad. 

Could be I am simply attracting curious people, not motivated people or those that are not (yet) actively looking for a solution.  That is likely the nature of the FB ad medium.  Might be just a function of staying in front of them.  

Would be useful to compare notes with others that are actually making headway and getting leads.

Hey man, my step sister lives there.  We grew up in Clatskanie -- I actually went to first grade in Rainier, OR.  Later moved over to Kelso, WA.  

I also did some insurance for a while, realized I didn't care much for it.  Except I do enjoy the marketing aspect, just not a big type-A outbound phone sales guy.  

Imagine is tougher to get started in more expensive markets, like OR/WA but people do it.  I did one flip and I'm struggling to find deal #2.  Probably just not consistent enough, I keep on trying to tweak and find new strategies... probably need to just settle into 1-2 methods and just hammer away at it.

I think in Houston there are still landlord deals to be found but, realistically, you might be looking at a cash-flow breakeven scenario for a couple years (rents will continue to go up), and/or you might have the put a little more down into a deal than you might prefer.  Or maybe some combination of the two.  

So I guess I am agreeing with @Brian Alfaro here in that it really is a long term strategy and you cannot just look at it through the lenses of returns generated the first year.  That is just one metric.  You aren't getting into rentals for just one or two years expecting a life changing event.  Remember your P & I remained fixed, while rents will gradually rise.  All the buy & hold folks say the magic happens over time. 

Go over to Pasadena or Baytown or LaPorte and see if you can pick up some of those little 1300-1500 square feet houses for under $100k.  Maybe you get one for $80k and put $20k-$25k in repairs.  They won't be in livable condition at that price point but it might not be too terribly hard to get them rent ready either.  Try not to over-rehab but if you spend a little more, go over budget a tad, that's not a major problem.  Better to have a solid property that you won't have to revisit later.  

Hey Brian, if you see one of these, you got my number.

I view FB as a cheaper form of direct mail.  It is better in some ways, and you can make use of lookalike audiences and do a lot of retargeting.  But generally, you have to understand that, whether you use FB or mail, you are just running ads at people, and it might take some time before they warm up to the idea of selling (or buying). 

But if you buy into the idea that it takes multiple touches to get a lead contact you, then it is FAR less expensive to do this on FB than it is using an endless stream of postcards.  You can run video ads for really really cheap and blanket a ton of people.  You can warm them up, walk them through the through process to get them from problem aware, to solution aware, to building your own credibility (why me and not the other 50,000 house buyers in my city). 

Not going to say that I am totally opposed to the cards/letters going out, but I'm not relying on them for leads - they are just another way to drive traffic to the site, where I can capture their pixel and retarget like mad.  And honestly I don't have the budget to do both (right now anyway)/.

Honestly, the best method is probably SEO, but they are all inter-related and they support each other.

Go out to Quest Trust Co meetups.  Last night I heard they have something on the order of $2 bln sitting around uninvested over there.  Just network hard.

@Teren Cooley well, congrats on taking action!

Ok sometimes BP forums offer a lot answers and insights, and sometimes not so much.  Usually when the topic is very specific to a particular property or situation, then the best anybody can offer will be general advice.  We've not seen the property and most of us aren't familiar with the local market.

I would say that you have an a great opportunity to partner with an experienced investor in your area.  Go find one you like.  I have one person up there that I can recommend.  Send me a PM. 

Plus you already have a couple local investors right here on BP that are reaching out right here in this thread! I will say that my best contacts in REI have come not from local events but from BP.

And doing that does not mean you cannot in parallel follow the good advice offered by @Ashraf Spahi.

Originally posted by @Cory Riles:

I am in the North Houston area and have submitted an offer on a property I’m hoping to be my 1st fix/flip. I wanted to find other hard money lenders that may 

@Austin Pool can probably help. I used that HML where he works for my project.

It is a credibility challenge for many.  I've flipped one house, and I can talk about it, but Jerry over here, he's done 20 times what I have done.  So he's able to leverage a lot more credibility as he presents himself to a prospective seller.  It is just a super crowded, cluttered market place, and no matter what method you use to try to delivery your message, it will all come back to your ability to establish yourself as a person that has the experience and capacity to buy their house and solve their problem.  But you do need to have some tools in place, no question.

My answer to every challenge... join the Navy.

College will be there when you get back -- and you will have some college funds to use to pay tuition and books.

And you will have a VA loan (hell with that FHA stuff). House hack all you want.

And... you can build credit while you are serving.  Not much but some.  It gets you on your way.

Note that I have not suggested that you abandon any parts of your plan, which is a good one.  It is a proven roadmap to get you there, and you might have fun doing it!