All Forum Posts by: Matthew Allen

I put my first property under contract yesterday. It is a 2338 sf 2-story home in Converse, TX on the east side of San Antonio. Obviously I am pretty excited, but I am also in need of a recommendation for 2-3 contractor(s) to bid the job for me. I have a good deal of time before the closing, but I would like to have 2-3 walk thru the home with me and bid the project.

Feel free to message me or look me up.

Thanks @Wayne Brooks & @Greg H. I did pull up the MLS info and no way on that one. I still have a bit of a question on the other, but it should be fine as I am not a broker or salesperson.

I have been a TREC Easement and Right Of Way License holder for about 10 years. I do work as a Right of Way Agent acquiring pipeline easements in South Texas Eagleford oil & gas play near San Antonio, and I am working toward my first personal real estate deal to flip/wholesale houses. As I am filling out the contract a few questions crossed my mind. 1) Do I have the same disclosure obligations as a TREC Salesperson/Broker would have in a real estate transaction? 2) Can I get MLS access thru my TREC ERW license?

Hopefully there is another Landman out there who has come across these same issues. Thanks!

Tina, welcome to real estate investing. Good luck in your endeavors! I think @Tim Macy had some good advice for such a big dream. The more hands on you're going to be, I would say the more you will want to focus in on specific locations & strategies. I love the dream though!

Welcome to San Antonio and good luck!

@Account Closed thanks for the encouragement & tips. I already set my mind to doing a minimum of 4 to 6 months worth of mailers with this list no matter what, as well as varying the format between letter/postcard.

@Rafael Norat I'm planning on 4 months minimum on this list, but was thinking I'd get a slightly better response rate than 0.4%. I'll be changing it up this month as well and we shall see what happens.

@Chad Clanton thanks for your perspective. I feel like there's going to be a lot of competition no matter where I pick in San Antonio, but I'm in it for the long haul and will embrace the challenge.

@Joseph Caracappa thanks for sharing your personal story. Sounds familiar.

Early last month I sent my first direct mail marketing in San Antonio. I narrowed down to one zipcode using high recent cash sales, 30 avg on market, proximity to my home, etc. I pulled an absentee list of >50% equity homes under $200,000 value. I mailed hand addressed white envelopes with a printed letter with the home's address including a basic message and picture of my wife and I.

In the month since I have received about 20 pieces back, 1 call to be removed from the list, 1 from another flipper who was trying to work some wonky deal to sell to me at basically market price then have me owner finance to the current tenant of the home, and 1 from the daughter of a seller who was going to speak with the seller then pass along my information (I've tried following up but she hasn't responded).

I am confident in my acquisition abilities as I currently acquire pipeline easements from landowners in the oil & gas industry, but I need the phone to ring at a higher clip than 2 leads out of 500. I know it'll take multiple contacts, so I'm willing to see this thru, but the early returns on my approach are far less than promising.

Where did I go wrong here? Better yet, how can I adjust to get more responses? Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated!