All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Has anybody used Podio for their CRM?

I'm trying to find a way to efficiently manage my leads and came across Podio. It's free, which is great, but you need to completely customize it from scratch and before I spend time doing that, I just wanted to get some insight from investors that have used it.

If you have used it, what do you like/dislike about it? And did you find it to be comparable to other CRMs, once customized?

@Shaun Reilly

1) You need to fill out, on a separate card for each file, the date, docket #, decedent's last name, your name/contact info, and reason for pulling the file. Each county differs slightly but that's generally what's needed.

2) That info may or may not be in the file...it's on a file by file basis. However, for the majority of files, you have to sort through all of the documents to find whether or not there is real property attached. It's a very tedious process. Going through 200+ files is a several all-day process.

@Joey DeFilippo

@Shaun Reilly

Just came across your post and thought I'd be able to provide insight since I've been working probates for about a year now in our area. Joey, as you've discovered, probates are a real pain in the *ss for us in MA. They only went online on 1/13 but as you've mentioned, you can only access minimal information...not enough needed to mail. The only way, I've found, to get all of the information needed is to pull individual files. The problem is that there isn't a filter to determine if real property is attached to the file. You basically have to pull all estates and sort through to figure out if there is real property attached. And, the system to pull files that our court houses have in place is pretty bad. For each file you want to pull, you have to fill out individual cards with information pertaining to the file. Then someone has to pull the file for you. 30 days equates to about 200 files, so it's very time consuming and the court house workers will hate you.

In addition, it takes the court houses in MA several weeks to scan all docs before they release the file to the public. Because of that, the files are only obtainable about 4 weeks after the filing date. I've found that many times, houses are already listed on the MLS.

I've gone to 3 different county court houses and 2 of those make it practically impossible to pull the quantity that we'd need to pull. For example, Middlesex County only allows you to pull 10 files a day! The other has been ok to work with but just told me last week that they are going to have to limit the amount of files that I pull.

I've spoke with the court house clerks at length about different ways to obtain the information. I know it's possible because there are a couple national probate lead providers that access probates in our area. But I know for a fact that they're not going into the court houses to pull these leads because the clerks told me that nobody pulls as many files as I do...not even close.

I have been very discouraged by the process since others throughout the country have had great success with probates. I wish I could provide better information but it seems that until they fully go online, it's not really a viable lead source in our area.

Thanks Jon

I have a couple investors interested in making initial investments with my RE biz. I'm looking to structure their investments in the 2nd lien position behind the hard money 1st position. Will this pose a problem with the hard money lender since they want my "skin in the game"? The hard money lender doesn't require proof of funds and therefore wouldn't know where my funds are coming from but in recording the 1st and 2nd mortgage, can this be done without the hard money lender knowing?