All Forum Posts by: Robert Whitelaw

 Hi Catherine,

Man, a whole lot has changed since that post! It is actually even easier now than before, with automatic acceptance. I have it setup now so that if the time is open it can be booked.

What a property manager charges is going to vary by region and type of property. When I first started looking for a property manager for my property in Hawaii, I was getting people telling me they charge from 25-35% to manage the property! I actually laughed out loud at the first property manager I was talking to because I thought they were joking when they told me 35%.

I worked out a deal with a property manager where I book all the guests and take care of collecting all the money. They just get the guest into the property. He also referred me to clean up folks. So I just share the online reservation calendar with both the property manager and the cleanup folks so they both know when folks are coming and going. With this setup, my property manager charges me 10%.

Right now, there is a big deal going on with Hawaii vacation rentals on Oahu - they passed a new law that will more or less make it illegal for me to rent my property as a vacation rental after Aug. 1st! Still trying to iron out how that is going to work out.

Hope That Helps,

Robert

Thanks for the reply @David Hunter. Since my last post, I have started a regular direct mail piece that sounds very similar to yours. I send oversize postcards to an entire carrier routes. Still too early to judge the results, but after lots of research, it does seem like a solid approach. Oh, and I completely agree that these mailings need to offer some value. Not just a 'use me because I am wonderful' kind of thing. I like to embrace that idea in EVERYTHING I send out to earn business.

Anyway, I will reach back out with an update when I have some results (good or bad) to share.

Cheers,

Robert

Originally posted by @David Hunter:

 I know this post is a year old but maybe it'll help you or others...   Yes, we are using good old fashioned direct mail.  We mail postcards to our sphere and mail oversized postcard via the USPS's Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM).  We send out postcards announcing new listings and SOLD listings, while offering a copy of our Home Seller's Guide (This is our Lead Generation Magnet).

And that's the thing that helps get better returns... offering something of value to potential homesellers to get them to raise their hand (re: Home Seller's Guide).

We also use postcards when we have buyers (especially out-of-towners) looking for specific homes in specific neighborhoods, but aren't finding ones they like.  With these postcards we are ALWAYS specific with what the buyers are looking for, mention the neighborhood they're looking in, and the days they'll be in town looking.

I was just looking into easy online rental collection and cozy came up in my search. It actually indicates that it is free for landlords - at least for the basic package. Still reviewing the site now, but it looks kinda cool.

And of course, I should have realized that the biggerpockets team would already have a post on this very topic: https://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/pay-rent-online-payment-tools/

In the template letter that is provided by NAR for reaching out to Pre-Foreclosure folks (https://www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/applic...), they specifically mention Foreclosure and the persons situation. Note, this is the national association - not a specific state. Given the legal review they put this stuff through, I would think it is good to go. As always, your mileage may vary.

R

@Steve Bracero The 6 month rule is actually good for most things. After reading up on Homesnap, I get the feeling it would be its most useful when you have an active listing. I don't at the moment, but I do have some in the pipeline. I will kick it into gear when one of them goes active and see what happens.

Howdy Folks,

I am in growth mode with my business. I have started doing some facebook ads to get leads and I am looking other strategies with proven results.

I came across homesnap pro and it looks like just a centralized place for agents to let someone else do the legwork of creating ads for you. Once you log in and get exploring you see a slider that lets you set spending limits for advertising on Google, Facebook, Instagram and Waze. 

I am not sure I see a true value add with this, but their sample ads that they would create do look pretty good. However, the amount of money you are spending on this is more than if you just did it yourself. I am dubious of google related real estate ads - I have done it in the past with very weak results. Instagram is an unknown for me. I have had an account forever and there was a time when I was posting pretty regularly (like when instagram first came out), but I never got anything out of it that fed my business. Finally, Waze - I have mixed feelings on the likely hood of this getting me business. Frankly, I use Waze and I cannot even recall ANY advertisements I have ever seen and if I were driving and an ad came up for a real estate agent, I cannot imagine that gets much attention.

So I thought I would ping you guys. Has anyone used homesnap and gotten a good result? Even just 2 transactions a year might make it worth it, but I cannot help but think that there are better ways to spend my marketing dollars.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,

Robert

Sean,

Thanks for sharing your great story. I am further along - at least in terms of age - than you. I started my career in real estate way back in 1988. I spent a huge chunk of my time guiding investors to great properties and giving them advice that would ultimately pay them great dividends. However, I never took my own advice. I got married in the mid '90's and did not want to take "The Risk". It may have been an excuse - regardless of what it was, I now find myself much further along and I am embracing the old me that was willing to take on those risks. My goal is to get where you are in terms of real estate investment holdings within the next 5 years. I have a vacation rental in Hawaii that is doing great - but now comes building my inventory of properties. So let me just say to all the folks out there that might be closer to my end of the age spectrum - what Sean has done you can do as well. Don't ever assume that your time has passed to take those kinds of actions.

Cheers,

Robert

Hi Mindy,

Its been a little over an hour and I still get the banned message when I go to my inbox. 

R

Ah, ok. Since they were all Facebook folks I just went with the same basic invite. Thanks for clarifying.

I guess it takes a little while for the fix to propagate... still getting the banned error when I go to my inbox.

R

I was in the middle of connecting with folks that biggerpockets found I was also friends with on Facebook. After the second person, I got the error that I was banned from messaging. Not sure what is up, but please remove the ban. Of course, if I was a bad boy, just let me know what I got up to that caused the issue.