All Forum Posts by: Chris Clothier

Hey Cristina Corredor -

You have to take my comments with a grain of salt since Kent is after all my older brother. This is the first system that was not developed off of a process that we were already using with our business Memphis Invest. He developed it in conjunction with another real estate investor in the Northwest who was using these similar processes in his own business and doing very well. I say that because, we went in reverse this time. Instead of him showing a system to the world that we use, he showed me a system he was getting ready to show the world...and it does work very well.

I sent out over 400 letters just today to a highly specific list of out of area owners, with vacant and high equity properties in the DFW metroplex that I can guarantee are not getting marketed to heavily by the way the list was put together. If i went with looser criteria the list of properties I could mail to would grow. The same goes for Memphis where we already have a great reputation, but have wanted to begin to buy beyond just the realtor listed properties.

I am not sure how many properties you should have or how many you will have, but for me, I have been very happy with the results we have received so far and we are getting the very typical 3-5% response rate on the letters we send...especially after sending the third mailing and beyond. So again, I am family, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt, but it is really a very good way to get the information compiled and your letters out very quickly. I spent about 30 minutes max on building my list for the market and had the letters mailed by the direct mail company today.

I think Kent is pretty up front in his presentation and tells buyers to "let me know how we can improve" and even waives the monthly for that consideration, so in my opinion....the bottom line is just mail! Send the letters, send again and see what happens. If it doesn't work in your area send him the feedback. I can promise you that there is no amount of money that he would keep from a client who showed him they put their full effort in and it just does not get results in their area.

Please feel free to reach out to me and I'd be happy to help you use it if I can and if not, no big deal. I don't have anything to do with the systems or the education and have no financial stake in any of them. But I do use each of the systems and, as I said, most are modeled after the exact systems we use in Memphis and now Dallas and soon to be other markets.

All the best to you in your business -

Chris

Hey Troy G. -

As you get up here - or start planning your move, be sure to look me up. I would be happy to get you a list of good real estate people to help you find your first property and help if you wanted it - with learning the local market for investing.

Good luck - Chris

Conrad Johnson - Welcome to BP! I love the city of Nashville - best of luck with your investing up there.

Chris

Wow...it is unbelievable that people are willing to part with money so easily. I don't know if it is tied to the Zillow listing scam, but I highly doubt it. That makes no sense - they can get the info without applying and certainly without paying. I would agree with everyone else. We see it on a weekly if not daily basis. Bad info., wrong info., info. where they are stretching the truth. Crazy....

Welcome to BP Kristin Whitaker! That was a a helluva an introduction! I love the enthusiasm - must be the marketing side of you. Im a long way away from the pacific northwest, but if I can help feel free to reach out. Otherwise, you will find some great people that share your enthusiasm for all things real estate investing and I'm sure you will find some great people to network with locally.

best of luck - Chris

Welcome to BP Ian Moore. Best of luck to you as you get started!

Chris

Welcome to BP Sam Michie. There are a LOT of people on the site from Southern California and you should be able to get some great advice and input from that area. I would also look up Realty 411 and Linda Pliagas. She is in that Socal area and that magazine has a lot of following there in California as well. She can probably help introduce you to other resources and players to help get you started.

Good luck - Chris

I've always thought those would be good rental incentives on the back end as well as chase off vandals while they are vacant, but I'm not sure of the expense or if they would work any better than some of the other ideas. But they could work - especially in nicer areas.

I had a guy in a mastermind that we ran a couple of years back who placed led lights in the windows of the properties. He swore they looked like cameras and he never had a problem with theft or vandalism.

Dean -

A few things that we try to do to prevent these kinds of things from happening. Basic generic things, but they are deterrants and taken as a whole absolutely reduce the incidence of vandalism. We do these things in both Memphis and Dallas

1. Security glass door front and back on every property. (If water closet is outside, it needs a solid door with deadbolt, in my opinion).

2. Security sign in every front yard.

3. Never leave trash in front of house at curb - for anything. This invites thieves to steal new "things" you have put in the house.

4. Cut back bushes from around windows and doors and cut trees up above gutter line unless they are a possible source of future plumbing problems in which case remove. This is so that a burglar has no cover as they try and review a house to vandalize.

5. Put a sign on a caged ac unit warning of threat of electrocution if they tamper with wires.

6. Simple pad lock on gates for access to back yard.

7. Lastly, try to have as much traffic as possible. Either rental agents or renovation crews or even your vendors just stop by houses if they are working close by. A lot of traffic generally keeps people away from houses.

This happened to me on one of my personal properties a couple of years ago and was the only time I had an insurance claim because the water damage was so bad.