All Forum Posts by: Chris Clothier

Stephon Meadors -

I laughed when I read about your dollar bill showing thru the window. I have been doing that for about 3 years now and to different groups for different reasons. The highest response we received on this technique was when we mailed to investors who have purchased properties in our area and they appear to have paid cash. I use 9x12 colored envelopes with a letter inside and stack card with call to action inside and the dollar bill is actually attached to the letter and folded. The front side of the dollar bill has a yellow stickie attached that says "the first dollar of many!". The back side of the folded bill actually hangs out the envelope and peeks out below the folded flap with the adhesive.

Unusual sized, red envelopes with dollar bills peeking out tend to get opened!

We have run it to other lists, but never to home sellers and we have never had the same kind of open rate as the one we get from cash buyers. Keep it up and good luck with your business.

All the best -

Chris

It is still for asset protection. Same reason to keep business bank accounts separate from personal bank accounts.

When the property is no longer encumbered, it can be a more attractive target of a lawsuit. I personally do not know a single investor who has been sued and had a judgement for anything greater than what a basic insurance policy can over, so i do not subscribe to the paranoia but I do use basic structure and separation of assets for protection.

FYI - I use Shelter Insurance. There products and ability to work with someone like me was a big reason I went with them. The rates are not the lowest, but certainly not unreasonable and the service is much better than lower priced companies, IMO. I know they do not insure in all 50 states, but there in a lot of midwest states.

James Collins - There is some good advice on here from some people that speak from experience. On my side, I believe what David Beard said early in the thread. I interpreted it as insurance is your best bet against financial loss and the entity is your best bet to make the path to a lawsuit "difficult". My words not his just that's the way I read it.

I choose to have an insurance policy on each property with an umbrella overlay over the entire portfolio. The portfolio is all in one LLC. As I pay each property off they are moved to a different entity with its own umbrella policy and with a few more security tweaks. Then I have an umbrella over me personally that includes my businesses and entities. So everything is layered with insurance and can cover any unexpected events.

Ultimately I think separating, creating an entity and layering your insurance is your best bet.

Chris

You know, it is funny - there are guys like J Scott said who are in the business, just maybe not doing the same things they are teaching. I am acquaintances with some and they have moved on to other stuff or are lending money today or JV'ing with first timers. But very few are still driving neighborhoods or putting up bandit signs or negotiating directly with sellers...a lot of the things their "programs" teach. They are absolutely making more money selling regurgitated information that actually practicing.

So i do agree with J Scott - that is just a reality of educatoin sales. What is worse is the guy/gal who does a handful of deals and then packages someone else's course in their own wrapper and sells it on the REIA circuit. My 10 year old son has learned more from me about real estate than these guys and can probably teach it better too!

Hey Brandon McWhorter -

I happened to see your post on the forum and then saw that J Scott's response mentioning my company. He is correct in that this a general set-up for a turn-key company, although I hate that term. Full service is just another catchy phrase i prefer to use. Also, the management is something that a lot of people throw in as an after thought or an inducement to buy. IT IS NOT! It is easily the most important out of many important steps a company should offer if they want to purchase, renovate and sell properties and be successful at it. We think property management is an essential part of great customer service and it has paid off for us. We will go over the 1,500 properties under management, all from this exact model, some time this month.

Don;t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email if you have questions about how to get started or want any advice on pitfalls that will come along the way. We've been happy to help out a lot of other companies in any way we can.

All the best to you -

Chris

We used to run a local reia and only had 2 speakers in from out of town in 4 years and simply self funded it. Basically broke even. But we did give it up because it was getting in the way of our main business. Another REIA ended up filling the void and it is a Thursday night meeting for $20 and a Saturday follow up "sales pitch" for $49 to attend. Seeing as how we have had "a little success" in our market, we would love to do free sessions just on local topics only to be told that doesn't fit the financial model. It's unfortunate for the local investors because as a speaker, you get as much out of giving as the people who are receiving. It can be very helpful to local investors to hear from local entrepreneurs having success.

Barry Hammond a few great tips there. The webmasters utility may be a bit crude, but it is a very, very good way to see the real details that Google is showing for your site.

Gary Parker - great to hear that you are venturing into web marketing next year. You made a great point about 1 sale being able to pay for a marketing campaign and sometimes a year's worth of that campaign.

Shane Woods - people do business with you only after you have established that they like you and then that they trust you. Great content and consistently putting that content all over the web is a key component of that. That is why I love SEO. If you a good at creating content and understand that is the key to earning the like and trust factors, then the benefit it gives to being found on the internet becomes a HUGE bonus. IMO, many people seek to put out great content to help with SEO and they lose sight of the fact that the great content is often what builds trust and helps your clients attach a level of expertise to you. Not sure if all of that makes sense - don't want it to come across the wrong way. My point is that great content pays off in so many ways it is unbelievable.

Best of luck - Chris

Shane Woods - I found this thread today because you updated it and I read it from the beginning. I love that so many people have gotten into the comments and the thread has gotten a ton of views. I also think that Sean H. and Joshua Dorkin gave two outstanding web resources out to the readers when they mentioned Hubspot and SEOMoz. Both of these services are second to none and they excel at EDUCATION MARKETING. EM is a great way to grow your online presence and if your articles, blog comments and posts, videos, press releases and other online marketing tools are properly formatted for SEO, then you can rank not only #1 in searches, regardless of the location of the searcher, but you can own multiple positions on page 1 of all the sites. Eventually you can set your sites on very powerful search terms that are not so localized and begin to grab additional eyes to your site - including the ones doing general searches and not just the specific searches that you rank highly for.

That was not my point I wanted to make though! I think this is a great example of an entrepreneur who has learned to celebrate every win. If Shane is fired up by watching the progress of his site and his exposure grow online, that energy can absolutely carry him through times when the phone is not ringing enough or he may not win a house he really wanted. Granted, where you rank on Google does not put food on the table, but the souls of entrepreneurs are often fed by little fires that grow and propel us to bigger and bigger fires.

I'm fired up for you Shane and want to keep reading about how the little things like page rank keep leading to bigger things like profitable investments! Keep it up.

Chris

Shane Woods thanks for the help!

Chris