All Forum Posts by: Jeff Filali

Contact other short-term rental ads in the area that are listed by a PM or company name.  Won't take very many calls before you find someone to work with.

I would much rather have them contact about an annoyance rather then not contact and it turn into something major. I don't want a small water leak to cause them not to call because worried about $100 and it end up turning into $5,000 in replaced flooring and more.  If calling about stupid small stuff becomes an issue, we can always address it with the tenant.  We do have in our lease that tenant is responsible for routine things like lightbulbs, filters, and cleaning, etc.  Also, have it where they're responsible for lawn maintenance, and if not will be billed for our lawn guy doing it.  We always mow a day or two before move-in so they know how we expect it to be maintained.

I've established HELOC on several of my properties recently but both banks I use are regional here. Neither had an issue with it, definitely will need updated appraisal. I may depend on the amount of equity you have, I only did it with properties that I held 100% equity.

BE HONEST AND OPERATE WITH INTEGRITY!!

Last year a wholesaler represented themselves as a "Cash Buyer Investor", locked up a property and the homeowners didn't know any better, they had the contract saying the "Cash Buyer" was going to buy their home and close in 30 days. So they purchased another home and moved prior to closing.

Closing date came and they hadn't heard from the "Cash Buyer", so they called and were told there was an issue with the title, and it may be a couple weeks. So, the homeowner paid the mortgage payment on both homes. 2 weeks go by, still nothing. Call again, and are told any day now. Another week, now they are told because of the title delay, the "Cash Buyers" had to redo some paperwork with the bank, and it caused a funding delay. So the homeowner pays two mortgages again that month....

These delays go one for 90 days with the homeowner paying two mortgages and the "cash buyers" kept delaying, saying they had funding issues, inspection expired, etc... Finally, the homeowner had enough and called the title company that they were told was being used. The title company said they've never heard of the "Cash Buyers", and didn't have any contracts on their property!!

Homeowner calls the "Cash Buyer" back furious. Is told, we thought we could sell it for you, but we couldn't, so we're going to have to cancel the contract!!

Fast forward 3 more months, and the homeowners were getting behind trying to maintain two mortgages, and were facing possibly losing the home and destroying their credit. BAD BAD situation...

They called me off an ad, and luckily I was able to go meet with the bank with them, and purchased the house before foreclosure. I was just happy to be able to help them. Then was able to turn around and help a single mom into buying the home after she had ruined her credit going through a divorce. I sold it to her and carried the note over 10 years.

The homeowners, and the new buyer have referred me many additional clients since this all happened.

I call that a WIN - WIN - WIN - WIN!! The homeowner got out from the very bad situation, the bank got paid in full without having to foreclose, the new owner got help getting out of renting and buying a home, and I'll make some decent money on the deal over time. These are the deals that remind me to be PROUD of what we do. Its a service that helps people if you're in it for the right reason.

Moral of the story...BE HONEST AND OPERATE WITH INTEGRITY!!

I own 13 properties in Oklahoma as I live here.  Great market, but just like anywhere, there's good and bad.  My suggestion would be connect with someone local and experienced, who may be able to help you locate turnkey properties already rehabbed, occupied and with property manager.  The play here is definitely cash flow, not appreciation because the markets that do appreciate the most here, still are no where near the appreciation on west coast markets, most the better ones are around 4-5% per year, but the cash flow numbers in the best of the best neighborhoods isn't as good as the B/C blue collar, and section 8 properties.  Its pretty easy to find good 1.5% or better rental ratios here in the B/C areas.  In the AA areas, you're lucky to even hit 1%.  The rule here is live in the AA communities but invest in the B/C pockets, or sometimes you get lucky on a property that needs a lot of rehab first.

Find someone local who's killing it doing what you want, and reach out to them.  Maybe even ask about the possibility of partnering on a deal.  You'll find the majority of successful REIs are all willing to help each other with advice, or looking for others to partner with to do more deals, or even have more leads on deals then they have funding to do, so they may wholesale a deal to you.

Good luck!!

Facebook ads are about the best advertising for anything these days. I used FB and GoogleAds to blow up my REI business until my SEO rankings started generating a lot of free leads.

As an out-of-state investor, you are going to be far better off to find a turnkey company or other local investors looking to sell some of their turnkey properties.  I've sold several of mine as I was looking to roll into larger projects or multis.  But other investors will definitely help you more then most realtors until you establish your presence there.

Yes, tying in SEO and PPC to my website is what blew my business up.  I did a lot of PPC ads while my SEO rankings were moving up.  Now I get so many motivated leads from free google search because I rank at the top in almost every category and market I am marketing, I no longer spend anything on PPC.  It does take some time, and money, but is well worth it if you set it all up correctly. 

Totally depends on your goal.  Some people want to scale and build a huge business.  Others just want to make enough to quit their jobs, or to build a nice retirement income.  For me, I own almost all of my properties free and clear, and have very little overhead, so I am totally happy taking on limited debt at better rates and earning a great residual cashflow and just reinvesting excess profits.  This allowed me to get to multiple of my freedom number and semi-retire faster with a lot less properties.  To each their own!!

Good luck!!