All Forum Posts by: Ross Williams

Anyone have thoughts on FreedomSoft versus DealMachine?

Kurt, what ended up happening?

My take is that SMS blasts are not legal under TCPA unless there is opt-in and can and have resulted in hefty fines.  Here is a synopsis I came across.

https://reimachines.com/sms-co...

Hi Joe, SMS marketing is technically illegal (unless there is opt-in) and can and has resulted in hefty fines.  Here's an article you may want to check out. (I have no connection to this company).

https://reimachines.com/sms-co...

Question for the forum on RE CRM programs in general and skip-tracing (I'm a tech rock):

The data feeds all come from the same source (e.g. Postal Service for vacants, city records for ownership etc).

What makes one skip-trace service better than another?  Seems people like FreedomSoft except for that piece (I look for vacants almost exclusively if that matters).

Thanks in advance people and best for 2021.

Trey, I've found Dave Lindahl's books on multifamily investing to be very good.  You can get the rest on BP.

Your experience was exactly mine.  Though there is some good information, it can be had for free elsewhere.  The course is a (clever) up-sell, in my opinion.  The refund terms are either deceptive or not clearly articulated.  Take your pick.  I'm not saying you can't be successful using this system, but why would a "guru" not focus 100% of their time doing deals rather than selling courses?  Secondly, why would they create competition for themselves?

No seller in their right mind would agree to a lease option in this market.   

There are at least two classes of investors: those looking for cash flow and those looking for capital appreciation. Each has its own accepted return threshold and they can often be vastly dissimilar. For identical asset A, an investor would always pay a cap rate of X versus a cap rate of ARV-related metrics are in and of themselves meaningless, without first determining the targeted return, and the risk-reward profile, of the asset in question.

Cash-on-cash returns.  The S&P as delivered ~8% total returns over time with near-instant liquidity.  I target cash-on-cash returns of 12% on real estate investments primarily due to much lower liquidity and the fact that I am very conservative by nature.  I believe Brandon Turner here on BP thinks the same way and also uses 12%.  Cap rates reflect expectations for real (not nominal) inflation and is the primary reason cap rates are at or near historic lows (in my opinion).  

Regarding properties on Loopnet and Crexi etc.:  these are the properties that brokers' best, most experienced LOCAL buyers passed on.  They are overwhelmingly bad deals.  Also, the cap rates advertised are usually inflated.  No surprise there.  This is a "needle-in-the-haystack" market for buyers.  I look at multifamily deals every day and have found 4-5 good ones in the last two years.