All Forum Posts by: Scott Costello

@David Corbaley - Yea, I am aware of your Done For You program and it is something I'd love to do, but even at the discounted rate you had offered, I still couldn't afford it. I'm sort of stuck in a which has to come first situation....I need more money to do the marketing I want to get the deals, but I need more deals to get the money to market the way I want. LOL

So my strategy is to take things in increments, pay what I can afford to pay to get some SEO work done and move on from there.

Good suggestion @Javon Dixon

I haven't used ZOHO, but have heard about it. Is there anything in that software that you wish it did that it does not do?

I typically hand write my envelopes using the name of the executor/executrix. I don't mention the estate or the deceased on the envelope. My thinking is that if they see a random person sending them mail regarding the estate they may ignore it.

I'd be interested to see what other people have to say on this matter.

I also did a trial run with postcard mania. I thought everyone there was friendly and helpful. They designed a very nice postcard for me and i sampled a batch of about 1500 postcards to a list I provided to them.

My results....7 responses (0.46%).

The list was Out-of-State owners I pulled from the tax records, of which I got about a 13% response rate using yellow letters.

I'm not going to say anything bad about them, I just don't think postcards work well for finding motivated sellers in my area. Maybe they were "To Nice" or maybe my message wasn't good (although it's the same message I use in my letters).

In the end I'm not a believer in postcards.

Hope that helps

I've bought the course and will give it to thumbs up. @David Corbaley gives some good information and in a logical way. Try and get his mindmap on implementing his entire strategy, it's great stuff.

I will warn you that to implement everything he has in the course is a FULL TIME JOB. No joke! It was too much for me and I'm looking to hire a VA or someone to do it for me.

@Pat L. Nice!

I always found it tough to get non binded yellow lined paper so I go with white lined paper refills. I get these from stop & Shop for about 450 sheets for $2. And then I get my envelopes from Staples when they have a sale. Though recently I found 500 packs of #10 envelopes (self sealing) for $10 each. Snapped those up!

I'm sure I could find better deals, but these are good and are in convenient places to where I live.

I'm not sure if this is the same experience other people have had when they first started out, but here is mine...

I found it very difficult trying to build a team when I had no experience or properties under contract. Sure I can talk with contractors who say, sure if you ever get a rehab project I'll be your guy. Or talking with Realtors who will help you out at first, but their responsiveness goes way down after a few weeks.

Like some said before me, build your systems first and get your marketing out there. Attract those sellers and buyers, get things moving. You'll meet other investors and build relationships. Then you can use those relationships to help point you in the direction of good contractors, agents, lawyers, etc...

When I started trying to build my team before having any leads on houses and buyers i got no where and just wasted time doing Non-Money making things. Once I started getting sellers calling, getting offers accepted and networking to find cash buyers, my team kinda formed naturally as I needed them.

Not saying this is the way to go for everyone, it's just how it played out with me. Best of luck!

I've had my license for 4 years now and to be honest I rarely use it outside of the MLS access. Having mls access is gold when you are first starting out because you don't have the connections and relationships you'll have as you gain experience. I will say that the cost of maintaining your license is a bit steep, about $1200 a year.

Also in New Jersey, I had to take 12 hours of continuing education classes every year. This wouldn't be a problem, but I work a 9to5 job and it was very very difficult for me to keep taking off work to do the classes or try and fit them in on a weekend.

I was happy when my partner got his license because I could put mine in "referral" status. This means I can only refer sellers or buyers to other agents and i'll get a referral fee for doing that. I can not access the MLS or do anything else. It cut my yearly fee down to $150, and I can keep it in this status for 6 years. If I ever activate it again, I will have to take the require continuing ed classes that I missed.

Sorry to go off on a tangent from your question, just wanted to give you my full experience with the license.

You can also get access to the MLS by becoming an "Assistant" to an active agent. You don't need your license for this.