All Forum Posts by: Steve Milford

Or you can do what I did. Get your license. Then you have more in-depth conversations, and share in compensation as well. I.e. Most of my work is spent helping myself, friends and family and my primary job is not as a Realtor, but I still help when I get requests. 

When I got my license I was essentially broke (recently divorced and had to sell it all), but I got a box of business cards and I just started talking and handing it out whenever someone might need my phone number - whether or not they needed my services.

That being said, what I have learned since late 2015 being in the trenches, I believed I never could have learned otherwise. Beaverton is too far for me to travel to mentor, but it you were closer I am open to it.

I would say, stick with what you know. if you know Clark County, stick with it. The market is softening a bit as homes are sitting longer on the market, many are coming back from failed buyer financing, and appraisals keep coming in lower than expected in general. Right now, we Realtors that help Sellers want as high a price as we can get without closing cost assistance needed because of appraisal comes in low, we aren't giving money away. I tell my Buyer clients to be patient to find the right deal, but when it pops up be ready to move immediately. Waiting 2-5 days to evaluate prior to offer is unreasonable, if you are doing that you are moving too slow. 

Also, get out from behind the computer and go view as many homes as you can. If you buy reasonably, it will rent reasonably. You should be able to look at a home, research for 30-60 mins and then be able to go with your gut. I have my own calculator based on numbers that I like and from experience of looking at homes. After entering a few numbers, it just says "Yes" or "No". 

I wouldn't base my findings on another person's view points, I.e. I have investors that LOVE Rose Village.

As equally important is determining what your exit strategy is going to be. I.e. is it just rentals, or is it appreciation or both. I had one investor that loved his rental until it appreciated a lot in the last few years, then he just wanted to be done with it (his gain from appreciation minus CG was still more than 10 years of rental payments).

To me direct mail really is a game of cultivation of the leads. And phone calls from it are really just an avenue for an appt.

Perversely, my ROI is much, much, much better with referrals. Take your friends and others you meet to coffee, share with them what you are doing, ask for referrals, and then keep doing it. With direct mail, my cost is currently about 9 cents per piece not including postage... And that postage makes it all NOT worth it. $5 at Starbucks with someone you know, or recently met, goes a lot further than 10-15 pieces of unsolicited mail.

My recommendation is that you get your license and then do deals for yourself, friends and family. I have learned so much in that process and it has led me to other avenues as well.

Being a broker is not my bread and butter, but it has helped me find a lot of gravy.

Don't be too informative. I have done mailers for a few years and the more informative I am the lower response I get.

Easiest to me is getting properties off the MLS. Even in my over-priced market there are deals. Otherwise I encounter deals in my marketing as a Realtor.

You might want to find out what your investors definition of what is a good deal, and what they want from you. That will help in your search. The role of bird-dog is different for each person and value is different for each investor.

Get licensed. Life is 1,000 times easier with access to systems and other licensed pros are more apt to talk to you. Cost is minimal. I talk about it on BP a lot.

it is not legal to "wholesale" a property in Oregon if that activity involves collecting a compensation fee for a property you don't own.

My recommendation is to always get the license - it allows you to do so much anyways lol.

I did it more for education initially and to learn how to find distressed properties though now use it in all sorts of ways.

In 2018, my fixed costs... 

If I got a license only (doesn't mean I would have to become a Realtor, though I am). Cost is about $500 every 2 years (license + required education).

Get access to RMLS and Sentrilock lock boxes on properties, $1,200 annually (required participation fees and required membership in Realtor associations).

There are a few software packages that have made my life a lot easier, these are about $500 annually combined.

Until I conduct business FT for 2 years, the state requires one to be supervised. This cost is annual desk fees, co-commissions, and commission caps. Some of these are up-front and some are pay as they are earned. All brokerages are different and the biggest difference I have found is some require one to be full-time and some conduct formal training in addition to what state requires. 

I have been licensed for more than 2 years, and looked into going out onto my own though it is more hassle and costs a little more than if I leave it as it is (plus I get an awesome mentor that is available 7 days a week).

Back to getting a license...

I learn best through the School of Experience, I wanted a low-cost pay as I earn plan only, and I wanted to conduct my business in the way I wanted (with minimal micro-management). And I found it. 

Once I set this up my system, this didn't mean that I have to "work it". I work an average of 5-10 hours a week on it. In reality, it is my passionate side-hustle and ironically am doing more deals than average FT agent. It cracks me up. 

Once I started handing out my business card then friends and family told me they needed help. Licensing brings a little more credibility too. The only thing I do regularly for marketing is hand out my business card and maintain my own website with it's own hosting for about $150 a year.

Other advertising, mileage, and entertainment costs are variable and are a cost of doing business.

I bought a house for myself and got paid for it, advertise homes for others and get paid for it. Connect buyers and sellers and get paid for for it. And I facilitate transactions and get paid for it. 

I follow some general rules of thumb from my brokerage regarding fees though charge what I want. Overall, getting licensed was the best thing I did in this real estate adventure. 

Contact me if you want more info.

There is a much easier way. 

Call the utility in question and ask about the usage of the property address. When I have contacted utilities in my area, they tell me the range of highest and lowest in the last 12 months. i.e. P"ower usage ranges $75-$300 in past 12 months." They won't give me specifics though that is enough for my purposes. Just ask, "I am looking/renting a property, is there a way to find out how much the average utility bill is or a range?" I have never been told no - they just ask me the address and fork over the info.

I have found that there is no ready-made simple solution here. The best solution I have found, is also the most simple, Google contacts, calendar, drive, and task list (that works with the calendar app).

It is in the cloud and accessible across multiple platforms. A follow-up system is nothing more than a dated to do list or calendar notifications. 

Whatever format used, it is really about being organized and search-able and then determining an indexed field. In my case, it is the property address usually.