All Forum Posts by: Sharon Vornholt

Ebony - you can't make an offer until you actually know what it will cost you to repair the house. Once you have that number and have comps so you know the real value of the house then you can make an offer.

In some states (not mine) the court has to approve the price.  You can double close it if you have an attorney or title company that will do double closings.  I have written something called the "complete guide to double closings" on my blog.   You can find that here: 

https://louisvillegalsrealestateblog.com/complete-...

If the house was a deal at 55K before, why not just offer that?  The seller will be more apt to sell it to you since they will be making more. It's not going to cost you anything more and they won't have to go back to court.

I can add about 60-80 each month. There are a lot more that pass away but those either don’t have property or the don’t have property that I want. In a year I would have 700-800.  I also use other language lists and other strategies. Not just direct mail. 

@Taylor Nunn - Reach out to John Casmon in your area. Casmon Capital Group. He is very knowledgeable about Chicago.

@Ebony J. - how much did you pay for your list?  I personally would get another list and just start fresh.

No. Marketing to get deals.  Direct mail, websites, cold calling, driving for dollars, networking etc.

1. Not wait so long to get my first deal.  It was about a year for me. Just do it. 

2.  You should crystal clear that marketing is your #1 job in real estate investing so get really good at marketing.  You don't need to know anything else if you don't have leads coming in the door.  This tends to be put to the side when things get tough especially if you have a JOB.

3. Build your brand right from day 1.  I wish I had done that.  Marketing and branding go hand in hand.  Think of it this way: marketing is how you get deals in the door.  Your branding is why they choose YOU.

4. Dive into your local REIA, groups like BiggerPockets, and blogs and read everything you can get your hands on. Instead of watching so much TV binge on real estate education.

Bilon - don't get discouraged.  You need to stay in the game long term.  81% of your deals with come at or beyond your 5th mailing.  

What I do is put in my state, the counties I want, then I get a list of zip codes.  You can remove any of those you don't want.  If you use a mailing company (and get your list through them ) they can do that for you.  Here's the thing; lists are pretty cheap to get.  I always updated my list every 6 months.  

Burt - I would put the property under contract, and send it over to the closing attorney. You can't close until the title issues are resolved.  That's why god made attorneys. Let them fix the mess.

That should come out of the seller's proceeds since it is their mess. 

you can do it yourself but I might suggest that you use a service like Secure Pay One. They're pretty reasonable and it takes you out of the equation. You can just be a neighbor.