All Forum Posts by: Trevor Ewen

Huge fan of this one. Jay has amazing character and integrity. He doesn't brag about himself or his business, really like his style.

@Derrick Strope

Hysteria has been a little crazy, particularly in urban areas. On the edge of Seattle, you are definitely seeing a bit of that craze. People in NYC talk about paying 1M+ for a condo and call it an investment, knowing that the rent on the unit is nowhere near 10,000 (1%), I am completely shocked. 

This in turn ups the confidence of everyone on the outskirts, and even people in areas where the gain is not that crazy are seeing gain, because cash flow investors are heading to their regions. 

I would consider going for some geographical diversity or a little further out. Right now NYC and most of NJ is crazy hard for me, and I imagine Seattle greater area is very similar.

@Lisa Davis

It's actually not a bad strategy, I recently listend to a great interview with John Schaub talking about this exact concept.

If anything, it makes you look better. You are not carrying an existing owner occupant mortgage, you have no debt (assuming no credit card or other debt.).

@Account Closed

Google uses a very intense and often changing algorithm to determine a website's relevance in search results. There are some things that you cannot guarantee, but there are a few honest things you can work hard to improve:

- Links pointing to your site. This is by far the best method to get traffic. This shows that you are a trusted authority. When Google parses these other sites, it is keeping a record of all the links. When it parses your site, it references that record. Make guest appearances on shows, blogs, make colleagues, affiliates, have customers link back to your site. All these things will help more than you can imagine.

- Keyword optimization. Google will actually parse and read all the text on your site. Don't write anything disingenuous, but write things about what you are doing. Write about your local market, your services, anything else that stands out. 

- You can track how people are coming and going at your site using Google Analytics. It's a great tool, and it will help you identify the keywords that really draw people in. Ideally, you don't want to compete with ultra common keywords (Real Estate, Wholesaling, Real Estate Investing). You want to find the niche keyword that is really drawing people in, that will give you a superior edge: (New Hampshire Investing, Manchvegas Real Estate, etc.).

If you have more questions, just drop me a line.

Thanks @Kimberly Jones, you have good experience in the area. So I may reach out to your in the future, should one of my colleagues take more interest. My business partner was born in New Orleans, and I know he wants to get back there, eventually.

@Kimberly Jones

Given my limited experience with New Orleans, my initial inclination is to stay hands off. It's a place that has a great deal of nostalgia for many, a notoriously tricky local government, and historically rough weather. 

Interested in the prospect of land investment like this, but it's never easy.

@Don Nguyen

This chart from NPR is another I really like.

It's clearly targeted at owner occupants, but it simultaneously gives you information on the potential income in residents and volatility over the last 20 years. Also, how your city compares to others like it.

@Don Nguyen

US Census Data is always a good place to start: http://www.census.gov/- Great for homeownership rate.
- Business count
- Per capita income

RealtyTrac Reports are great
- Much of it is tuned to retail buyers, though.

There's also something to be said for generating data on your own. I met an entrepreneur years ago who started this site. He identified a niche in the medical student rental market, based on what he had learned from surveys that he had conducted. Conducting surveys now is very easy. Furthermore, you can always combine two disparate data sets to paint a unique (and ideally unseen) picture about a region.

@John Santero

No matter how sophisticated tech marketing, mail marketing, and signage can get. It doesn't beat gold old fashioned walkin' and talkin'. Interestingly, this even applies in the tech industry and other places that would claim it's a primitive technique

Well done.

@Joe Howell

Welcome. Are you planning to do your investment in Omaha? It's an interesting town to me, I don't hear a ton of buzz, but maybe that's a good thing for people in the know. Feel free to reach out for anything you need.