I certainly don’t consider bandit signs a waste of time or money. In fact they are the best bang for your buck as far as I am concerned. Whenever I get slow (which isn’t often anymore), I stick out about 25 bandit signs every week until I get some deals. Sure most are gone within a few days, but some stay up for weeks. And often, just in those few days I get a lead or 2.
I’ve bought about a dozen houses from these signs in the past 12 months. In fact, the best deal I’ve ever done came from a sign this March – 19K profit in 47 days.
My point with the previous post is that when you put up bandit signs, expect that most will get taken down. Don’t complain that someone is taking down your signs.
OK here’s the story. i have a problem with someone taking signs. i know i know it’s the city,agents,other investors,homeowners etc. it’s more than just a couple, we bought almost a thousand and are putting a lot out. and the used to stay up and we were doing great as for responses. i believe it’s agents because it’s like they follow me and i come back a day later and there gone from all but one or two spots, including peoples private properties. it’s as if they are saying you are getting too much attention and taking too much attention from us. a reason i feel it’s agents is because when i put a sign next to theirs my sign gets taken down or the stake i put it on gets snapped in half and left and any other signs are left as long as they aren’t real estate related. i have some ideas to stop this but want to here what other investors would do. please e-mail or post your ideas. one of mine is building rapport with all local RE offices. another is to put signs in a place they keep getting removed from and film the person then confront them. if it is an agent i will contact the president of their company along with the proof and demand it stop along with appropriate compensation for lost signs. if they don’t want repercussions. tell me what you think
Re: bandit signs- we have a problem - Posted by Heather_Tx
Posted by Heather_Tx on July 21, 2003 at 24:05:14:
I have had some of these same problems, and have also been told that there are realtors here in Houston paying $1 per sign that is pulled. I cannot verify this, but it’s just what I have heard.
I use to go out at 4am every Sat. morning to put out my signs, until I realized by 5:30 am they were gone… taking that into perspective, I went on the quest of finding out WHAT time they pulled the signs, and now mine seem to stay up better. I put them out between 5:30 and 6:30 am and lo and behold! Mine seem to be the only ones up the next day, when I know there were more there earlier .LOL
Home Builders for some reason add to this too. I can have a sign up before the builders get their signs up, and 15 minutes later it is gone, and 5 builder signs are up where mine was. So I have decided to go to the builders myself, and intorduce who I am, and what I do, and how it can benefit them… SO many times I have gotten calls from sellers that are buying a newly built home, but contracts fell through on their exsisting homes, and they are about to lose the new homes… So instead of worrying about builders pulling my signs to, I’ll just introduce myself, and show them how I can help their buyers sell that home that fell through, so they can go through with their NEW home.
Things won’t change, you just need to look at the problem, and be creative on finding a solution… I have even had RE agents call me and ask what I do, because they were about to have a listing expire that they needed to move. And I’m still a newbie only on my second rehab! Once I get more savvy, I’ll be able to help them a bit more I’m sure too! (I did birddog one for an agent that I should see 1K on shortly)
So instead of worrying and wasting energies on them pulling your signs, find out WHEN they are doing it, and go in behind them, put your sign up since ALL the other WEBUYHOUSES signs are down now, and have the monopoly And be creative on how to deal with the problems that arise from this… because it will probably never change! LOL
Re: bandit signs- we have a problem - Posted by Ron M (WA)
Posted by Ron M (WA) on July 19, 2003 at 14:22:40:
I own a " by owner" company. We give out small directional signs that are under 3 ft in height when placed in the ground to direct traffic to our customers’ homes. Last weekend, all the “by owner” signs in one particular neighborhood dissapeared and all the agent signs stayed. Our county ordinance states that 1 directional sign can be used for the purpose of selling a property on each entrance street to where a property is located.
Frankly, what I believe you are encountering “is” agent resistance. You are trying to make a living, helping out somebody who is in a distressed situation that cannot afford to pay for the services of a real estate agent. I belive that is a noble thing to do. Especially, since in my own way, I do the same thing and I see the results of my efforts with hundreds of clients every single year.
I would place a video camera, hooked up to someone’s home computer in a window nearby and then put a sign in their yard. It could even be your own yard. When the sign goes AWOL I would then have the evidence to confront the thief.
Keep in mind, if your city has an ordinance against the type of signs you have, then you cannot do anything legal or enfoce collection. It’s likely that the agent’s directional signs are legit because they are advertising a specific property.
Around where I live, certain code enforcement officers along with several companies hired by the various cities and counties take down the signs all day long.
I once saw a fellow pull into a gas station parking lot that had about a dozen signs on the corner. He walked over to the signs and pulled them all out of the ground and put them in the back of his pickup truck along with a hundred other signs. I asked him what the deal was with all the signs and he told me his full time job was to pull up illegal signs and knock them down from phone poles. He had a 25 foot long extension pole to knock signs down that were high on poles.
Just remember that bandit signs are illegal pretty much anywhere. Your complaint kind of sounds like the junkie who died because the cocaine he bought was laced with PCP. It runs with the territory.
I’m an investor, and I HATE bandit signs. I just don’t like clutter and that’s what they are to me. But I wouldn’t take down We Buy Houses signs to the exclusion of others. I’ve really wanted to put some up but can’t think of doing it in a way that seems “right” to me. So maybe it IS another investor.
I don’t think an attempt to build rapport will be too effective. Catching someone in the act would be the most effective, but that would take time out of your day. How many signs are being taken? Maybe it’s a combination of things contributing to the disappearances.
It could be investors. I was at our REIA meeting speaking to another investor and he made mentioned that he took some signs down in there Terriortory…very childish in my opinion. But anycase if you have a strong ordinance like we do it is matter of time before they will take them down.
If Realtors are taking them down…I would confront them along with other investors. Keep a look out in local shopping centers for your material. Jim_FL over at rementors.com has a real good thread about this issue. Jump over there and check it out.
One thing I have thought of is making weekend runs. Fri-Sun.
And be creative on how to deal with the problems that arise from this… because it will probably never change! LOL