Posted by David Alexander on August 09, 2007 at 07:31:31:
Rarely…
How to attract tired owners - Posted by AJ
Posted by AJ on August 06, 2007 at 05:31:28:
I had a post similar to this, but if I make flyers, bandit signs, whatever it may take how do I get the DISTRESSED or TIRED property owners to call me.
What do I say, “tired property owners call me xxx-xxx-xxxx”
think twice - Posted by stan
Posted by stan on August 06, 2007 at 22:31:20:
Are you sure you want to go the “tired landlord” route"? Do you think you are willing to endure more pain than the previous owner? Or owners?
Reason I say owners is that these headache properties have a tendency to be resold every couple of years or so. You could be the next tired landlord wanting to unload this property. If the property was a regular little goldmine, why is the owner so eager to get rid of it? At a distressed price, no less.
Ask me how I know. I went this route and it just wasn’t worth the hassle. When I learned to step up to nicer properties in a better location with a better class of tenants, my investment results soared!
Think long and hard about this.
stan
Re: How to attract tired owners - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on August 06, 2007 at 10:03:20:
My suggestion is to think about the issues of a “tired landlord” or
motivated seller. Code compliance issues. Non-paying tenants. Major
repair issues. Vacancies. Poor property management. Then you
market yourself as someone who will take the property with these
issues.
Of course, you do have to be able to take care of the issues. It
wouldn’t be a good idea to market that non-paying tenants are “no
problem” for you if you are not willing to buy with the tenants/leases in
place. If someone calls you and you try to make a deal with them with
all the contingencies of an ordinary sale, they are going to think your
marketing is false. Not a great start or good first impression. So do be
careful with what you say you can do.
wrong approach - Posted by jimmy
Posted by jimmy on August 06, 2007 at 08:35:31:
you are looking for an easy way to find distressed peoperties and distressed owners. unfortunately, your bandit sign and newpaper ad get lost is a sea of other ads. and you have NO CREDIBILITY with potential sellers when you advertise this way. it comes as NO SURPRISE that you get zero response from these methods.
get out there and find distress. do it the old-fashioned way. drive around. have your network of contacts dig up stuff for you. get referrals from people who like and respect you. earn a good reputation and the biz will follow.
stop looking for shortcuts.
Re: think twice - Posted by Aj
Posted by Aj on August 07, 2007 at 05:24:48:
Hey Stan
thats good a point, what kind of hassles did u go through I am curious? I heard that same thing before from some other investor from a club I went to. But I was thinking I am young and can handle it, although a friend told me a tenant would take advantage of me more because I only 23 yrs old.
OH boy.
Whatever… - Posted by David Alexander
Posted by David Alexander on August 06, 2007 at 12:04:30:
Let’s see…
In the last 2 weeks I’ve bought about 350k worth of property… decided against doing another 250k worth of deals (they were short sales, and I don’t like short sales)
Those deals that I am doing… will result into about 70k… gross profit…
All… from the 14 calls I got from 75… stinkin’ banditsigns… (35 one week, and 40 the other)
Glad those things don’t work… and I guess my credibility must have been zero…
The hardest way is … referrals for any type of business endeavor… even selling hot dogs on the corner…
You can’t bank on referrals… and any type of “business” that makes it’s first investment as marketing… will kill the others… because they will not get that business… but, they will also, pick up the referrals as an ongoing result of doing good business…
Referrals… are just that… an extra stream of income from doing good business…
Not something that you should pin the lifeblood of your business on…
So, choose… direct mail, running ads, banditsigns, flyers, getting publicity, whatever it may be… but, marketing for a business is the lifeline…
Yes… that is the shortcut…
Re: wrong approach - Posted by Aj
Posted by Aj on August 06, 2007 at 08:39:39:
Well I wasnt looking for an easy way, but those ways I said were what I found on here that people said were popular ways and worked. I was starting to wonder how those would work?? But I will try those ways as well.
Thanks
Re: Whatever… - Posted by Berno
Posted by Berno on August 07, 2007 at 19:58:40:
In some areas things like bandit signs and mailings do turn people off, I guess it depends on where you operate. Although bandit signs, mailings etc may not hurt your credibility, snotty posts like this don’t exactly endear you to everyone, I would expect. Class and just being nice can also go along way when it comes to making deals…sometimes folks just like dealing with decent people.
-Berno
Re: Whatever… - Posted by David Alexander
Posted by David Alexander on August 07, 2007 at 22:40:25:
In some areas… ???
Rather… Some people… and that’s ok…
Your not trying to help the masses… just those that want to be helped…
As far as class… guess… you’d have to know me to love me…
My real point by the way… is that most start by going out and just trying to work the whole “I get my business by referrals” angle…
And real businesses market, track results, advertise, brand, create a message, and in general create systems that are replicatable and duplicatable…
If you are a person starting out and living off just the next refferal… You might not eat next month… unless them referral checks are really, Really, REALLY BIG…
Simply knowing… I was there… playin’ business years ago…
And then “WoW” I realized that knowing where your next few deals were coming from… was a lot better than… Not…
I realized marketing created a stream of income…
For me… that’s predominantly banditsigns…
For others… it could be anything that is repeatable, trackable and measurable… that gets the word out…
Again… though… referrals become a big part of a growing business… but, they are the reward for doing the right things… not the main course…
Re: Whatever… - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on August 08, 2007 at 10:24:37:
This thing about marketing vs. referrals really got me to thinking about
where my business comes from. Of course one should have both. In
seven years of doing deals, I’ve not been able to close one deal from a
referral. I get calls from people who got my name from an attorney or
a seller I bought from. But so far there has never been a deal there.
The main reason for that is that I seek out the deals by targeting
certain kinds of issues and then marketing directly to owners with
those issues. The calls that come from referrals rarely have the same
kinds of issues. Sometimes they do have problems but even then
they’re expectations are too high and they are hoping to sell their title
flawed junker for retail.
It seems that maybe my marketing, over time, helps people get clear
about what they have to sell. I can’t tell you how many times people
tell me they have had the letter in the drawer for 2 or 3 years. But
when they finally call they are usually ready to make a deal.
Problem I’m having is the repeatable, trackable and measurable part.
Half the calls I get I don’t know or remember when or why I targeted
them.
When you… - Posted by David Alexander
Posted by David Alexander on August 08, 2007 at 10:55:10:
solve that last part… you’ll begin to have complete control of your business… and the ability to double, triple, quadruple at almost a whim…
For the most part our referral business… in this comes as buyers… not as sellers… for the reasons you mentioned…
-
When we get referrals of sellers… the expectations in most cases are different than what we do.
-
Sellers are in most cases dealing with a scenario that is a once in a lifetime thing… and they are embarrassed etc… they ain’t sharing this problem with their neighbor…
Ex. You know Bob, last year I was losing my house… and those guys over at John Doe House Buyers… Man they really helped me… I heard You were in foreclosure too… Man I really reccommend them…
(Not Going To happen)
women’s work - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on August 08, 2007 at 14:20:51:
Agreed. Joe is not going to commiserate with Bob about his
foreclosure situation last year.
That being said, Jane will. It goes like this: Mary, sweetie, I know how
you feel. I was so stressed out last year when we were in foreclosure. I
was waking up every night at 3:00 am. I was afraid to answer the
phone and everytime the phone rang I yelled at the kids not to answer.
I kept suggestiing to Bob that we call some of those people on those
telephone pole signs, you know, the ones at the Vine Street exit. I
figured what could it hurt. He said no way was he calling those xxxxx.
So I called. The guy was really nice, knew right away what I was talking
about and was very honest that he might not be able to buy our house
if he couldn’t get the lender to discount the mortgage. I know John is
the same as Bob. Here’s the number. Call him today. I’ll call for you if
you want.
That IS happening, all day long. But then Jane still has to deal with Bob
and his issues about the investor guy making money on his house.
So those referrals are out there. They’re just not that easy to measure.
Kristine
Hehehe… Lol… - Posted by David Alexander
Posted by David Alexander on August 08, 2007 at 15:40:49:
We could do this all day… lol…
I think it’s more like… (and this is actually truthful)
Bob: Hi, I’m calling you about my house, a friend of mine John told me that you bought his house and he was able to get out like he wanted.
(Now, John doesn’t know Bob, was having financial problems and that Bob and Jane had just decided to let the house go if they couldn’t solve the problem)
What John does know (or rather thinks) is everything seems hunky dorey (is that a word) for Bob because now he is getting a new job and has moved… so his house must have sold… and Bob ain’t really saying any different.
John simply asked Bob… how he got his house sold… Bob… replyed… I got a number from a banditsign for this company…
Now… again… Bob has never mentioned his stress… only the good outcome…
Now John got the number hoping it was fast solution… because he doesn’t want to pay a real estate commission… and wants top dollar…
So, the referral you end up with… is a dud… John’s not a don’t wanter…
People in distress situations don’t talk to others about how they had to sell for what they owed… or how they escaped foreclosure because of this house buying company…
Bottom line Get your “We Buy” message out in front of motivated sellers and good things happen…
My Message is actually:
Sell Your House in 48 Hours or Less
We Pay Cash For Houses
men don’t ask for directions 
n/t - Posted by michaela-CA
Posted by michaela-CA on August 08, 2007 at 15:16:02:
…
Cash for houses - Posted by Kev
Posted by Kev on August 09, 2007 at 07:04:15:
David,
Do you actually pay cash for houses? Or is that just another way to attract more people to call you?
Thanks.