Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by Tom

Posted by E.Ek on May 07, 2004 at 08:23:39:

HA HA! It wasn’t my intention to be condescending…ok, ok, I can admit when i’m wrong. Sorry Tom, Culoch and Ron!!! Do i have to still go to detention :wink:

Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by Tom

Posted by Tom on May 04, 2004 at 13:36:56:

I was wondering what marketing activities you do and your budgets.

For example
My marketing actitvities are as follows:

Per Month:

Newpaper ad - Main Newpaper = $283
“Penny saver” newpaper ad = 34
Driving around to find properties = 40 (Gas money)
Business cards- hand out 300 50
Direct mail to out of state owners 450

Total 857 per month

What type of activities are you all doing andhow much does it cost. Since i want to be making 100K + per year, i figured i’d find out what you guys did, and then do it too

Thanks

Tom

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by Potash

Posted by Potash on May 06, 2004 at 18:26:24:

My entire advertising budget consists of about $100/year in penny saver ads. Of course I have never gotten a deal from the ads, they are just a red herring.

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by Sean

Posted by Sean on May 05, 2004 at 13:36:52:

You are doing WAY WAY WAY more marketing than I am doing, and I have averaged over 100k in cash and equities per year since starting.

Right now, pennysaver 40 +/- a week (160 a month)
Web Site, that I run off my own DSL connection ($0) per month
Various postings to free classfieds online that point to my website in the ads (all advertising we do has our web site address in it, period)
Business cards $20 a few times a year.

That’s it at this point. Haven’t used bandit signs, or a general newspaper ad for the “Buying” side yet. Just in the pennysaver every week like clockwork.

I must confess that the pennysaver does indeed tend to attract the lower end in terms of sellers, but have been offered 200k-300K (high end here) as well from that marketing as well.

I think I may try some bandit signs in some pretty neighborhoods in the coming months just to see what happens.

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by jasonrei

Posted by jasonrei on May 05, 2004 at 08:18:13:

Display ads in periodicals- $1800 to $2000 per month (it has paid for itself)
Scout- $2000 per month (worth it)
Direct mail- $2000-2700 per month (the preforeclosure mailouts are very cost effective, the mass mailings have not been effective yet)
Bandit signs- $1000 per month (only done it 2 months, so too early to tell, no good rehab leads)
Miscellaneous advertising- $500 per month

It doesn’t take this kind of advertising to make $100k per year. Depending on your market, you could do it with all your leads coming from wholesalers and preforeclosures. I think courage, business cards, a phone, and some shoe leather are all that’s needed to make $100k in real estate. That and some knowledge obviously. I’m fairly new at spending much on advertising. Until recently I pretty much knocked on doors, had agents send me leads, and bought from wholesalers on occasion. Advertising was minimal and profits were good.

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by Taiyo

Posted by Taiyo on May 05, 2004 at 24:18:58:

I am primarily a Flipper. I make well over $100,000.

I have a Buying Network who find me investments and a Selling Network who sell my properties.

My monthly expenses consist primarily of:

Gas -$400, approximately 3,500 miles researching properties
Meals/meetings - $500 (breakfeast and lunches)
Business cards.

What responses are you getting now…? - Posted by JT-IN

Posted by JT-IN on May 04, 2004 at 19:50:50:

Tom:

What responses are you getting from that 857 you are spending each month…? I would think plenty, but that of course will vary from market to market. Are you saying that you are not getting the type of response from this marketing that will get you where you want to be…? (Just another way to ask the same question, I suppose).

What is more important than the amount, type and scheme of marketing that one does, is how well prepared is the investor, to handle the calls when they arrive…? One investor may need 10 calls to convert from advertising to a deal, while another may only need 5… all relative to your aquired skills at handling such calls.

Personally, I spend hardly no money on marketing… I simply retrieve from public record, based upon certain criteria, (location, price range, ratio of defaulted mtgs, 1st vs. 2nd mtg’s, and so on), defaulted owners who are heading toward foreclosure. When one of those situations fits my criteria well enough, then I’ll be on their door step rather soon… over the next week or two, and attempt to learn more from the homeowner of how we can structure a deal. Of course these never work out in the proportion that one would hope or expect, but it doesn’t take too many of them to make a nice living.

This is simply how I do it… or course one of the neatest things about this business is that there are so many ways to be successful. You simply find a method that lets your creative genious shine through, and you are likely close to a payday, if you continue to do the techniques with enough regularity; (provided those techniques are well founded and would lead a reasonable investor to a deal).

Continue to evaluate what you are doing, educate yourself to do a better job, and experiment with what you continue to learn… and the sum of all that should cause you to grow toward your goals…

Just the way that I view things…

JT-IN

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by Marc Donovan

Posted by Marc Donovan on May 04, 2004 at 19:16:34:

I spend my money on flippers. There are enough flippers in the local rei clubs that I don’t need to advertise. I would rather give a flipper 3000 than do the footwork myself. Its a LOT of work to find these motivated sellers. Its also a LOT of work dealing with banks, but that’s another story.

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by E.Eka

Posted by E.Eka on May 04, 2004 at 16:57:53:

Your assumption is flawed. You’re assuming that an investor’s marketing plan is correlated to earning 100K. There are many other factors as well.

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by Vlad(IL)

Posted by Vlad(IL) on May 05, 2004 at 10:07:17:

Wow, 100K year for advertising alone? Do you spend all this money in one month or do you spend

2K one month on ads
next month spend 2.7K on direct mail,
next month spend 1K on bandits?

Thanks,
Vlad

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by BigHarold

Posted by BigHarold on May 05, 2004 at 10:25:20:

Ok Taiyo, you’re gonna have to further explain this. How did you set up your Buying Network, and what does it consist of? Same question for your selling network. I know I’d like to know more.

Harold Wilson

Re: What responses are you getting now…? - Posted by Tom

Posted by Tom on May 04, 2004 at 20:23:25:

Hi

Oh I am getting an overwhelming response, honestly my phone doesnt stop ringing. ALot of the leads are not the most motivated, but some are, currently i have 4 deals on the table that are all potentials.

1- got from drving around
1- called me off my ad
1- call from out of state owner i sent letter to
1- refereral from a friend.

I havent put out signs yet either.

I want to begin a marketign campaign to pre foreclosures soon as well. I’m just putting about 90 percent of my effort into getting word out there.

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by Ron (MD)

Posted by Ron (MD) on May 04, 2004 at 19:25:06:

E.,

What an arrogant, silly response to a legitimate question.

I don’t think he implied (let alone said) that he believed that this was the sole factor related to the success of successful investors.

Did you really think it was helpful to say that there are many factors that contribute to an investor’s success? (Duh.)

Do you really think there is absolutely no correlation between an investor’s success and how he spends his marketing dollars?

Does that mean that if you were seeking input on allocation of marketing dollars, you would value the guidance of an unsuccessful, newbie investor as much as that of an experienced, successful investor?

It was an absolutely reasonable question. If you don’t want to answer it (or, you don’t make $100k in REI), then just keep quiet.

Ron Guy

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by Tom

Posted by Tom on May 04, 2004 at 17:47:16:

Come on now, i realize that there are many other factors. But i wasn’t asking about those right now. I thought this forum was to help people, not play logic games. SO i will ask you - Do you make 100K per year or more investing . If so, what is your budget. If not, then I am sure that i could learn from you somehow, but i am not requesting your advice in other areas, such as if my assumption is flawed or not.

SOrry if that sounds kind of harsh, but honestly, on a post like that, answer the question or don’t, what good does it do to post something like that, you know that its just going to frustrate the question asker, and you yourself dont get the benefit of sharing knowledge

PEACE

Tom

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by jasonrei

Posted by jasonrei on May 05, 2004 at 10:55:20:

Yes, $8500 per month is our advertising budget. Mind you, last year I doubt we spent $500 per month on advertising. This is something we just started this year. In fact, we just hit $8k in March and April. The reason we’re doing it is we want to triple our profits. Maybe it’ll work, maybe not, but we’ll follow the plan and see what happens.

I know a lot of guys that spend at least that much per month, and even some that spend $20k per month. I don’t know if we’ll be spending $8k per month at the end of the year, but if it’s profitable we will.

Sounds like it is working… - Posted by JT-IN

Posted by JT-IN on May 04, 2004 at 20:39:00:

So what do you say to these people when they call…? Do you feel like you are prepared to hadnle these calls…? Do you know what to do with one of these if they lay down in front of you…? What method of purchase are you prepared to proceed with, if they are game…?

Only you know the answers to these questions…

It seems that if you are receiving calls and ready to handle the calls, you should have no problem getting to where you want to go… If there is doubt about that, then determine what causes this doubt…? Is it lack of experience…? Then keep practiicing. If you aren’t quites ure what to say and do, then read some more… You can get an overwhelming amount of experience by simply reading text of those that have done successfully, what you are wanting to do… I realize that this is why you asked the question in the first place…

I am simply more on the side of whether you are prepared to handle the calls, when they come. If not, then do some more reading on the subject, either here on cre… or get some courses that deal with handling incoming house calls… Interpersonal selling skills, is mostly what it boils down to… Hear the person that is calling, and through a series of questions, direct them where you want them to go… or to lead you… It is all about techniques, really. Quite mechanical, and anybody can learn these.

Good luck on getting there…

JT-IN

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by E.Eka

Posted by E.Eka on May 06, 2004 at 16:08:45:

Thanks for your kind words.

My whole point was that he assumes that marketing is the sole correlation with success. If you’ve read the rest of the posts you’ll see that isn’t necessarily the case. Market, techniques, as well as your investment strategy factor into whether or not you’re clearing $100K. Again, thanks for your kind words, for my obviously silly and arogant response. However it’s very difficult to deduce a person’s tone through email. The reader tends to inject their own tone or the tone they assume the message to hold.

E.Eka

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by Rick

Posted by Rick on May 06, 2004 at 07:49:51:

“Advertising was minimal and profits were good”

Jason,

Going from $500/ month to $8,500 month in advertising cost seems like a huge jump. Have you tested these mediums or is this a huge gamble?

Re: Sounds like it is working… - Posted by Kristine-CA

Posted by Kristine-CA on May 05, 2004 at 24:39:03:

Hi JT. Regarding interpersonal selling skills: from reading your posts and speaking to you, I can tell that your ability to handle the incoming calls is very skilled indeed. Aside from practice, are there any ideas, books, etc. that contributed to your skill?

I’m pretty sure I could close twice as many deals from the phone calls I’m already getting if I could improve my negotiating skills. One problem is still lack of experience when it comes to the valuation of the deal. I still tend to make lowball offers, just to be safe. But the main problem I have is not figuring out how to work with seller. Since most of them are out of state, it’s all phone calls and no meetings face to face. There are always callers who will tell you everything and then some with no prodding. And then there’s the others that don’t want to tell me anything, except maybe the price. And then I’m not sure what to do with that. Especially when the asking price is not anywhere close to what I will pay.

Is there any author in particular, any course you suggest. Sincerely, Kristine

Re: Investors making 100k + per year please read - Posted by Ron (MD)

Posted by Ron (MD) on May 06, 2004 at 16:42:56:

E.,

If you’ll re-read Tom’s original post, he doesn’t indicate that marketing methods are the sole determinant of success. You leapt to that conclusion…and responded in a condescending, dismissive way. (In his later response to you, he confirmed that he understood that this business is not so simple that marketing is the one and only golden key to success.)

When someone posts a fair question and the first response posted is one like yours that suggests that it is a stupid question, it discourages folks from asking questions.

Ron Guy