Yet another newb with questions - Posted by Patrick

Posted by Joe Kaiser on March 22, 2006 at 05:20:12:

You have to think differently, Tom.

If every other investor in town is doing the marketing thing, you’ll
never get seen and you’ll waste whatever money you spend. I stopped
marketing years ago and now do more deals than ever.

Frankly, if my phone’s ringing, I’ve screwed up. Believe me, the last
thing you need is 50 phone calls a day from people who you’d never
buy from anyway.

I’m selective. i target the people i know who have big problems and big
equities and I hunt them down. I can’t afford to hope they see my sign
or billboard or classified ad . . . I just don’t trust them that much.

I’d much rather just swoop into their lives and see what’s what.

Any system that depends on them finding you is not one I’m interested
in using. Again, I just don’t want to hope they notice me when I can
pick up the phone and instantly get noticed.

That whole thing about them calling you being better? Ugh, no, it ain’t.

And doing it this way puts you in an entirely different arena than every
other investor in town who’s running ads or sending letters or hanging
signs after dark.

And it’s not about looking at foreclosures listed in the paper either.
YOU HAVE TO THINK. Thinking matters.

For instance . . .

I hear people ask all the time about where to find buyers to flip to. It’s
not something difficult to do. You just have to engage your brain and it
becomes obvious.

Here’s an idea - why not look at the fixer houses that were listed in the
MLS for the last six months and see who bought them? Sure, it takes a
little work, but not much, and a friendly agent can easily get you that
info in an afternoon.

What do you have?

A list of real buyers who made offers and paid cash and closed as
promised and are likely now selling those very properties all fixed up.

And now, you’ve got a list.

How do you find sellers?

It’s the same sort of process. First, engage your brain. Figure out who
they are, where they’re likely to be, and get in their way.

How?

You have to think about it . . .

Joe

Yet another newb with questions - Posted by Patrick

Posted by Patrick on March 22, 2006 at 01:07:49:

Ill start off by giving a little info about me. Obviously I am Patrick. I have been interested in investing for a couple months now and have bought/checked out a few books. Im very young so my credit is almost non existant. Im also very broke (cant afford to pay my bills at the moment). I know I can do this SOMEHOW but I have a few questions as to what I should do.

For one: My obvious choice is flipping/assigning. My question is. What if I decide to flip a house to a rehaber? Wouldnt he know he is being fliped and just tell me to buzz off and go talk to the seller? Or not offer me a fair price?

For two: Which is more profitable? I need to build up a cash base so I can start working on financing properties and such.

For three: Should I start my own business first? I was thinking about saving up $600 to cover the starting costs of an LLC plus the advertising costs to get my name out there. Does this sound like a good approach?

Lastly: What do you all recomend on books? I have read “Idiots guide to investing in real estate” “Flipping properties” by will bronchick and “Real Estate Flipping” by Ron Weiss.

I believe thats all I have to say. Thanks in advance for any help provided

Re: Yet another newb with questions - Posted by Rob TN

Posted by Rob TN on March 22, 2006 at 11:42:12:

Patrick,

I’d definitely follow the great advice given by Joe Kaiser. Just reading his post gave me a new and exciting idea (thanks Joe).

As for finding properties, I like ?driving for dollars?. Cruising around neighborhoods looking for neglected properties, depending on your region, this may not be as easy as it is here. If the house is vacant, look around and then visit with the neighbors. Give them your card and let them know that you?d like to buy the house to fix it up. They?ll be happy to help because they?re probably tired of having a run down house in their neighborhood. They may even have the owner?s contact info for you. Let them know that you buy houses for a living and if they refer one to you and you buy it, give them a couple hundred dollars as a finder?s fee, let them know this; now, you?ve got a neighbor finding houses for you too! That?s worked very well with my deals. Especially if you fix up the house and fill it with nice people, then all of a sudden, the neighbors are bombarding you with other houses you can get, and also referring to you buyers, sellers and tenants; networking. If the house is occupied, if no one is home, leave a flyer on the door asking if they?re interested in selling, if there?s someone home, ask them if they?d like to sell; it may be in foreclosure, inherited by those that don?t want it, anything. Be careful while you?re out knocking on doors or in unsavory neighborhoods though.

JOIN YOUR LOCAL REAL ESTATE INVESTOR?S CLUB! If there?s not one in your area, start one! The club isn?t necessarily filled with your competition, but with people for you to buy from, sell to, and exchange techniques and contractors. Also, they?ll be fired up and keep you excited.

I wouldn?t waste a lot of my money with signs and ads though, everybody and their mom is doing that; you?d be a little fish in a big sea. Do get some business cards ($12 at office depot) and pass them out to everyone you know and to those that you don?t. Let everyone know what you do, and network, network, network. I think that networking is one of the most important things.

As far as books go, my favorite guru is Ron LeGrand. They don’t sell his courses on this site, but occasionally, you can find a used course on ebay at a fraction of the price. Just make sure that it’s not a pirated copy or a cheap knock off (investor karma). Also, you can get some of his books in the library or on amazon.com. I like Ron because he spells out many different techniques in a clear, concise way; not a lot of fluff. Furthermore, he?s the teacher of many of the really successful people out there (many national speakers). Also, I?ve personally met several regular people that have done very well using his techniques.

Finally, START RIGHT NOW! Make offers! If they get accepted, you can assign/sell the contract, partner with someone with money, simultaneous close it to someone else, etc. If you buy it right (cheap enough), you can do anything with it. If you pay too much, you may be out of luck. If you don?t begin now, you won?t get any money now. Don?t sit on the fence or just observe.

Dive in, the water?s great!

Best regards,

Rob

Re: Yet another newb with questions - Posted by Joe Kaiser

Posted by Joe Kaiser on March 22, 2006 at 01:46:01:

One: You set things up in advance so that the assignee is completely
under your control. Any concerns about him going around you are
handled in your agreement (something created specificallly to address
these kinds of issues).

Two: If you’re thinking about building a cash base, that’s fine. But what
you won’t need it for is to “finance properties and such.” Once you get
up to speed, you’ll be able to accomplish this without ever tapping into
your own cash. Doing so is frowned upon.

Three: As to the business entity, sure. As to advertising to get your
name out there, ugh, no. I think marketing is the wrong approach here.

Good books?

Bill’s stuff is all good and highly recommended. I haven’t read the
flipping book, though, but trust Bill’s advise. Don’t know Ron.

Joe

Re: Yet another newb with questions - Posted by Patrick

Posted by Patrick on March 22, 2006 at 11:00:29:

If advertising is bad how do I find the motivated sellers? A perfect example is my grandfather. He has a house that he has let fall into disrepair. The new found investor side of me sees profit. If I could get him to put the contract under me I could flip to a rehaber for at least 10k and the rehaber would make a heafty profit as well. The problem? He has a sentimental attachment to this house and refuses to sell! The houses that are in town and look vacant and trashed are tipically in an area Im truely scared to drive through.

Anyone have a link to an article or advice for knowing what to look for at a house?

Re: Yet another newb with questions - Posted by Tom NH

Posted by Tom NH on March 22, 2006 at 04:49:33:

Joe, if he doesn’t market himself in order to let the Motivated Sellers find him, which other avenue should he take in order to find such great deals?!? I’m also a newbie and am wondering how to find such deals because there seems to be tons of investors in my area. There are anywhere from 10-20 “We Buy Houses, Fast & for Cash” ads in the newspaper and bandit signs on every other street corner. How can I possibly find any deals before any other investor???

I called on FSBO one day and asked if he was an investor who was flipping the property. He told me yes he was & he’s been doing it for 20 years, and then I began to explain how I was trying to get started in it. He told me that getting started would be tough because there are so many other investors out there who could pay CASH and close in 72 hours. He also said that by the time I found what I think may be a good deal, at least 10 other investors would have known about it before I did. He didn’t discourage me though, as he said it doesn’t matter what type of market we’re in (Hot/Cold/Normal), that there are always deals to be found, I’d just have to work hard to find them. BUT HOW!?!??!

I have a subscription to the “Registry Review” that reports information abstracted from the ten New Hampshire county Registries of Deeds including all real estate sales and associated mortgages, all liens and attachments, new plans and subdivisions. It also lists bankruptcies, new corporation filings, various other statistics, a statewide schedule of all upcoming New Hampshire foreclosures and public Requests for Bids & Proposals.

Should I start looking into the foreclosures that are listed in this paper??? Please help as I know this is what I want to do, and the only means of investing that will get me where I want to be.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, Thanks ahead of time.

  • Tom