database for contacts

what is a good way to stay organized when building a buyers lists. does anyone use a specific program to keep all your contacts together? i would like to have a program where i had all my investors,mortgage lenders,buyers,sellers all in seperate spots and able to email to all of them in specific groups. any help?

I just use Microsoft Office 2003. It has everything needed and was easy to learn with free online lessons. Plus, it came with computer…

You can link Outlook contacts to an Access database and vice-versa.

This link shows you how to set it up:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA011165811033.aspx

I’m sure there are easier and better products, but when you get used to something, it’s hard to switch.
Hope this helped. Happy investing… Gary :beer

you could definitely organize all your contacts in Excel and then if so inclined learn how to use Macros (or VBA) to add some functionality to it. You could create searches, ordering, reports, even send out emails based on a criteria. It’s all about how far you want to take it, it can do it you just have to be willing to put the time in to learn.

After saying all that I would recommend using Access as it is a database and more geared to data storage and organization.

I would also look into Contact Management by Sage (Act). They have all the bells and whistles you speak of. It costs around $150-175. There is also Contact Management software by Quickbooks. This is more reasonable about $80. You can check both of these out at Best Buy. :beer

I use RealProspect although it’s lacking in some features, it IS geared to Real Estate Investing.

I’ve heard great things about Profit Tiger Pro, but it’s expensive. I think around $150/month.

I use RealProspect also. I use it for all my buyer lists, seller lists and direct mail.
I would recommend it.

Tom

What’s the cost going to be? I was going to sign up for the software, but thinking it would be expensive, i had to back down before putting my name on the list.

I’ve checked out the new videos and the software really looks great.

Personally, I just use an Excel spreadsheet for all my information. You may want to consider a Rolodex program for your computer as well. I know there are quite a few options for that out there, but unfortunately I can’t recommend any since I don’t use them.

x2 Program is quite powerful if you take some time to learn the ins and outs, you can make almost anything you need and have it fit EXACTLY what you want, seeing as though you made it. :biggrin

I still never understood the people that use excel or rolodex type programs to run their businesses. It must be the IT guy in me.

You are gathering a huge amount of important data on your markets every day you are working. To be perfectly frank, this is probably the most important and most valuable resource in your business. Companies pay a lot of money for this type of data and some of you guys just throw it away like it is nothing.

I made the same mistake myself. I could keep up with all the data using Excel. That was why I created my own system.

With my new system, I can create different types of report, charts and see data is so many different ways that I can really analyse my business and what is my best resources. You can’t do that with excel.

Why do you think Google is so big. They collect data and lots of it.

Thomas

Tom,

Why did you delete your previous posts in this thread?

And when is PTP 2.0 launched? I checked the site, and the countdown is no longer there, but i’m sure the wait is over. Any updates?

I found a great solution in using ACT 6.0 which is an older and I think faster and more reliable version of the contact management software.

Even better you can get it on Ebay for between $15 and $25. It is a real simple and intuitive system great for manageing your contacts.

Acces is excellent. You could creat tables and forms to both organize your contact (buyers, sellers, associates). Once the data is inputed, you could search quaries by name, number, date, etc. I use it. I creat one table for buyers with my lease option script built into to. one for sellers with my script built in into it. All office suites should have it. There is also more that can be done with it. Check it out.

If you don’t want to do the work, go to ebay and order the real estate warrior program. It’s only $27.00. I has lots of useful functionality. You could manage all or most of your investing from it. I think it’s awesome. And if you are really lazy but have some extra cash, you could purchase the Kris Kirschner’s autopilot program. He spoke and gave a demo. at our REIA group meeting yesterday. I loved it. He was giving a “special” pricing of $2,000 for it, including his weekend seminar on sub-2, lease option , etc. His program seems wonderful. Just in case you are wondering, I did not purchase it. I did not want to act on the emotion. I was close to make the move but I held back. good luck