You’ve heard this before but don’t give up my friend. As you know, it’s not easy. I believe it’s all about networking with people and how you deliver your message. I’m completely transparent and honest from the start. I’ll tell the seller exactly what the process is…and go over all the forms. They understand from the “get go” that I will assign the contract to another buyer (business partners, if you feel more comfortable saying). We go over the “outs”…in my case 29 days. In the contract, it states the deal is null and void after the 29th day if I don’t close. As I stated, we go over all the paperwork…investor disclosure statement and the sellers acknowledgment, Investor purchase agreement,/lead paint disclosure notice, property disclosure statement, discharge of agreement to purchase statement, and finally the assignment contract. I hide nothing from them.
You spoke about not having a website, I completely believe in it…might be bias though because my profession is IT. I structure everything to flow into two things, 800 number and website…that’s it. More to the site. Then track it, I use google analytics to track my online ads…as well as squeeze pages to track my online stuff. I use mailbox exts to track my real world ads if calling the 800 number…I have 5 ads going targeting different situations…example (ad in newspaper targeting not able to make payments…call this number…when they call they hear…can’t make your house payments, press one)…track what’s bringing in the most responses and focus/improve on that.
The website explains exactly what we do…exactly. We will assign your contract…or lease option. I even explain how I get my offer numbers and why… explaining the MAO formula in detail. I write on integrity, honor, principals, values…I tell them I live in the same community as they do, that I’m a father and at the end of the day I will never do a deal that compromises my morals as a father or as a Christian…even if it means losing deals! Again, I’m completely honest with them and mean it. When they call or leave their info and we talk, they already know the backbone of my core business practice. The hard part is over before it ever starts…
As far as reo’s, I personally think it’s over rated. Why compete with everyone else? If someone targets reo’s, then why not get the deal before it even becomes a reo? I never understood that. It’s not that hard to find people that’s going in default before the banks grab it. You can find that info at the court house and online! If someone is showing that they’re 2 months in default, why not just go after the deal then. Off the cuff, one analogy is stealing second base while everyone else is waiting on home plate…(waiting on reo’s to be reo’s). Get them before everyone else…just my thoughts on all that. Conversely, I truly believe the “secret” is building and staying engaged with your pipeline. Pipeline being the brokers, the agents, the rehab crew, your builders list, ect. I had 1 deal drop in my lap from the rehab contractor. Get this, when I need a repair estimate, I call him to go to the house with me. He gives me the rehab cost in which I attach it to the package for my buyers list. One day he called me and said he was rehabbing a property for another local investor. As he was speaking to the investor, the investor said he knew of another deal but he couldn’t move on it. The rehab dude told me the address and …the rest is history for that deal. Made 4k off that one. Pipeline!
I’m working on a lease option as we speak so I hope it goes well. I feel like a fish out of water on this one but it’s all good. I’m finding it hard to do all this with my full time job (oh, and I’m a recently single dad with full custody of my 2 girls). I’m constantly tired but I press on. I had a friend of mine tell me years ago…“it doesn’t matter how tired you are, it doesn’t matter how exhausted you are, get your a** moving and do something! I’m literally doing that but I’m TIRED!. I won’t quit my job because I make good money and I enjoy what I do. Way more money than real estate right now although I can see there’s potential. I put the girls down at nine and literally stay up until 2 or 3am to work on my 'part time” gig. All my buddies still smirk at me when I tell them I’m doing ok in the RE game. NO VISION! Conservative!..still love my boyz though. I proclaimed starting my re career after my 10th deal!!!
How far do I look in my state? I just look in my local area. I’ve never hung one bandit sign or flyers…but do believe they work. Like I mentioned above, I need to target people before they hit the mls. I’m working on a plan to do just that. I truly believe anyone who does that is the most successful…I’m thinking about targeting absentee land owners then contact them with my pitch. Check this out…and one I believe that’s flying completely under the radar from local investors…There’s a property in my own neighborhood…it’s the worse house in the neighborhood…and I live in a very nice neighborhood. It looks like it was built in the 80"s but it was built in 92. It looks nothing like the new houses in my neighborhood. I think the owner didn’t sell out to the developers when my hood was built because it doesn’t look like it belongs at all. The house is in the very back of my hood, on a very secluded cul de sac (which is why I think its flying under the radar). Next door is a 500k house, the house across the street is well over a mil. It needs work inside and the backyard has a big shed full of metal/wood…its a very odd looking home. 2/1.5/2. The owner is asking 168 for it and he’s out of state…no one lives in it. I’m struggling figuring out how to tackle this one. I want to offer him 70-80k but I don’t know what a investor would be able to do with this house. Even if you clear the house and land, then what…I don’t think the land is worth 70-80k. If you rehab, the house would still look completely out of place compared to the others…I’ll give you the link to see it for yourself if you want…I think it’s a gold mine if I can figure out what to do with it. Anyway…I’m thinking about finding those out of state absentee land/home owners and hitting them up.
Again, the delivery of your message is crucial. How you come across to the seller, your buyer, your agent, ect. I give my buyers the best package I possibly can. I want them to view it and say “wow, this guy went above and beyond”. In fact, when I attach the repair quote from a reputable contract crew, it’s dead on balls accurate. Because of this, I believe he doesn’t even do his due diligence anymore because my quote has always been right! My ARV is always accurate, my comps are always accurate…I have buyers tell me my package is the best they’ve seen. That’s my mentality…Be the best! Some of the new people I see are all the same…turning their wheels and following everyone else. I literally practiced with a friend of mine for 10 hours on a Saturday…role playing on what I need to say and do when I meet the seller! I kid you not…10 hours straight. By the time I did my first deal and sat in the living room of the seller, I felt like an old nfl vet. I went over those forms 100 times with my friend that day…went over 100 questions they might ask…I was over prepared when I did my first deal.
But that’s just me, everyone has their own style and personality. I look at it as a war! Be brutal with your efforts, do it better than your competition. Die doing it! If you were swimming 10 laps against the next guy, go full out the first lap…don’t save your energy! You’ll win at the end because you have the mind set before hand that you will die today so why not go all out from the start. I f you haven’t read Lance Armstrong’s book, I would recommend it. He states the reason he beats everyone else in the mountains is he saves nothing for later, he pushes harder when everyone else is tired and in pain. When he’s in pain, he pushes harder up that mountain. He would rather die than to let anyone else win while climbing those mountains. Have that mentality my friend and nothing will stop you. Not one year, not 10 dead deals.
I’ve made many mistakes…lost two deals. One deal lost because I wouldn’t compromise my Integrity! I would of made some nice bank on that one too!
Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.” As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”
Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He was subsequently defeated in every election for public office until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62. He later wrote, “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up.”
Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4-years-old and did not read until he was 7. His parents thought he was “sub-normal,” and one of his teachers described him as “mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in foolish dreams.” He was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. He did eventually learn to speak and read. Even to do a little math.
An expert said of Vince Lombardi: “He possesses minimal football knowledge and lacks motivation.” Lombardi would later write, “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get back up.”
Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, and Jimmy Johnson accounted for 11 of the 19 Super Bowl victories from 1974 to 1993. They also share the distinction of having the worst records of first-season head coaches in NFL history - they didn’t win a single game… THIS IS YOUR FIRST SEASON Great Martini, your Super Bowl is near!
