​From Russia with Love; Inking Deals from Abroad

From Russia with Love; Inking Deals from Abroad

I decided on a career as a real estate investor a few years ago mostly for personal and financial freedom. I was a corporate guy with the 9 to 5 during the week and a weekend warrior with the National Guard with one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. All in all my weekdays, some weekends and a good portion of my summer was decided for me. Not now!!

I can be anywhere as long as I have an Internet connection. This summer we (my wife and two kids) spent almost a month in Russia. We started out in Tatarstan Russia at my wife's parents house and then some time at their place in Moscow taking in Red Square, St Basil's Cathedral, Victory Park, and Gorky Park.

Although I live in Los Angeles full time our company buys houses in the Springfield, Massachusetts metro area. I grew up there and my parents still live there. We buy houses for cash, fix them up and sell them. My business partner Justin lives in the area too. He has his construction supervisors license (CSL) and now manages the rehabs and determines the construction costs so we can make a fair and fast cash offer. I handle the marketing for acquisitions and disposition of our properties. For acquisitions I bring leads to the table and get the offers out. We do a mix of online, direct marketing, networking and multiple listing service (MLS) lead generation. For disposition we also use MLS or our network to get the properties sold.

We didn't miss a beat while we were in Russia. There we had great WiFi connections and I could check emails, receive Google Voice texts and voicemails. We were seven hours ahead of Massachusetts so I could do a full day of site seeing or just hanging with the family by the time the East Coast of the United States was getting going with their day.

Returning emails was standard. I would return text messages through my Google Voice number. I bought some Skype credit and made phone calls stateside that way. Called and qualified leads and get them on my business partners calendar. The Skype calls came in crystal clear and my partner and I would speak every couple of days and we even did an interview with an intern candidate over it. I was writing offers from Russia and email them out either by printing, signing and scanning using my TinyScan app or pulling the agreement from my Google Drive and electronically filling it out with SignEasy app on my iPad. Same with the Purchase and Sale (P&S) agreements that I could open with SignEasy, make edits, and electronically date and sign.

Russia trip was incredibly productive -- with financing being secured; three P&S's executed; ten offers submitted; dozens of leads qualified; and a half dozen appointments scheduled. I also listed a property for sale on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) by uploading the photos sent to me via a shared DropBox.

There is no substitute for boots on the ground and having my partner there to physically see properties and manage rehabs is the linchpin to our business. The technology piece has allowed the marketing and administration sides of the business to keep moving from just about anywhere in the world that has an Internet connection. I never had this kind of freedom in any corporate or military job. I can enjoy life-enriching experiences with my family and remain productive inking deals. So I truly am writing you from Russia with love!!