All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Jillian,

Welcome aboard! I am sure you will find a ton of help from the gang here at BiggerPockets. I also hope that with your experience you can add some here as well.

Where in Central AZ are you? I have spent some time in the Phoenix area in the past and still have friends and relatives in the Valley.

I design my own and use the USPS to upload the design and addresses into their website and send them off!

Paul,

That completely makes sense. Be sure to start by building your buyers list. There is one major piece that most wholesalers forget. You work for your BUYERS, after all they are the ones that pay you. Many start thinking they are tied to the sellers, but it is the buyers that pay wholesalers.

Paul is right, if you are on a tight budget there are ways to get going. Another resource is local investors. Find out how you can HELP THEM. Find out what they need and assist them. You can learn a ton that way. Just don't ask them to mentor you for nothing. You have to provide them value first.

You should also join a local REI Club. Most cost about 100-200/year. That is about 10-15/month which is a steal when you think about how much knowledge you can gain from networking with people.

I scored a Penny once.. at least I Think that is what her name was!

Just kidding.

What happens in vegas......

Seriously I have had good trips and bad trips, in the end I think I am still up a decent amount. The only way to make money over the long haul with Casinos is to simply own one.

Poker is a good way to make money, because you aren't playing the house, you are playing others. Odds are all stacked in the House's favor on all the other games.

Shaun,

I would agree but only slightly. It depends on the area, target market and what the exit strategy is. I rehab property, refinance and keep it to rent out quite a bit.

People will always need a roof over their head. Just people got a little greedy and over extended themselves, so now they can't have the 5 bed 3 bath monstrosity, but they need a roof, and I am there to provide it.

Welcome to you from the home of Lance Armstrong!

I actually have relatives in Austin, they are now retired professors from UT. I am sure you are loving it there. Just like you will love this site!

I just wish I started at 19!!!

John,

Welcome to BiggerPockets. I am from Chicago, so we are neighbors.

I am sure you will find all the information, posts, and blogs on here an amazing resource. I would also suggest getting out to some of the local REI clubs to network and gain insight into the local markets from people actually investing and making it happen.

A couple points about marketing.

1. You always have to track it and maintain metrics about what is working, from the copy, to the placement, to the type of medium. That is the only way to know what works and what doesn't.

2. I feel it is important to allow people to maintain their PRIDE. We are very PRIDEFUL people here in the US. So, I like to make my marketing message make them feel like they don't have a problem, but yet they found a solution for themselves. So I avoid using the "F" word (foreclosure) as much as possible. I have seen a higher rate of response via my metrics mentioned in #1.

3. Be consistent with your marketing. You can't send 1 round of direct mail and expect that to give you the baseline. You can't have just 1 week of classified ad etc... give it time. You always hear people say 7 times to memory. That means you have to touch a person 7 times. Now that can be in the paper, flyers, etc not 7 flyers, but 7 different touches can work to.

I encourage everyone to check out the listing of REI Clubs here on this site:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investment-clubs.html

Also if you know of one that isn't listed, please submit it. Hopefully Josh will catch up and update all the club listing soon, but it is a great resource.