All Forum Posts by: Allan Rosso

@Paul Jagielski I've had a property manager for a little over a month now, and the one problem I am having is bad communication (which happens to be one of my pet peeves, so not off to a good start for this company). When interviewing with the company owner, we both stressed the importance of good, transparent communication. Make sure you stress the importance of this to your potential clients, and then make sure you follow through with your end of the bargain!

@Marc Winter that's an awesome piece of advice! Unfortunately the phone number I've got listed on it IS my cellphone number. So I'll have to tweak your advice a bit, and find a creative way to do what you suggested.

@Ola Dantis it's just a quick easy way of giving out my information. I feel the whole typing my phone number down into their cellphone is more likely to get forgotten in the sea of contacts. I definitely don't throw away other people's cards, you never know when you may need them. It's just good to remember WHY you have that card, hence adding that note on the back. 

@Thomas S. I know what you mean, I do the same thing as far as filing them. However, if there's a simple business card like mine, I'll make sure to add the note. So even though I won't see it when it's filed, I know the note is there, and can easily take out the card to look at the back if needed. For home owners, I'm thinking something as simple as "I would love to buy your home" or "I'm interested in buying your home" will remind them of the conversation we had when I actually gave them the card?

@Joe Splitrock I guess at this point there's nothing I can do in the front to draw their attention to the back. I'll have to do something along the lines of what Mr. Winter suggested, and making it super obvious that I'm adding that note to the back, or that it's there if I've previously added one. Thank you for taking the time to look through all those cards for me.  

@Neil Sinha I like that idea of the caricature haha. I'll remember that if I ever go to redesign my business card. I also like the "we care" touch at the end of the first one. That's what I want to convey, that I'm not here to take advantage of them.

@Peter Sanchez I see what you're saying, and that's pretty smart that your lawyer friend does that. I'll have to brainstorm some ideas along those lines. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.

@Account Closed unfortunately not much will come up just yet if someone we're to google my name (I just tried it). Do you have any tips or stories about things you did on your way to getting yourself that kind of exposure on google? Back when you were up and coming.

My business cards are pretty simple. They have my name, number, and email address on the front, and white blank space on the back. It suddenly occurred to me that people I hand them out to, might not always remember who the heck I am or why they have my business card (used to happen to me all the time before I started writing a quick note on the back).

I want to start prefilling the back of some of my cards, so as to help the receiver remember why they have my card. "Real estate investor in Valdosta, GA" is going to go on the back of ones I hand out to other Real Estate Professionals, but what about the homeowners I reach out to, interested in purchasing their HOMES (not houses, HOMES). What could I possibly put there, so as not to sound intimidating, or have their minds default to "this big bad Investor is only here to steal my home"?

I'd appreciate any all suggestions, even for the ones I hand out to other professionals.

Thank you!

Allan 

@Mckenzy D. first of all, you want to start marketing it ASAP. Make sure you're marketing it everywhere you possibly can. Let as many people as possible know, that your place is going to be available.

Second, I'd suggest getting permission from the tenants to walk the properties, and get a list together of everything you'll have to take care of before getting new tenants in. If you're going to do the work yourself, have everything ready to go on the day your tenants lease ends. That way you can get in there and get the unit ready as quickly as possible. If you're going to have contractors/handy men, get them in there to give you quotes, and have the work scheduled to get done as soon as your tenants move out.

Hope this helps,

Allan

@Matthew Michels go drive for dollars. You'd be surprised how effective this is! Very first driving for dollars adventure, and my partner and I came out with a duplex portfolio we split.

I definitely agree with @McKinley Crowley 's and @Adrian Becoat 's suggestion about handwritten letters. Especially since you're working with a smaller list right now. As far as finding phone numbers, I usually do a bunch of googling around using the name, address, and/or a combination of both. One website that pops up often, and has proven fruitful, is

https://homemetry.com/.

@Christian Laines, since you're targeting vacant homes, I'm assuming you found them driving for dollars and your list is not too big? Why don't you attempt to call them instead, rather than sending them a letter? That's what my partner and I have done, and it's proven effective. If you absolutely can't find a phone number, then just get straight to the point in the letter. We haven't done any direct mail campaigns yet, but I'll include something below that I typed out, and plan to use in the future. If you use it, I'd love to hear how effective it was.

Dear Homeowner,

I am interested in purchasing homes in your neighborhood, and your home fits the criteria of what I am looking for.

If you have any interest in selling, I can pay a fair price, buy your house “as is”, and close on the date most convenient to you. There’s no need to put your house on the market or list it with an agent, and there is no fee or commission, just immediate relief.

Please give me a call or send me an email, at the number and email listed below, to learn more about how I might buy your house.

Signature Block

(***) ***-****

(email address)

@Ty Gordon that's honestly all I have on my business cards (name, phone number, and email address), and it's worked great so far. I use the white back side of the card to scribble any notes that may help remember who I am or why I gave them the card, but that's pretty much it. I don't know if I like the idea of a goofy slogan too much, but that's up to you 100%.

@Aaron Hartsough there's honestly no one size fits all answer to your question. It's going to come down to your particular situation, what you want to accomplish, and what you're comfortable with. Starting with your situation, I'd say you have a pretty good base as far as financial responsibility. The fact that you have no debt and have cash reserves, tells me you would manage any debt responsibly. Now as far as what you want to accomplish, there's only so much you can do without taking on debt, so you have to sit down and really figure that out. Once you figure out what you want to accomplish, figure out what it's going to take to get there, and see if you are comfortable with that.