All Forum Posts by: Brandon Foken

 Not sure if serious....

@Corey Petersen - I took 3 classes from my local community college (City College of San Francisco). 2 of the classes were in-person and the other one was on-line. First, I took these classes when I was an absolute newbie, so they really helped me out in terms of understanding lingo, gaining confidence, etc. Second, I really liked attending the classes in person as you got to meet and see others who were basically on the same path as you. Sure, some were kids just looking to get an elective out of the way, but for the most part the classes consisted of folks in their mid-20s to early 50s looking to get into real estate.

I really couldn't disagree with @Kevin Cook more. Sure, there is a ton of knowledge and information here on BP, but it's not presented in a well laid-out and regimented way (not a knock on BP). You have to dig and search to get all of the information. I think for a newbie, the small investment - mine was $45/credit hour - in yourself is a great investment in your future. When I started going to classes, it made it all that much more real and made me be more accountable. I wasn't going to be the joker that took a bunch of classes and never did anything with the information. So besides getting a solid, no-BS education in the 101 of real estate you can meet some people in your shoes and push yourself to succeed harder. Hope that helps with your decision.

I'm surprised people are using Ikea cabinets so much. My contractor flat-out said he wouldn't put together an Ikea kitchen due to quality and it being a pain to assemble everything together.

I'll also say going to your local Chinese knockdown supplier is where it's at. Although, apparently there have been some strike problems (can't tell if it's local or across the seas), so they are a bit delayed on having the dishwasher and fridge cabinets in stock. Overall, they do a really good job and even have a design center to lay everything out for you. The place I use in my area is called Granite Expo.

While you haven't sent a ton of mail, I would suggest using a bit of "industry standard" numbers combined with your own personal results. As you send out more mail and have more data, you'll be able to refine the number on your own. You sent out 200 pieces, got 12 calls back or a 6% response rate (btw, I'd KILL for a 6% response rate). From those 12 calls you got 1 meeting. Start extrapolating those numbers out:

2000 letters = 120 calls = 10 meetings.

5000 letters = 300 calls = 25 meetings.

Then as you go on more meetings, start figuring out how many meetings you need to go on (on average) to close a deal. Then extrapolate some more. Within 6-12 months, you'll have an extremely good idea of the number of mailers you need to send to hit your metrics.

Finally, there is another aspect here that isn't being touched upon, which is your actual sales/negotiation skills. The better those skills, the better your call to meeting ratio will be and hopefully, your meeting to closed deal ratio will improve as well. So, there isn't one simple answer and there are a whole lot of variables to consider, but it sounds like you are on the right track.

Cool article and data. I'd be interested in seeing population shifts in the Bay Area, @Account Closed . Seems like there is a decent amount of migration from SF and the peninsula to the East (and somewhat to the North, past Marin county). I was a part of 2 projects in Oakland earlier this year and both buyers were from SF. Anecdotal evidence suggests this is part of a larger trend, but I haven't seen any hard numbers to back that up. Seems people (like me!) are getting tired of sky-high rents and are going to Oakland and the surrounding cities for cheaper cost-of-living with a bit more space as well.

Like others have said, it's a bit hard to quantify, but every dollar I've made in real estate can be traced back to BP. It was in December 2012 that I first found this site, and I got the courage from reading tons on here and other sites to start sending direct mail. Done 5 deals with people or knowledge found via BP!

Question for you, @Brandon Turner and no snark is meant. But what about folks that have never downloaded your show from iTunes? I've owned an Android for a few years now and deleted anything iTunes related at the same time. I'd like to help, but I really don't want to install and then uninstall iTunes to do so. Is there another place we can leave a review? Second, is iTunes really the biggest generator of your show's listening audience? Android nears 70% of market share. I'd love to help out in any way except going through the hassle of anything Apple related. Please let me know how!

Not a bad first deal at all Anthony. Once you get that first one under your belt, it gives you a ton of confidence to go out there and get more now that you know how the process works from A-to-Z. Congrats!

The first question I have is who is going to be your end buyer? Are there investors in your market looking for turnkey properties? Would this be a rental for them or a "flip" property? If you are thinking of assigning to a retail buyer with a conventional loan, just know that most banks are going to have a big issue with an assigned contract.

Honestly, without knowing all the facts, if you really wanted to help your friend you would connect him with a RE agent. 95% of the time that will be how he/she can walk with the most money in a reasonable amount of time. 

It all depends on the marketing list, time of year, etc., but in general here in the answer to your questions:

1 - Weekly/Monthly

2 - Roughly 1,500 pieces/month

3 - Letters, no postcards