All Forum Posts by: Brandon Foken

For what it's worth, I've been having the same issue as well. Chrome user on a PC.

Interesting comments about age. I'm 29 and have slept with my cell phone is a different room since I moved away from college. I was always told the cell was for your convenience, no one elses.

I used to do inside sales at a enterprise IT company and the emails sent between 9-11am and 2-3:30pm got better hits than other times (our guess was the recipients were at their desk and had gone through their inbox already). Since I started doing REI, I haven't noticed a difference in email times resulting in different open rates. TIP: Use a product like Signals by Hubspot for Chrome. It allows you to track email opens and more for free, big fan.

I'll chime in and say that I've had good success with the SimpliSafe system. I've used it in two rehabs so far and it's a good, cheap and easy-to-move system. Another benefit is you can get text alerts whenever someone turns on or off the alarm which is a good way to keep tabs on your contractors. Always nice to call them at 3pm when the alarm just got turned on to see why the are cutting out early. Also, in some cities, you need a permit for the alarm system. Make sure to check your local jurisdiction to see if you need one as well.

As for putting large dogs in there, I've heard some nightmare stories in Oakland, CA. One guy put in two Rottweilers at night to protect his recently finished house. Came the next day to get the dogs only to find them both dead. Apparently some POS put poison in some meat that he threw to the dogs. Not sure if I'd risk my dog to that level of scumbaggery.

Wait a minute. You are getting over a 4% response rate from postcards?!??! You have to share the postcard, list and where you are mailing because I'm pretty envious of that level of response. I've never gotten more than a 2.3% response rate and that was from handwritten yellow letters. 

@Jason Powell be sure to check out Tucker Merrihew from TTM Development - he is a pretty large player in PDX. He did a podcast here on BP awhile ago and now does his own show; I learned a bunch from him, especially marketing. Oh, and before I forget, GO DUCKS!!

Sorry if this was asked earlier, but is there any chance that this will be recorded and uploaded to BP? I know I'd love the opportunity to see J's presentation since coming from CA just isn't feasible. 

@Shane W. this happens to me all the time. As a relative newbie, I have the support of my girlfriend and parents and others within the "business", but to my peer group, I'm a bit wacky. Especially living in San Francisco. "Why don't you get a nice 6-figure job with free coffee, snacks and a ping-pong table?" they ask me. I've since stopped hanging out with the people who didn't support me or are overly negative about my chances of success. I've found that if you surround yourself with like-minded people, you can rise up with them. If you surround yourself with those who question you, believe you'll fail or just don't want to support you then you'll never get off the ground. Best of luck to you, go out there and prove them all wrong!!

Title says it all. Anyone buying mobile homes in Pittsburg, CA or surrounding areas? Please reply or message me if so. Gracias!

@Johnson H.  Finally made it down to the city's planning office today and got some good information. Concord requires a minimum lot size (for SFHs) of 10,000 sq. ft. Since the parcel is 1.11 acres or ~48,000 sq. ft., it may be tough to squeeze 4 separate houses + a driveway into the space. There is already existing sewer hookups, although they were unsure if it has enough capacity for 3 additional houses. I still need to call PG&E and the water district to see what they can tell me about existing utilities there. Timeframe is 3-to-6 months for full approval process, longer if the neighbors want to cause any headaches. Fees are $6,100 + $464 for each additional lot. I got a list of setback requirements and other restrictions as well. 

@J. Martin - I like the way you think. I only spoke with the city about subdividing into separate parcels, but the idea of putting a bunch of townhomes in a small PUD is very intriguing. Probably a better use of the land if it can be done.

Thanks everyone for chiming in and helping out thus far. I'll keep updating as I progress. (PS: This is what makes BP awesome).

@Johnson H. I have a couple of meetings teed-up in Concord tomorrow so I'll be going by the building department before those so hopefully I'll have more to report back tomorrow. Also meeting with the seller so I'm hoping to get a little more information out of him since he has been pretty tight-lipped thus far. I'll be sure to update the thread when I know more. Thanks!