All Forum Posts by: Brian Grignon

@Benjamin Blackburn I have found probates to be a great source for wholesale deals.  They do take some time, and the key is the letter you write and how you approach the family.  I'm assuming that you're working in the Clark County area as well?  I've worked with a couple of other investors in that area in the past.  I have a series of three letters that I use which have a specific tone that says "sorry for your loss" but still urges action.  If you'd like some help, or to talk further - feel free to reach out to me directly.  

Good luck, it's a cool niche to be involved in!

Jorge:  I've had a lot of luck mailing to probates.  I have built a scraping application that will pull my counties probates in every week.  I make sure to mail the letters by the following Monday so that I'm the first person in that person's mailbox.  As Daniel above has mentioned, probates tend to be pretty motivated. 

I do have a couple of other investors to which I offer my services on pulling an compiling probate leads.  I also have some sample letters that have worked very well for me in the past.  If you're interested, please reach out to me directly, I'd be happy to work with you on this!

Good luck with the probates!

Brian

I'm hoping someone on the BP forums can share some insight on webuyhouses.com licensing. I've been in discussion with some folks over at webuyhouses.com and I'm looking at purchasing the license for my area.  Are there other members who are using the webuyhoues.com "brand"?  If so, can you share with me some of the advantages/disadvantages that you've experienced? I am in the process of ramping up marketing, and have looked at ListSource and yellowletters.com to try to handle my marketing.  Is there a significant advantage to paying the license fee and working with webuyhouses vs. trying to do the work on my own?

@Jon Holdman this is an SFR deal. Not a commercial deal. Honestly, I knew that there was something wrong, but I "wanted" to believe that this was legit. Too good to be true, often is just that. Thanks for your reply.

@Larry Turowski Thanks for the quick reply! I know it's one of those situations that seems "too good to be true" He quoted me 11% with no points. 100% financing of purchase price and repairs up to 75% LTV. I would love to find another lender than can give me that pricing, but I highly doubt that's going to happen!

The company name is THE MERCHANT GROUP USA LLC and they are based in FL. I did some research and found them online. They do offer merchant services, merchant loans and real estate investment loans. I just don't feel comfortable wiring $4000 to someone I don't know. Thanks again for confirming my suspicions!

I'm looking to flip a property in my area.  I have engaged with a private money lender to try to get the deal financed.  I received a "conditional commitment" letter from the lender.  To begin processing the loan, he's asking for $4000 wire transfer (PNC Bank).  My question is, is this normal?  Should I be concerned that he's looking for a wire transfer prior to closing?  The letter states the money will be used to fund inspections, title work, appraisal, inspection, internal financial review & legal, loan processing, and environmental survey.  According to the letter, this money will be credited back to me at closing.

Anyone have any experience they can share?  I've spoken to the lender many times, and he's been very willing to answer any of my questions and work with me.  However, he insists that I wire the money, he will not take any other form of payment.

@Matt Faix I'm going to send you a private message with the account manager's name and information.  Not sure what the protocol is for BP with handing out phone numbers and emails of third parties via the forum.

@Matt Faix ,

Have you worked with anyone from CoreLogic (owners of ListSource)?  Shortly after signing up with them online, I received an email from a sales person at CoreLogic.  I replied the sales guy called me back.  By just talking to him, he fiddled with my account and I was able to get leads significantly cheaper than just signing up myself.  A lot of the filters have become free.  

I still pay for the equity filter, but geography, property characteristics, Owner Occupied filters are all free.  Plus the base leads are cheaper.  I'd be more than happy to give you his name if you're interested. 

I'm a new investor from Lancaster, PA. I haven't closed my first deal yet, but I have some things in the works. I'm currently looking at single and multi-family units in Lancaster as well as surrounding areas. I've been through a few properties that seemed like they would be great "deals" but have ended up being in disrepair and total busts. At this point, my biggest issue is finding funding. I have a regular residential mortgage broker, but taking out a mortgage on an investment property would require at least 20% down. Still trying to find a good business lender in the area.

My eventual goal is to make this a full-time thing. I'm currently an IT project manager and I'm looking to become an entrepreneur and get out of this whole rat-race! I have the drive and motivation, just need to get that first deal going, and I'm sure things will start moving.

I'm also interested in talking to anyone else in my area that might have similar experiences and goals. So, if there's anyone out there from Central PA I'd love to hear about your experiences and maybe even buy you a cup of coffee.