All Forum Posts by: Blake Reynolds

@Byron Bohlsen

I recommend using one of the calculators provided here on BP, specifically the rental property analysis one. This will help you cover all of your bases when accounting for expenses and such. As non Pro members we only have limited access to those calculators so make sure this is something you really want to pursue before you go through and run the numbers.

Hope it works out for ya!

Cool thanks for the info guys. That clarifies what I was wondering about.

Welcome to BP @Steve Bauer

I am also located in the Twin Cities. Make sure you attend local RIEA meeting here in town. You will meet a lot of people at these meetings and its a great place to learn about RE and network.

That's also cool to hear about your organic farm. I do not have a farm but that is a huge interest/passion of mine. I think it amazing how many people neglect to look into where there food comes from or what's in the food they are eating.

Make sure to keep asking questions on the forums and check out the podcasts as well!

Good Luck!

I have been wondering for a while what distinguishes the differences between these two things?

I often see townhomes where there are only 2 or 4 units all attached in one "building" but when you look them up they are categorized as townhomes and priced individually. What makes that different from a multi family property with 2-4 units that would be considered as a duplex etc. and priced as one unit.

Thanks for the insight @Adrian Smude

I suppose it would be better to have it rented out faster even if it was a little cheaper than you could have. Either way you will have opportunitie to increase the rent when you have tenant change or vacancy.

@Travis Sperr

Yea it is nice to actually have taken some action. There was a while there where I was just stuck with all of the information I was absorbing.

I know I totally butchered the first few leads just getting used to the calls and questions but I have gotten quite a bit more efficient and confident in taking calls and talking to people about their property.

Here is an update on my Stats for the first full set of postcards:

476 Sent out to Absentee owners

From those I received 6 Calls which puts me at about 1.3%. None of them have shown real promise in turning into a deal but its still a work in progress. One call was a "stop sending me stuff" call. And we got one person to submit their email on my website which I am following up with now.

For my next set of marketing I am going to do Typed letters to the same list and hand address the envelope to get a better response rate. I'm just looking for my first deal!

@Devan Mcclish

Thank you for all the great info. That helps calrify a lot of what I was wondering. I literally just received my copy's of both of J Scotts books in the mail yesterday. I am excited to start reading and learning.

I just finished sending out my first wave of direct mail postcards and my plan is to start out wholesaling properties to gain more experience to be able to venture into different areas of real estate. Since I have started receiving calls more and more questions come up as I go (which is of course a good thing to ask and learn what I do not know).

A couple questions I have now after talking to some of the leads pertain to actually making an offer on the property.

First: When trying to estimate the costs is it anywhere near possible to estimate without actually going into the property? I have a few leads who have tenants in the property and they do not want me going in to look over things and get a scope of the condition of the house. They do not want the tenants to know that they are selling the house.

Second: When constructing an offer what is the general process for that? Do you make them a verbal offer and then if they accept do you send them (email/mail/Esign) the purchase agreement? Or should you send the purchase agreement as your offer without disclosing verbally? Is there a way to put together an offer package with the reasons why you are making the offer in that amount?

Again thank you in advance for the help. BP and all of its members are such great resources to have when starting out!

@Natasha M.

So here is the paragraph were I include the referral fee. I am honestly considering removing it or re wording it a bit more since I have not sent these out yet but I don't thin this applies as much to absentee owners necessarily. I might still try it and see what happens but it might be more effective against people who aren't necessarily investors or landlords already.

"We also understand that this might not be the right time for you to sell. We will never pressure you into selling us your home if it is something that would not truly benefit you and your situation. Likewise, you may know someone who needs to sell their home for any number of reasons. If you refer them to us and we end up buying their house, we are prepared to offer you a $500 reward just for helping someone you know get out of a stressful situation. On top of that, there is no limit to how many times you can use this referral reward."

Hope it helps and I look forward to hearing if it is something that works for you out in Maryland

I will have to look into if I can send that text response with Google Voice.