All Forum Posts by: Brian Tome

@Jake Ernst - The information you have received so far is excellent.  I would just encourage you to consider marketing for off market properties also.  I acquired my first two deals using an unorthodox yellow letter campaign.  I got a listing of 1000 absent tee properties in my area that fit my target criteria and hand wrote yellow letters while watching TV with my wife in the evenings.  

I sent out about 100 a week until I got my first property.  The handwritten letters got about a 12% response rate which is about 10 times what the average computer generated mailer gets.  Most of the responses wanted retail for their homes, but I talked to a lot of nice people, went and saw a few houses, and bought the first one that made sense.

I BRRRR'd that property and started sending out letters to the remaining names on the list when I was ready to buy another. After the second, I still had about 400 names left but now I have people bringing me deals and don't need to mail to a list that is probably out of date.

In the meantime, my wife got her real estate license so we can go look at any MLS property we want. That being said we rarely do. By the time they hit the MLS, most properties aren't a deal, and if they are someone with more street cred grabs them up first.

My advice, door knock, cold call, drive for dollars, or mail until you find a great deal.  They are out there and they are worth searching for.

Happy hunting!

@Jose Castillo Nope.  Crickets.

I finally took the leap because I realized all the people I wanted to be like were telling me to do it, and the only people telling me not to were the people I didn't want to be like.

I didn't have any background in contracting or a trade, but I grew up on a farm with brothers, a father, and grandfather who always did their own home repairs if they could ... and between the bunch of them there was almost nothing they couldn't do.  After I got married, we didn't have enough money to hire people to fix things, so I read books, watched YouTube videos, and got advice on how to fix stuff.  After a while my wife wouldn't let me call a contractor because she knew I would do a better job for less money and we would both enjoy the feeling of pride that came from doing it ourselves.  So much like deciding to invest, the only real obstacle to doing the work myself was believing I could.  Once I got over that it came down to who was more stubborn, me or the materials I was working with.  I always was.

Some of my best tenants have been word of mouth, but I list on Facebook Marketplace and Zillow.  I use an application I got from the resources available to Pro Members on BiggerPockets and make all my tenants complete the application/references/proof of income before I show them the property.  If they like the property and want to move forward, I run a background check through one of the services (Zillow, Cozy, or Lexis) call all their references and prior landlords and usually pick the one with the best income who has no evictions, late rent payments.

I also hold out for good tenants.  I know I could have rented units faster in the past, but I waited and made sure the people I put in them were the kind of folks I would want to live next door to.  I want my tenants' neighbors to love me too, so I put the kind of people in my units that make their neighbors proud to live next door.

I am also a committed follower of Jesus, so when we are rehabbing, I pray for the people who will live in the house and pray God will send the right people my way.  We also hide prayers and scripture in the walls and under flooring and in the attic.  I don't think it is a magic talisman or anything, but it helps me remember what I am doing this for.  Not only to make money and build wealth, but to make people's lives better and give Christ the glory.  So, I remember to pray more and give Him more credit when I know those prayers and scripture are there and that they are as true today as they were the day I hid them.

@Jay Hinrichs and @James Wise you guys are right.  This is not a BP problem.  I overstepped there.  Should not have said it.  I used YellowLetters primarily because of their past association with the podcasts and the success stories, but I am just one guy with one problem.  It feels big to me, but in the grand scheme it does not rise to the level that it should draw the attention of BP.  Also, BP and @Brandon Turner have never been anything but kind and inspiring to me.  In fact I owe them a lot for encouraging me to begin investing, so I regret posting that criticism.  It was unwarranted.

@James Wise - Thanks James, but my wife is an agent and our state uses SDAT for real property tax information, ownership, etc.  However, if I wanted to go to that trouble I wouldn't have hired (and paid) YellowLetters.com.  I am ticked because they offered something, took my money, and now are being unresponsive.  Makes me think they are more scam than system and leaves me wondering why @Brandon Turner and others are happy to take their advertising dollars.

BP folks be warned: The YellowLetters team sucks! So much for all Michael Quarles' BS "we live for a challenge" and "we are going to overcome" coaching talk. I sent his team parameters for a list over a month ago and I am hearing crickets from them. Their corporate culture and mindset is so inspiring that they couldn't even figure out how to generate a list from a remote work location? That's impressive .... NOT!

Yup.  They suck!  I ordered a list more than a month ago and they charged me immediately.  Thereafter I got excuses about COVID-19 and not being able to work remotely, etc., etc.  Now they won't even respond to my emails and calls.  It is total BS!  There is no reason they shouldn't be able to generate lists and produce letters via a remote work set up.  Hell, I can do that from my house if they just give me the freaking list!  

@Joshua Raley - I have a minor regret in the middle of every rehab because I over improve them all.  That being said, I am really proud of all our properties and have no hesitation saying "we would live in any one of them ourselves" because we are actually living in one of them right now and we are very comfortable and happy.

So, it depends on your philosophy.  If you will regret having too much money in a property and get upset if a tenant doesn't treat it right, make the space nice and livable, but maybe not to the extent we go with new everything.  On the other hand, if you are OK with making a little less and want to have happy, high quality, tenants who pay on time and are excited to live in your properties, let go of the cost cutting measures and make it the way you would want it if you were going to live there.  Be careful though.  You have to buy right if you are going to spend a lot on the rehab.  Otherwise you will lose money and nobody wants that.

@Corey Hawkinson - Thank you sir.  Best wishes on your journey!

@Tony Shaw - Do it my friend!  Whatever it takes, just do it.  You won't be sorry.