All Forum Posts by: Brandon Vukelich

@Kristin Vegas did you happen to try the "find an agent" button at the top menu here on BP?  That allows you to possibly connect with an agent in the market you're interested in.  Best wishes on your search!

I've been in the BP lead "system" before they started charging for them.  They used to flow for free by being a Pro/Premium member.  That was nice. :)  Then it went to $2000 for 25 leads.  I pay for a bundle whether it takes me two weeks or two months to receive the 25th lead.  Now I'm paying $3000 for 25 leads.  It changed around 2021 or so.  There was no negotiating, they just decided that due to property values increasing that the cost for leads should go up 50 percent.  That was a big hit and disappointing but the leads were still the best for me and my business.  I'm not after all of the same zillow, realtor, etc "residential" buyer/seller leads.  

Like any lead source, your conversion rate will greatly depend on your process and follow up.  I'm sure the consistency of leads received will greatly depend on your market.  I'm in very active metro area so my flow will differ from a smaller market.  Also, I don't pay for another online leads at this time.  As with many online leads, you will receive a good amount of people that you'll never reach, won't have realistic plans/goals about investing, etc.  Most leads will be very inexperienced investors that will need a lot of hand-holding.  Don't expect leads with $1MM in cash ready to pull the trigger on a 20-unit apt asap.  Most are looking for their first smaller deal and many take 6+ months to convert but I'm not a hard pressure broker.  Feel free to send me DM if you'd like more feedback.

I would suggest looking at Craigslist, Apartments.com, Rentometer.com as well as Zillow.  Try and get the best "apples-to-apples" comparison by finding similar units based on bedrooms, baths, sq footage, garage/parking? and condition (dated from the 70s or a recent remodel).  As @Zachary Ware mentioned, if you get serious enough about the deal or get it under contract, I would speak to local PMs to ask about their services and obtain feedback on the particular property/area and rents. Best wishes on your investing journey!

@Alina Bar have you tried the "find an agent" button at the top of the BP site here?  I would also suggest searching on YouTube, Facebook groups, etc.  Not sure where you need help but if you're interested in Cleveland Multifamily, trying searching that term or whatever you're focused on.  I'd also suggest searching through recent sales or listings for properties you've been interested in and contact the listing agent on those.  You may need to have multiple conversations before you find one that aligns best with your investing goals.  

Some questions you should be asking during your vetting process:

- What is your personal investing experience, currently or previously?

- How do they assist you in finding opportunities?  Do they help analyze, connect you with contractors, PMs, etc.?

- How many clients are they currently working with that are looking for the same opps with your same criteria?

- How long have they been licensed and working your area of interest?

Hope that helps a bit.  Best wishes on your search!

Walk the talk. Being an investor yourself helps immensely. Especially if you are focused. You can't be a good partner agent for multifamily investors (for example) if you only work in STRs, self storage, mobile homes, etc. It's never a good approach to shotgun it and try to serve every investor. Maybe you become the Vermont STR specialist.

Like @Paul De Luca said, a good agent will be well versed in terminology, understand the due diligence process, proficient in underwriting, be knowledgeable about local laws/ordinances that affect real estate investments, have transaction experience and must NOT reek of "commission breath," meaning...don't be focused on your commission.  I approach my business as more of a consultant or advisor role vs a salesman.  I create focused content on YouTube, send out a monthly email, hot deal alerts, engage here on BP, etc.  I don't spend time networking at local events.  Be a valuable resource and your long-term relationship-sales funnel will fill.  Best wishes on your career and investing!

@Kenny Smith I still cover it 100% as a value proposition for my sellers.  I don't do open houses.  I'm able to make that a non-issue if it comes up by showing the other benefits of working with me, such as staging on my dime.  I do make the sellers reimburse me if they change their minds about selling after we go live (not an expired listing).  Pretty rare but it has happened and the sellers were cooperative enough to reimburse all of my marketing expenses in that case.

Unlikely.  Again, if I need to watch the video, I might as well just run the numbers myself.  

Also, running numbers is not that black & white to train a VA. Estimating expenses for landscaping, maintenance, repairs, capex, etc. is very property specific based on the condition, age and so on. Maybe others have found a way to train someone how to estimate that but I don't know how to. Tools like the BP rental property deal analyzer are not very accurate as well in my opinion.

You're welcome. 

It's not the hardest part but the most tedious is running property analyses on investment opportunities. I know what I need to do but just haven't got around to doing it....either pay/train a VA or asst to do it but I struggle with trusting in the accuracy being sent to my clients. I could just audit the analysis but at that point I might as well just do it myself.

Also, attending 3 hour property inspections. :)

Love your enthusiasm to find improvements but not sure I (as a fellow agent) would have much need for another platform or system than my local MLS. After I read your post, I was curious how long it would take me on average to pull comps so I did a test on an upcoming listing of mine, a 3bd/2ba, 1670sq ft, 1988yr single family home. I'm sure every agent has their own method but I click: active, contingent, pending inspection, pending and sold (right now I used sold under 90 days). Then set criteria 3-4 beds, 1500-2500 and price $500-650k. I know my listing will be in the 550-575k range. I then click the map to crop to a specific area I want to limit the search and get the results. The process took me 55 seconds.

I can't say how long the full deep dive takes to review as sometimes there are only a couple of comps and other times there are over a dozen or so.  Maybe 5-30 mins more in reviewing pics, reading descriptions, calling other agents.  Trying my best to find ones for the closest "apples to apples" comparisons.  

Also, our system allows for a variety of reports to be generated. No need for other spreadsheets and tools.  Was that helpful at all?

@Christen G. I emailed Tacoma's city council prior to this in an attempt to try and shed some logic from both a landlord and veteran agent's perspective that owns/works in the area. The late fees change is only one of several things that are problematic with most of the latest changes. In my line of work, I'm witnessing many more instances of tenants taking advantage of the overly burdensome process and backlogged system. One recent example, I have clients that obtained a writ of restitution on July 18 to evict a tenant, Pierce Co Sheriff can't schedule it until September 7th. The tenant hasn't paid rent since December 2022.

Here are a few other changes that are extremely disappointing.

• 120-day written notice needed before increasing rent. - The previous min of 60-days was plenty. I believed that 20 or 30 days was not enough for most tenants, especially when bumping rent 10% or more. But now when I sign a 3-month lease for my MTR, I need to immediately also deliver a notice of rent increase that can't even begin until month 4 should the tenant wish to renew.

• Deposits (Six Months or Longer Leases). Tenants will be allowed six, instead of three, months to pay move-in fees and deposits in monthly installments - There will very likely be tenants that pay the 1st month then stop paying in months 2-6. Landlords will be forced to start the eviction process that will take months and cost a couple thousand bucks, even if successful...and pray the tenant doesn't trash the place. Good luck recovering any funds to deal with damages.

• Prohibited from regulating or restricting dogs based on breeds, unless they have an insurance company-required breed restrictions, provided that any breed of service animal shall be allowed. - A landlord must now put themselves, their vendors and/or other tenants at risk by allowing dangerous breeds. I need to research this further but as a landlord, I plan to seek an insurance policy that restricts them. Either way, tenants could find some bogus document identifying their dangerous breed dog as a service animal.

The problem I continue to see, read and hear in our region is only addressing the concerns related to the tenants. There is very little dialogue about the financial burdens, stress and major inconveniences at risk for landlords. I'm advising clients to hire attorneys day one when needing to start any notice process, in any local city. An attorney advised me the first thing the tenant's court-appointed legal counsel at an eviction hearing will look at is the timeline for notice delivery. One misstep in the process, negates it all and you'll need to start the whole thing over again.

I don't have all the answers but things have become too lopsided in the tenants' favor here. There can be more common sense applied to find more balance. 

Now don't get me started on Seattle....