All Forum Posts by: Michael G.

I am in the same boat as Tom. What historically I've done is strike a deal with the rehabber I'm doing businees with and they write the contracts with the sellers directly and pay me cash after closing the deal.

I feel like I'm leaving a lot of money on the table and have decided to contract directly with the sellers from now on and then assign the contract.

The attorney I deal with says to assign contracts I... a) need to use an attorney separate and apart from the sellers attorney b) like Jerry says, use both the P&S agreement and the assignment form c) the contract itself must contain "and or assigns language"

I'm interested in what you wholesalers are using in the time period? 30 days? 45 days?

I dont want to digress from the topic so Iwill make my last comment about this and zip it.

What is a good and bad investing idea is hugely subjective. Common sense and logic would dictate that there is some bit of illegality involved with the tactic and that should be apparent if you are a day 1 newbie or a 15 yr veteran but just how wrong could it be?

Than Merrrill of FortuneBuilders.com and Flip This House fame suggests this very same tactic for locating sellers of vacant homes in his Wholesaling seminar. He has a nationally televised TV reality show and is his company is reportedly rated # 1 in Education by Inc. Magazine. Hes not the only accomplished RE investor I've heard tout this tactic for finding sellers.

I've been RE investing since '05 and have NEVER heard of anyone getting in trouble for putting a bandit sign on someone's property for the sole purpose of getting in touch with them to buy the house. Have you?

I'm not saying it never happened...i'm just saying...

Bandit Signs @ intersections are probably against most city/town ordinances. Are we going to stop doing that also?

@ the end of the day if the goal is to help the person sell a home thats distressed either financially or physically or both, then where is the wrong in that?

RE Investors have been known to live a little on the edge. I see Joe's point but I also see where Allen is coming from.

All the negative commentary about Allens approach is based on supposition when all he stated was that he's trying to get in touch with the owner. He never said anything about collecting earnest money or committing fraud and i'm sure that's not his intent.

I personally have never tried that approach but I'm not beneath it. If it works it works.

I think one should be willing to push the envelope a little considering the type of business we are in.

Just because someone isnt willing to take risks doesn't mean that other people shouldn't. If you are afraid to take risks then be afraid by yourself. Dont invite others to be afraid with you.

Some realtors are obviously against Allen's approach because of the rules and regulations box they have to operate inside of so it doesnt suprise me that the realtors comment says that it sounds like a seminar idea.

There are no REI police. If someone is going to do wrong they are going to do wrong no matter what.

Live and let live and stop being so judgemental of others conduct.

30 - 60 days is a good window but its been my experience that the sellers dont really care about time frame especially if the property is not their primary residence.

I usually send a letter or 2 to the address first then call so its not such a cold call.

I would start the conversation by telling them I'm following up on the letter I sent to see if they had any questions. My letter would include touch points regarding their motivation or in your case some other info you have in your possession about their house or situation.

At some point you have to ask for the sale so the bigger question is are you prepared to do that? My answer to your question is ask Mr or Mrs Seller - Are you ready to sell your house today?

As far as the leads go, did you call the company who supplied you the leads to ask about the inaccurate names discrepancy? That might be worth a refund.

I do a 3 letter variation and repeat

I do the same . Letters on white 8 x 11 paper. white envelopes. Every 30 days or so.

I hate to state the obvious but...

You must always consider the lead source if the leads appear suspect....

I've heard of probate leads, absentee owner leads,

I'm curious what constitutes a motivated seller lead? First Ive ever heard of that.

Let's role play a little:

Antonio - Hello, I'm calling because I'm interested in purchasing the property @ 123 Main Street. Is now a good time to talk?

Seller - Yes

Antonio - Do you currently owe more than the house is currently worth? ( this will tell you if you need to start a short sale process or if you even want to move forward)

Antonio - Can you tell me a little about the property? How many beds and baths? garage? lot size? oil? gas?

Seller - Gives you all the info

Antonio - Does it need any repairs? Roof, furnance, paint? windows?

Seller - Gives you all the info.

Antonio - What is the lowest price you will sell this house for today.

Seller - Gives you a number.

Antonio - If I were to come to your house tomorrow morning with a suitcase full of cash is that the best price you could do?

Seller - Often gives a lower number.

There are a few ways to have this conversation but you get the gist of it. Often times sellers are upside down so thats why I used the " Do you currently owe more than the house is currently worth?" scenario.

I think Anson hit the nail on the head. Its dealflow that determines the success.

Its purely a numbers game.

Getting buyers is not an issue especially if you have buyers that have deep pockets you'll probably find you deal with a handful of buyers most of the time.

I think the marketing approach is important. Some people dont like bandit signs but I've wholesaled 2 deals @ $5K each in the last year using bandits.

My other wholesale deals were letters to estate administrators. They were not yellow letters but they worked.

13 leads seems like barely scratching the surface but let us know the outcome of your yellow letter campaign and follow up calls.

I would imagine different counties have different names for the same documents.

In my county the document that reveals the estate assets is called the petition for probate.

It contains the decedents domicile address ,if the decentdent owns any real estate, number of heirs, administrators address, etc.

Does it cost you to look through the various documents on your counties websites to determine which document you need?