All Forum Posts by: Chris Feltus

Hey guys, looking for some feedback here. 

Just had some photos taken recently and a few of them look really good in black and white. I was thinking about using them on my new order of Realtor yard signs, but I am a bit hesitant to do so because black and white portraits are not a typical thing that I see. However, I think a b&w portrait would look quite good paired with my brokers logo (navy and white). 

Curious as to your thoughts, here is the image I would be likely using. Thanks everyone!

Thanks for the shout out @Brandon Turner

@Brian Kirk To be honest I really have 3 pipelines if you will that help provide me with consistent deals on a month to month basis. For me I have found the best lead sources are the following, in order of importance.

• Direct Mail
• Driving for Dollars
• Online PPC

Let me explain these a bit more in depth.

Direct Mail of course is the backbone for any long term, sustainable and successful business. Creating a successful campaign is probably the single most important step to keeping your pipeline full. You need to figure out exactly what your target market area is, and what sort of criteria you need. For example 3-2-2's 1,500 sq ft in zipcode x,y,z. Personally I don't care about response rate at all. It all comes down to how many contracts I get. Which would you rather have an 80% response rate with 45 tire kickers and 2 contracts? Or 8 total calls and 3 deals? I think the answer is pretty clear. The reason "response rate" is thrown around so much is because they are trying to market to you using impressive large numbers. Anyways, you need to make sure you target prospects that have both equity and some sort of red flag that may signify motivation to sell at a discount, for example Probate. Also check out this BP blog post I did on setting up a successful direct mail campaign. I just use excel to track my leads, no need to make it complicated.

Driving for dollars is great as well and often underutilized. I think probably over 90% of the houses I locate using this method are sold to an investor, even if its not me (once I am aware of these leads I check up on them in the local appraisal district, many times it will be another LLC when the property changes hands if it was not me that purchased it). Especially if you employ some of the tactics I divulge in my BP blog post Part 1 and Part 2. The great part about driving for dollars is it doesn't cost you anything, except time and gas. Which really isn't a problem because typically I only look for houses in this manner before or after an appointment within the subject properties subdivision.

Online PPC with google adwords. This one is a bit hit and miss, but every other month or so I usually get a good lead or two that turns into a contract. Again the tip here is to be consistent with it, just like anything else.

Hope that helps
-Chris

You do not need a massive buyers list to succeed. Deals sell period. The more common reason for failure is the indivual does not understand how to estimate ARV or rehab and locks it up at the wrong price, or marks it up too high.

Another option is to close on the house yourself and turn around and resell it if it will be difficult to show.

@David Galvan I would look at it from a month to month basis, how much can you comfortably budget and devote to marketing rain, sleet or snow. Calls or no calls?

Marketing is a process and it takes awhile to reach critical mass such that you consistently have deals filling your pipeline.

I would recommend that you have the ability to send at least 500 bare minimum post cards or letters per month. I am not sure what the going rate is for a lower quantity such as that, check out some sources such as post card mania or click 2 mail. You want to generate as many quality leads as possible. The more leads you generate, the faster you can do more deals and do them consistently.

Beyond that you will need to know how to fill out contracts (TREC 1-4 Residential Resale here in TX, assignment of contract, personal addendum, lead based paint etc). If you need help understanding the basics of the TREC 1-4 read my post history and I wrote an indepth reply for someone here on the forums several months back.

You will also need to know how to conservatively estimate both ARV (After repair value) and the rehab. I have a blog post on estimating ARV here . You will need MLS access in some form or fashion to pull comps.

Do you have money you are willing to devote towards a sustained marketing campaign for at least 6 months, preferably a year?

I am in your market. Generally about $250 an hour prorated. If you need a referral for a good real estate lawyer in the area send me a message and I will share his contact information with you.

@Justin Maynard With all due respect, your title displays "real estate investor". ARV is one of the most critical aspects of the puzzle to estimate correctly for your investments, with so much on the line why would you chance it?

The counties tax assessed value has nothing to do with market value and is often inaccurate. The sole purpose of the counties assessment is to generate tax revenue.

Websites such as Trulia and Zillow are not accurate for figuring out the ARV of a specific property. They use algorithms that attempt to estimate what the property is worth, and these values can fluctuate wildly compared to the properties real market value.

The only exception is Redfin. In some markets Redfin pulls sold comps directly from the MLS. They do this in my market; however, please note this data is limited in scope and you will not get the same level of information if you were to pull the comps yourself or have an agent do it for you from the MLS. Often times when I have checked Redfin they are missing sold comps in the area that only show up on the MLS. They also do not show leased comps and things of that nature.

Hope that helps.

Simple, lay the ground rules and let them know no discussing numbers with the seller. If you want additional protection on the contract you can deposit it with your county court house and record a notice of contract. If someone were to try to circumnavigate you it would show up on the title plant effectivley clouding title.

A new forum user with a single post, in this specific thread, to speak to the efficacy of the find vacant properties now program. Convenient...