All Forum Posts by: Chris Nowlin

@Account Closed

Thanks @Jim Pellerin. I am targeting motivated sellers to acquire SFR properties to flip or hold, depending on the numbers.

Everything you said makes perfect sense. I guess my next question is, for Facebook ads in particular, what, demographics, income, and interests will help optimize the results for each, or any, of the targeted audiences?

- Probate Properties

- Pre-Foreclosure/Tax Issues

- Divorce 

- Financial Hardship

I know that is kind of a loaded question and would require more than a simple post to answer adequately, but I am just hoping to possible eliminate some strategies that don't provide much success through Facebook. And, I would like to piggy back off others successes and failures.

Do some audiences perform better when targeted with Direct Mail vs Facebook, and vise versa?

Thank you again, for your thoughtful response. 

I recently put my direct mail marketing campaign in motion. The systems have been put into place to keep the campaign going consistently. Now I want to put some focus onto Facebook ads and building an online presence. I have a Lead Propeller site that I am ready build around. 

My question is, when running a Facebook promotion, what are some of the audience criteria people are having success with? Age? Marital Status? Are there any interest that are linked to motivation?

I have not played with it too much, but already see that it can be much trickier than selecting a direct mail list from List Source. 

Also, there is the option to run a promotion geared towards having people click to your website, or focus on receiving inbox messages. Have either of these work better or worse for anyone?

Eventually I would like to use Lead Propellers expertise to run some of these campaigns for me, but for now I am limited on my budget and would like to learn as much as I can.

@Brandon Turner I know you have a site that has had some success. Do you believe any online marketing is more or less responsible for you leads than others?

Is this still available?

 I ran a list on list source for the area, but only included 4-12 units. There were roughly 350-400 that came up between Friendswood, League City and a few of the surrounding towns (All of which have pretty strong markets). 

I wouldn't eliminate Friendswood for the simple fact that it IS the most expensive markets. Deals may be harder to find, but there are areas of Friendswood that were also impacted by the flood, too. Everything you said was true about Pearland, also. It may be worth directing more of a focus towards Pearland, but if the opportunity presented itself and I had to choose between a property in Pearland or Friendswood, I would take Friendswood all day. (Assuming the numbers worked)

You seem familiar with the area. Are you from here or have you lived out here before? Another area I am focusing on out here is League City. Great school district with a lot of growth. There are some older areas that seem to be popping up some solid deals.

I'm still new to the business and looking to expand my list of contractors, but in the mean time I have been using a guy I went to high school with. I don't have any complaints about his finished product, but his communication is terrible! I have referred him to two others who seem to be having the same issue. Not returning calls, text, etc. 

Most recently, for example, one of the referrals had tried for 2-3 days to get him to return a text/call. After the third day I reached out and received an almost immediate response that he was out of town for the week in an area with little to no service. Maybe so, its the hill country after all, but it's the same pattern over and over. 

Worker supposed to show up - Doesn't Show - Call/Text GC - No Answer - No Answer - Finally Answers - Insert Excuse

On my project he was only working on the cabinets, for the other two, he did a majority of the work. His pricing is reasonable for a GC and I'd like to continue to give him work, but I don't feel like I should have to be his motivation. Yes, I can talk to him about it, but I'm not sure it's worth it. Overall, I see myself using more direct contractors, as opposed to a GC, as my network grows. 

Just curious for thoughts, feedback, or stories from others with similar situations.

 That would be great! We are mostly focusing locally for now. Alvin, Santa Fe, Friendswood, Dickinson, League City, Webster.

Hey Cal, I know this is an older post. Just wanted to follow up and see if you have anything else in the area. We have a property listed that should be under contract and sold within the next month. Do you actively market the Dickinson/ League City Area?

@Naeem Kapasi I grew up with him so it helps with the communication on the front end. He is new to wholeselling and has already had some good success through his first few months just driving for dollars. He has a partner he is working with right now that handles the contracts and back end. They are splitting everything he brings in 50/50.

I had been telling him about direct mail and the need/benefit of setting up a marketing campaign. I offered to help cover the cost of the marketing in exchange for first right of refusal on the deals. If I pass on the deal, he can do what he wants with it and I would receive his standard referral ($500-$1000) that he offers.

He is a natural born salesman that thrives on the phone. I, on the other hand, enjoy the numbers and the projects. It has always made sense, in my opinion, to buy from wholesellers, but I haven't found many who I trust to provide accurate numbers. With this arrangement, we can be completely transparent with one another and I will have the opportunity to name my price before the negotiations start. Anything he talks them down from there is where he can really make his money. 

I will give it a try for a while and see how it goes.