All Forum Posts by: Daniel Raposo

@Raymond B. 

If not CT, where should he invest instead?

Hey CT Investors,

I'm not sure if you have had a chance to check out the Location Sub Forums but now there is a new Section just for us to post location specific forum posts. If you subscribe to the forum you will get updates any time someone posts here. I hope to see some activity here!!

Hey CT Investors,

I'm not sure if you have had a chance to check out the Location Sub Forums but now there is a new Section just for us to post location specific forum posts. If you subscribe to the forum you will get updates any time someone posts here. I hope to see some activity here!!

Is there a "Best of BP" like on Craigslist? I would definitely be voting for your cost sheet if there was. I'm not going to go into it because you wouldn't take the advice anyway. I admire your tenacity to make these deals so I would suggest you just go out and do it. Let us know how it goes. Good luck!

@Account Closed First, I would just say that you came in asking for opinions about your plan and then got upset when people offered some criticism. My opinion is that instead of trying to rebuke everything these experienced and knowledgeable investors are saying, take their comments and dig into what they are saying to see if there is any value there. 

Land costs vary greatly all over the place, in my area two identical houses only 2-3 blocks away from each could vary in price by $200k because of the street they're on or school district they are in. Those details matter so it's hard to make blanket statements about land costs and resale values. You mentioned CT as a potential area for building, as a CT investor I would say it would be hard to find any land for the 20k that would then be worth the 5-600k that you're talking about. 

To summarize, my advice is that you can definitely make money building a house by yourself, I have known other builders that do it. However, I would look into some of the other areas that you're talking about more before jumping in. Check to see what the permit process is like, what work requires licensed contractors, if you need licensed engineers, architects, sewer or septic installers. Every state, county and town can follow different rules and procedures. I don't know if your plan will work, not because of your skills but that you would need to find highly discounted land to make it work. That said, good luck. 

I would try to get her to just move out. Tell her she has gotten to live in the place for practically nothing for a month and rather than go through an eviction it would be easier for both of you if she just left. Give her some time to get out and have her sign some sort of agreement to that effect. At this point you don't want her there and unless she is doing this all just to get free rent, she is probably upset about the stove and may not want to be there long term either. Try to get her to agree to leave in writing, but have an attorney start eviction immediately just to be safe. 

Congratulations @Kim Handelman that is awesome that you persevered and made it happen. Have you sent out any more mailings since those first two?? Gotta get that next deal going.... Let me know if you come across anything in the Lower Fairfield County area, I would be more than happy to help with comps and rehab numbers. Congrats and good luck for the next one!!

It is interesting to see other peoples take on the millennial personality. From the millennial sin my area I see people making good money but spending on themselves on things like travel and "shiny things" as someone else put it. But I also think they are only pushing off life for a while with things like children, home ownership, marriage, etc until their late 20s- early 30s. I personally think they will eventually move into home ownership and it will start happening soon. However, I don't think a brokerage just focusing on and catering to millennials is enough of a competitive advantage to catch on. I think millennials will create a shift in the brokerage industry, but I'm not quite sure what it will be. You can already see the changes the Internet and sites like realtor.com and zillow have brought to the industry. Agents and brokers are no longer the gatekeepers to the industry information so it is only a matter of time until the industry shifts to accommodate that.

@Nathan Waters

I used three different mailers for that first run, but I'm not sure I could confidently say which received the best response based on the type of mailer. The first piece was a yellow letter, very simple and basic with the "handwritten" font on the letter and envelope. I got a lot of responses from that letter, but it seemed that most people were not being mailed to and had never received a letter like it, which could have had more to do with the high first response rate. The second piece was a "zip letter" which also got a good response, but was less. The third was a small postcard similar to a "notice" note. All three got excellent responses, but I am more of the opinion that it is a collective response to the repetition than any one piece. 

I just finished up my first 3 month round of direct mail and I'm getting ready to send out the next batch. I purchased my list through Listsource, using the following criteria: Zip Code 50% equity or more Owned for at least 15 years 3-5 bedrooms No corporate or trust For the town I am focusing on it came out to about 2,400 houses. I mailed to each home 3 times over a three month period, spacing them out so I wouldn't get bombarded with too many calls at once (which actually still happened) From those mailings I picked up a listing and one purchase, and still have a few more prospects out there. Just a quick tip for Listsource, they have a number on their website to call to set up an account, which saved me about 50% on my list. Good luck!