All Forum Posts by: Dave Vona

@Ryan Dossey thanks.  So it doesn't seem that having those keywords in a name are useful for SEO, but what about other forms of marketing.  If doing direct mail, for example, and you only have a few seconds to communicate what your company does on a flyer, it seems that having the "we buy house" type of name would be beneficial.

@Jonathan Ryzowy.  I've heard it takes a lot of work and some time to start ranking.  I do plan to use other marketing as well such as direct mail or PPC.  

@Account Closed  Thanks for the tip.

@Kuba F. Got it.  Thanks again for your feedback. 

@Kuba F. Thanks for the feedback.  It sounds like the ideal name is going to both convey trust and let people know that we have a solution to their problem.  So ABC Home Buyers is going to be better than something like ABC Homes?

Hi, I'm trying to decide how to name a company that is going to be attempting to find home sellers.  I see many companies use some form of "something something home/house buyer" in the name.  I thought I would do this as well but then I noticed in Denver only one out of the top five Google results for "sell my house fast in Denver" has home or house in the name.  I'm trying to understand if it matters as far as SEO goes, and then whether it's important from a marketing perspective in general.  In other words, do I need to quickly get the message across what my business does rather than trying to explain it somewhere else (this would apply if I start doing direct mail, or other forms of marketing).  Let me know if anyone has thoughts on this.  Thanks.

@Josh Miller Congratulations on reaching your goal!  We talked on the phone last year and then I met John when I was out in Omaha.  I was planning on investing in Omaha but I had no rehab experience so I decided to start in Denver, where I live.  I bought the first home to flip here through a wholesaler.  I plan to go direct to home owners but I'm trying to define how those interactions should work.  As you mention, I want to genuinely help the homeowner.  I feel it's a fine line when negotiating with someone that potentially is in a vulnerable position, and I don't want to take advantage of the situation.  I think it can be done, I just want to be sure I've put some thought into it first and outlined my companies values before engaging.  I hope to be on the beach in CA someday too, but probably only for a month or two before I get bored as well - I've got a long ways to go.  Thanks for sharing and good luck with your next endeavor.

Thanks @Bill S. I am looking into generating leads so we can at some point bypass the middleman (aka wholesaler) but that will take time.  If we can go direct then we have a chance to include our own contingencies if asbestos or lead are found, and renegotiate.  I've been doing some research and for asbestos you're required to do testing if you're disturbing more than a certain square footage or linear feet, and it's very minimal.  Once you test and asbestos is found, then you're required to have a certified asbestos contractor perform abatement.  We were just performing a rehab and an inspector found asbestos containing material in the dumpster.  We weren't fined but the cleanup is going to run close to $20K.

@Greg Dickerson and @Avery Heilbron I agree that the best thing to do would be to have an inspection done before placing an EM deposit, but I'm wondering how you bid on these projects when, in Denver at least, you need to put up $10K down without any contingencies when purchasing from a wholesaler. There's no time to have the inspection done first, there's only a few hours before these properties are sold.

Thanks Greg. I know several larger flipper talk about using these types of incentives/penalties, such as J Scott, Than Merrill, as well as a coach I had last year, on SFR, however they use this approach for GC's. It just seems much more difficult if you're acting as the GC to use this method of incentives.

I wanted to understand what other house flippers are doing to account for the cost of asbestos and lead abatement when purchasing a property.  The costs can be significant if there is asbestos and lead throughout the home.  I know testing can be done, but in Denver many of the wholesalers require a $5K - $10K non-refundable deposit.  And, if I was to assume an extra $20K-$30K of additional costs for any flip that requires significant demo work, then that would really kill most deals.  Do I need to become more familiar with what to look for in a home and then estimate the amount of the abatement costs more accurately instead of using a worst-case number?  Thank you.