All Forum Posts by: Dennis Marshall

Your reputation is everything and therefore you should guard it with your life. What i've learned is all attention is good attention; no matter if it's good or bad. You just have to know how to direct it once you're getting it.

I watch rappers and entertainers use negative attention to drive album sales. I've paid attention to marketers who use people calling them a "scam", as a podium to show exactly what they're about.

Just take it in stride... Great point you make though Josh

Welcome Angel...

I see your in a hot market.. I've heard some good stuff about South Carolina as far as investing goes..

One thing I'll tell you to remember is to not let emotions run your business... Understand where people are coming from and do everything you can to help them but at the end of the day, if you dont contract a home at the right price, they you won't be able to sell or make a profit (or may a good profit) in the end.

It's better to be real with sellers and let them know just what's going on in their area. Do your research. Give them a fair offer. Whether they accept or not is on them. Dont be scared to lose a deal just because you dont want to hurt their feelings. You have to get it at the best price or you both lose.

They dont get the cash for their home and you lose a deal.

Hope this helps my man...

A service I just signed up for to get faxes is Pamfax.. It's free for 3 months I believe. They give you a number to send and receive faxes by email.

Another great feature they have is an iPad app. Allows you to keep track of what faxes come in on the go.. Truly helps you become paperless...

After the 3 months, you can pay, I believe $14 a month or $60 for the year to keep your number active..

ANother great iPad app (costs 5 bucks I believe) is "Sign My Pad".. It allows you to import PDF's and sign them digitally on your ipad with your finger or for a better choice, a pen made just for the ipad. You can get one of those puppies on ebay for less than $2.

definitely check out pamfax tho

Yea we all need down time.. God knew what he was doing when he told us to rest one day. Our society is so hotwired now to GO GO GO that they dont even think about taking a break. They just pop a 4 hour energy drink and time to go..

In real estate, its a good practice to have some parts of your biz on auto pilot. Whether it be having an assistant taking calls or a friend handling your marketing.. It gives you a chance to separate your biz from your personal life

I recently got a letter in the mail from the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation.

It stated that I has committed a 3rd degree felony because properties i had listed on sites like Hotpads & zillow were never in my name.

What happened was I was marketing the home for another investor and like most investors, only bring out option contracts once a buyer is found..

Well apparently an agent saw one of his properties and reported.

Now I was not worried about it at first after getting some not so good advise but then I talked to some people that went through this same ordeal and they were like you need to call this guy asap..

This was after I got an email saying my case was going to the state attorney... Turned out that they just wanted to warn me about what I was doing but I got off lucky...

This crime is punishable up to 5 years and a fine of 5000.

I'm doing this to get some feedback from other investors that went through the same thing and also let the newbies know that they cant just go listing other investors properties like crazy on public websites.

What are your thoughts? EVer got one of those letters in the mail?

You can go down to your county court house to the probate department if they have one specifically and ask for the latest probate leads. They should just hand them over to you.

I've also heard of investors finding probate leads in the newpapers. In Tampa, there's no such thing or I haven't found it yet.

Yea just get the decedents name and address then the beneficiaries (mainly the #1 benf) name and address and send them a personal letter. Be mindful that they have lost a relative or a friend so you want to be courteous but just state that you understand that there may be a home left behind that you would be willing to pay cash for.

Let them know the troubles of tryinig to sell a home the traditional way then tell the the positives of selling it to you.

I personally don't go after widows because they may still live in the house and have some sentimental attachment to it. you want people who live across the country and don't even know the home exists. When you tell them they can get 10k or 20k for just signing some papers, some, not all, will be blowing up your phone to get to the money. :mrgreen:

So where are you wholesaling at?

Yes you can state in a contract that it is nonassignable. You would put this in the special or extra clauses area. On standard wholesale contracts, it always says it is assignable but you can definitely take that out if you want by stating a clause. Now if you would have stated that, they would have done a back to back close or a double closing to get the deal done.

Flipping REO's in Florida doesn't allow ANY assigning so you always have to do back to back closing.

Sounds like she pulled the ol switcharoo on you. Frankly, after the deal closes, I could care less and would work with that wholesaler again to get some deals done. I do hate it though when investors act like their the end buyer but are just planning on flipping the property. Be careful because if her buyer would have walked on the deal, you would have been stuck because I dont think she would have come out the pocket.

Did she put a deposit in escrow?

Also, sounds like your Title company isn't too investor friendly. The moment a title company says they dont know anything about assigning a contract, I never call them again. They could potentially mess up your deal if they casually tell your seller what you are doing.

Many out of state investors hop on the first deal they see at a good price.

For instance, I could get an out of state investor a property here in Tampa for between 8k and 15k. Thing is, they are usually in warzones and it takes more work finding a renter than getting them into move in condition.

Now don't let this deter you but it happens. Me personally, I would not sell a house in a warzone unless an investor insists on getting those dirt cheap properties. I'd flip them to them all day. Many wholesalers don't care and only think about one deal.

My saying is "i don't want to get a Lamborghini off our first deal; I'd much rather get one after our first 10"

Best wishes John and happy investing

Definitely Cash!!!!

Cash is king right now. I don't even deal with anyone talking about paying with a loan. Find a wholesaler in your area that will bring you the properties you want and you can sit back and relax a bit. Unless you like being in the field.

I don't have any experience at buying condos but I would say go for it if it's priced right.

Depending on what state your in, you should be able to find a student or a single person as a renter.

If there's a college near, I suggest posting some flyers around campus. You could even go on craigslist and find someone to pay to put flyers up around town for you.

hope this helps out a bit.

Best wishes