All Forum Posts by: Daniel Pitcher

Hey Andrew,

I saw your post on BP - I'm a flipper / wholesaler in the Charleston area.  What is the formula you're looking for for rentals?  I'm seeing way less rental grade real estate available as i feel prices have outpaced rent increases in most neighborhoods.  I do find rental grade stuff from time to time and have done several deals with landlords the past year or so.  In what neighborhoods are you looking?

I watched the video and still takes a while to do but definitely eye opening.  I use Mac Pages and Numbers and realized i might have to switch back to Word and Excel.

Thanks for the response Gerrit.

I guess maybe it's my printer (HP 8610).  The margin for error is so small so it almost depends how the printer picks up each page.  There is a ton of variation to that i've found.

You can make your font at myscriptfont.com  It's free and takes 5 minutes.  Though, make sure your handwriting doesn't look like mine... a little too handwritten 

I'm having some trouble putting together a perfect letter.   I'm using yellow paper and printing lines on it from a template.  I have a handwritten font of my handwriting that i print back on the paper.  It would look great but theres always a line or two that get printed on the lines making the letter look fake.  

Does anyone have any experience in tweaking the spacing?  I've spent a fair amount of time trying to wiggle it around.  There must be a better way.

Thanks for reading!

Nice work!  what area?

Right now i'm gathering a direct mail list driving / walking around my town.  Have about 200 properties on the list so for that i'm getting names, forwarding addresses for and categorizing by the type of distress whether its absentee, lein, probate, vacant, etc.  I know there are many approaches but i'm going to run several different direct mail campaigns each with a different tone based upon the target group.  I've heard in podcasts from Danny Johnson and others that people sell their house to you, not your company so sometimes putting the corporate veil down works better in solving someone's problem.  It stuck out when Danny said his response rate to his website grew when he switched from corporate style to Danny Buys Houses.

Question is- I've lived in several houses around my farm area and is it ever advised to come across as a neighbor saying, hey i lived across the street from you for several years and always liked your property and would to love to make it my first purchase- without your investor/rehabber hat on?  Or say i'm a recent graduate of xyz college down the street and i'm a new small business owner looking to make your property my first investment?

Is this just another strategy to test to hopefully achieve higher response rates? Or waste of time/ resources 

Thanks for looking!

I've just finished my pre-massive action education phase and am now meeting as many like minded people in the business as i can.  I have secured  capital to do my first deal from a former rehabber who now runs a custom home company.  He has agreed to help me along in my first deal throughout the process and at the closing and to provide the necessary contacts for contractors and help pulling permits and such.  He wants a 60/40 revenue split once he approves of the deal which is fine by me.

Question is, how much work do I do setting up a 'company' to make myself look legitimate when i'm knocking on doors and making phone calls etc.  He advised me to spend as little time and money on website and graphic design as i can but i informed him i have a sister who is a graphic designer with a background in commercial real estate marketing and a best friend who is a web design genius type.  I could get this done for little to no money and little of my time.

So should i form an LLC, have a website, phone number, and business cards starting out or is this a waste of resources and i should spend that time searching for deals?

Thanks for the welcome Paul. REIA is a great idea. I'm definitely into signing up for those though my only free nights i have a few meetings / dinners set up with investors and agents I already know in the area to get started.

I read J's book, what a great source of info from start to finish.  Though, I bought it off amazon and did not get the Estimating Rehab Costs, which i'll need to order.  I think the way J delineates the flip process start to finish into chapters is a good way to organize the entire scope of research.  I've outlined all of the chapters and now am expanding each section with  information from external sources like the BP podcasts/blogs/other books, etc.  Thoughts on that strategy?

I'm a huge reader.  That occupies almost all of my free time.  I've also read RDPD, how to create a Real Estate Fortune, and the other 2 books by Kiyosaki as well though their names escape me right now.   I tried Tyler Hicks' How To Make Millions in Real Estate, though it seemed too much like a sale pitch for me to get through it.  I've read tons of other business books that seem to help in the critical thinking aspect and stimulate some creative idea flow.  Any other book recs?

Hi everyone!

I'm Danny located in Charleston, SC.  I studied political science and finance at the College of Charleston where i graduated from in 2012.  I've been lurking around / reading on the site for a few weeks and i love the attitudes, knowledge and willingness to help of everyone on BP so far.  

I am new to the arena of real estate and want to make it my full time occupation.  Growing up, my father was a commercial developer in St. Louis, MO and i was always around the business learning nuggets of information everywhere i turned.  Together, he and I completed a flip of a house in our neighborhood and i was hooked.  I'm going to start a business flipping to build some working capital and transition to more of a multi-unit buy and hold strategy down the line.  

Currently, I have a rather unique job that could be my biggest obstacle and biggest asset starting out. I'm an independent contractor for a Bike Taxi operator in downtown Charleston. I make a reasonable income despite only working for 10 months a year and I can mostly make my own schedule, which is generally nights and weekends, leaving my mornings, days, and winter months free to learn REI.

The downside is that being a 1099 contractor, i pose a risk to conventional lenders (so i believe?).  I have saved all my nickels, and invested into stocks and am ready to use them to fund my business. though would still have to explore the OPM route, excluding banks.  Though i love my job for the interpersonal and negotiating skills it has taught me, I have a goal to make December 2016 my last season.  I also have a short term goal of acquiring my first flip property by December of 2015 and will have 3 months to devote solely to the project to put on the market in the early Spring of 2016.

I'm a real people person and would love to get coffee or lunch with anyone in the area to talk real estate, fishing, fitness, or anything else you name it.!