All Forum Posts by: David J.

@Ashley Petersen We still order from them.  They are the least expensive and hold up just fine.

Posted this 6 years ago...... Crazy how fast time flies. We've now done close to 100 deals, manage our own 55 rentals, and have a 30 agent brokerage. 

@Dennis M. Ya but you need 3 roofs, 3 HVACs and 3 leases.

I second @Sam Craven.  We haven't done an inspection in quite some time.  We buy as is where is for cash with no contingencies.  I wouldn't take this approach unless you have the experience and the capital to pay for any surprise that comes up... and there can be plenty.

@Kelly M.

Thanks for following.  Your questions below are followed by my answers.

1. Do you attempt to use colored envelops or letters to be more eye grabbing?

The letters are yellow, but the envelopes are white.  The print appears to be handwritten on both the letter and the envelope.  

2. I am establishing a Facebook page and website page to try to be more credible. Have you done of this? Would you recommend this? 

I have no feelings either way other than if I come across an entity with a facebook page and no website they actually lose credibility points since for the same amount of effort a website can be created. Frankly, I have no web presence and have no plan to get one.  I work full time and buy rentals on the side. My credibility comes in the proof of funds and cash to close.

3. I have created a brochure, again an attempt to provide more legitimacy to a small company. Do you think this worth the bother?

No. Not even a little.

4. Do you think 7 NEW letters per week is too little to be successful? If I repeat this 3 times over 3 months, it will turn into 20 letters per week.

Probate is a super niche market. There are a few experts in these forums that could tell you, but you have to mail, and mail, and mail, and keep mailing to probates because you never know when the executor will be able or ready to sell the property.  I don't have much experience with probates to be honest.  I dump letters monthly to the same non-owner occs with equity in the neighborhoods I want to buy in for 6 months in a row and then I refresh the list ad mail 6 more time.  I've been mailing 500-1000 letters a month for the past 4 years and average about a house a month.  Some are killer deals and others barely meet my buy and hold criteria.  It is completely a numbers game (and a people game). Since I started mailing, the market I am in has gotten hotter and hotter.

Hope that helps.  Good luck.

@James Wise

I agree.  This thread chronicles my first 4 months of direct mail (not even a full campaign).  Since then (6 campaigns later), we have continued to mail on a monthly basis at about the same rate and have had the same experience as the first campaign on almost every one.  We have improved our systems and eliminated most of the time it used to take to manage the campaigns.  For a side gig, it sure has been fun and rewarding.

So fake rent in July, no rent in August, no rent in September. 

I agree that a good tenant on paper can stop paying rent.  What I don't agree with is fake rent in July.  To me this is fraud unless they tell you immediately.

so let's say no rent in August and September.  You would have known no rent in August by the date they send the owners statement out.  If I don't have rent by the 5th I am posting the 3-day notice and starting the eviction process.  No excuse for letting a tenant get passed a week without starting the eviction process. 

Step 1 - find new management.

Step 2 - a strongly worded letter from your attorney requesting the missing rent and the deposit from the TK/management company. If they paid you fake rent and sent you a statement saying tenant paid rent, I would also file in small claims court and blast them on every internet site you have ever heard of.  Threat of a couple bad reviews and they will come up with some more fake rent to cover you.

Call Travis Hanson at Mertracor property management. He started buying in Lubbock 5 years ago and has 150+ doors now. There is also a small REI Club out there. Lubbock is pretty small, so if you start networking you will meet the biggest players pretty fast. You can buy right off the mls out there and they cash flow. Do any direct marketing and you will do even better. The college is stable and produces higher than average rents and there is a niche market for student rentals. I started buying in Lubbock when I was in school and just recently sold my 15+ home portfolio. Within 5 blocks of campus you can pick up a 60k house that rents for 800-1000 a month. I suggest buying a cheap one and seeing if you like the landlord game before trying to go too big. Watch out though because it is addicting. There are also tons of local / community banks that all know the portfolio loan game and have a huge appetite for SFR loans.

Bank seasoning requirements.  This is the only reason.  Every lending institution is different.  Many hard money lenders have relationships with permanent lenders and will loan you enough on the front end so the rate and term refi on the back end covers the majority of your costs if you buy "right" enough.

If you are paying cash the refi will be a little more tough because it is viewed as a cash out and not a rate and term refi.  Outside of conventional financing the banks all differ slightly on internal policies for their portfolio loans.  I have a couple relationships that let me refi with no seasoning up to a certain percentage of appraisal, and others that will lend a percentage of my total purchase/rehab costs.  Finding a deal and financing are really the toughest part of this BRRRRRRRR.  Once you get those two issues resolved the rest is just elbow grease.