All Forum Posts by: Dominic Mauro

I did not read every comment and I am guessing this may be a repeat but nonetheless... 

As someone who has a small business and markets for their own properties in a midsize, active area I can say that the vast majority of wholesalers I encounter bring little or nothing to the table. We have some big corporate wholesalers who are pretty "bleh" but it seems like every few weeks a guru class lets out and I get inundated with deals that would be bad for everyone except *maybe* the wholesaler. These people add much noise to the entire market while doing little to actually move things along.

Furthermore, they really just pull funds from sellers since the only way they are remotely a deal is if they are lowballed to sh$t so they can make their spread. Those same people would almost certainly end up with a cash buyer who would pay most of a wholesalers spread directly to them.

Bottom line, I am not a big goverment oversight guy but I would have no issue if the practice was more regulated.  I think the "new" standard would be to buy it and flip it after purchase. No more having to say I am a contractor so the seller doesn't know I'm the actal buyer. No more coaching people when their contracts are so bad Title won't take them, etc. 

I mean, honestly, if you can't figure out how to fund a property you shouldn't be in real estate.

Thanks @Michael Ilhardt, I have been pondering something along those lines, it just seems like you end up a little cobbled together... Smrtphone to make calls, clicksend for texts, ???? for email, etc.  I'm sure it's not as terrible as it sounds but...

Man, this one ended up with Crickets...

Hey all, I know there have been 100 variations on this theme (and I have read them all) but I have a couple of questions that someone might have some insight on. Apologies, this got long, just feel like explaining the situation might yield more targeted results.

Basically, my situation is that I would like to formalize/centralize our record keeping and marketing efforts in to as few systems as reasonable. We (just 2 of us) mostly contact D4D prospects (there are a lot in our area) but have also done some direct mail lists and sms marketing in the past. For us that means that while we want to be able to do a decent amount of cold calling and SMS we don’t really need (or like) the ability to blast thousands of people, just individual contacts as needed and don't really need an expensive VOIP dialer or anything.

To date I have managed this with an (ever increasingly) unwieldy set of excel sheets but they eventually get confusing and there is a real problem in that when we get too busy, we have to put the brakes on the marketing but then it’s kind of hard to jump back in and remember where you are at with every step, every contact, etc. Rich file names, comments, etc. only get us so far. Plus, there is no automation so even though we have workflows planned it is difficult to manage stages, responses, etc.

All that is to say, we are trying to find a CRM (and more) that will help us store, parse and automate some of this. I have been building a podio setup and as a CRM it is pretty solid so far but I am just getting in to trying to figure out some integrations and automation and have quickly realized that it is a little tough/clunky with my tech level and honestly, all of it feels a bit cobbled together. I am also afraid that, like other things, we will figure it out and then forget how it works after we switch gears and it will be a struggle to update features down the line. I have run in to this issue with other low code type stuff before (wordpress!).

After starting a trial with REI Blackbook I realized that an all-in-one solution would be awesome. Something that has a good CRM and in some reasonable way integrates voice, SMS, email (maybe direct mail too but not as big of a deal) and some form of automation/workflow. Does anyone use or know of anything that meets the following or gets pretty close?

Here are kind of my thoughts, maybe it’s a unicorn?

• - A CRM that is pretty customizable/flexible. Probably the biggest issue I have with REI Blackbook is that the CRM just doesn't really fit what we are doing currently (D4D/Skip/Cold Call/Text/Email/Direct Mail usually in that order). The issues I mostly have (with most of the mid-tier CRMs) is how a lead is input always seems to have limitations. I would like to be able to have the lead managed by property address (not contact), have multiple contacts (husband & wife, several heirs) and have a large-ish number of phone numbers (we skip and then whittle down to a best number or numbers) with each contact that can all be contacted (versus just a "primary" number that can be called) and could also work for handling lists (code compliance is one we have done in the past as it's readily available from the city), maybe with something like tags to keep them separate.
• -Automated Workflows – This is probably the biggest hurdle we have now. Having prospects at various stages and not being able to set up automatic contacts or even just reminders that a next step is due (automatic tasks or similar) becomes quickly overwhelming. Being able to automate a few contacts with new prospects or a drip campaign (for instance, monthly emails or texts to people who have sent in their contact info) would be huge. The workflow tool in REI Blackbook seems pretty spot on as it is simple and covers these main things but not overwhelming like Globiflow.
• -Voice, SMS & Email Integration – The more robust the better! I love the idea of click to call/text with some form of logging. We currently just use Google Voice & Gmail but any integrated solution is great.  As mentioned, it would be great to access ALL phone numbers, not just a "primary" number.
• -Cap of about $200 a month all in (including any external accounts if there are any). I would like to stay away from annual only payments or “setup fees” as that’s just not right for where we are at unless it really is the most awesome thing ever. Obviously, cheaper would be great!

Maybe Podio really is the best option, I would just like to see if I’m missing anything first. Or maybe someone knows a Podio workspace that has this stuff? Thanks!

@Account Closed Good point re getting it current, I have done a couple short time frame Sub2 deals on flips but they were both on good terms when I started making payments. Other than that, it's really the idea of holding a rental with an existing loan that makes me hesitant. Cash isn't a huge issue and again, at worst it should break even if I needed to dump it but that's not really my style. Appreciate the advice

@Greg H. @Eric James Thanks, you are probably right, just always looking for options in case I missed something.

Thanks for the responses, yes house is heavily distressed, basically a gut inside. Yes, VA loan, should have mentioned that. Since we have some local responders, the house is in Killeen, decent older neighborhood, not high value but everything is up 20+ percent over the last year. My initial MAO was about 40k but with things the way they are right now I would be comfortable bumping it up to 50k but still a pretty big spread to 70k needed to pay it off and honestly, I would need some meat on the bone as it is a heavier rehab, at least for me.

Just to offer a little more info for the curious, I pulled up the original loan docs on the county clerk's site and the original loan was in 2007 for about 82k so I guess there were a decent number of missed payments, penalties, etc along the way.  The seller told me that there was some kind of "modification" that made the payments higher a few years back but there is no refinance or anything filed so not sure if they were rolling late fees in to long term payments or similar.  I also discovered that the lender referenced, Midfirst Bank, just took over the loan from the original lender, Supreme Lending, about a week before he acceleration letter was sent out. Not sure if this is common practice to sell the debt right before foreclosing or if this might be useful?

At the end of the day I would like to help get the seller out from under the property and create a deal for myself if possible of course, rental or flip, whatever makes sense.  Based on the above responses and the info learned I have a few more questions.

1. Does anyone know/have experience with trying to get the loan current at this point? In other words, is something like that even doable considering it is post acceleration by a newly assigned note holder? I have been a little hesitant to do long term Sub2 but honestly, deals have been tight and I am pretty confident that at worst I could get out of it flat or with a small profit if it got called, etc.

2. Regarding the fact that the new note holder just bought the debt (I assume at a reduced price), do you think there is an avenue to try and get a lower payoff without a short sale?  From pretty much everything I have read (many, many times) it seems like there is pretty much no chance of this and that banks/lenders just don't really negotiate with people outside of short sale, deed in lieu, etc but not sure if the new lienholder situation might change that.

3.  Although it doesn't seem like the best path since the house would have to be listed, is short sale even a possibility at this point since they are already moving to foreclosure? 

Again, many thanks!

Hi all, long story short, working with a seller on and off for a couple of months. She kind of ghosted and then popped back up when she received this letter re her property. This is in Texas, FYI.

The amount owed (about 70k) is more than the property is worth in current condition (about 50k) so just paying it off doesn’t really make sense. She isn’t super concerned about the actual foreclosure but would like to “keep it away from the bank”, even if it means some effort (but hard to gauge how much she will really put forth) with no real financial benefit. I have not dealt with much foreclosure stuff but she would like to sell and obviously I would like to purchase it at the right price. My thoughts are:

1. Would the next step (after 20 days I believe) from the lender be to start formal foreclosure (file with the county, etc)?

2. Based on what I have researched there doesn’t seem to be opportunity for negotiating a lower payoff or similar at this point or am I missing something?

3.Can the loan be brought current at this point or is it past that point? Honestly, I think her payments are too high for Sub2/wrap to make sense but just exploring all options.

4.She is active military so I believe she may be able to delay some? If so, is this process difficult? Is there any real opportunity for her to be able to negotiate a lower payoff through this avenue or would we just be kicking the can down the road a bit?

Thanks, I’m happy to offer more details, just wanted to keep it from getting too long!

First, apologies if this is answered elsewhere, I did a few searches but really only came up with threads regarding nonpaying tenants.  Also wasn't sure if this was more of a Buy/Sell or Rental post.  So here is the situation in a nutshell:

I have an absentee owner who wants to sell a property he has held as a semi-accidental rental in Texas.  There is a long term tenant in place who is an Army buddy of the owner.  However the tenant had some issues (death in the family I believe) and basically disappeared about a year ago.  The owner and the tenant share mutual friends and apparently he cut off contact with all of them as well and the rumor is that he returned home to Guam.  I tried to skip him but didn't really get any new info.  

The owner has tried to track him down over the last year (calls, emails, LEO wellness checks, friends stopping by, etc) all to no avail.  The lease just came up and due to the situation the owner now wants to sell since he is out of town and doesn't really have any interest in having a rental.  The kicker is the tenant has been paying rent the entire time.  The lawn gets mowed by a service, the electricity is on, etc but no one has been there in the last year per the neighbors.

I suggested he go ahead and send a 30 day notice to vacate to whatever addresses and email he has but honestly, I'm not really sure what the next steps would be in terms of legality for gaining access, what to do with the tenants belongings (I believe there is a decent amount of stuff in the property) or just generally moving forward. Obviously, the owner doesn't want to screw the guy over but he also feels a little trapped and is worried that he will eventually stop paying or something similar.

I had considered just buying it and letting the guy pay rent for a while but because it's a direct deposit (or similar, not 100 percent sure) it goes to the current owner's account which isn't ideal plus the rent is below market.  Also, I need to inspect the property as there is a chance it's not a deal depending on condition vs mortgage payoff.

Any advice on how to proceed?  Thanks!

Huh, I just came across this as well and can't really find much info but my BS-o-meter is pretty much redlined.  Low fee, low price houses at the click of a mouse.  No real contact info (there is an info@ email buried somewhere) and even though the search is fairly polished some of the pages are sketchy looking and the subscription links aren't even actual CC forms or secure. Pretty sure that checks off a lot of boxes that say RUN!!!!!!