All Forum Posts by: Eric M.

Since you mentioned the expected cash flow of your house, I'd encourage you to look into various perspectives regarding the 50% rule. The rule states fifty percent of gross rental income will be spent on expenses BEFORE debt service. In your case, monthly rents of $1600 will be $19,200 annually and half ($9600) will be spent on expenses. The annual mortgage expense is $13,620, which actually gives a negative $4020 cash flow.

You don't need an LLC to wholesale properties. The contracts can be written "Rain Rinaman and/or assigns."

Honor system.

The questions you asked have been answered multiple times throughout BP. I would highly suggest searching "list source criteria" and "direct mail response rates" to gain some helpful insight. My favorite on the subject is @Sharon Vornholt as she has multiple blog posts regarding DM.

I'm going to write the following assuming you mean $1000 total - not $1000 per month. If you meant $1000/mth, just quadruple my suggestions. A list of 2000 names from LS will run you around $200. If you are running on a flat $1000, I suggest breaking it into 4 mailings to the same 500 people using standard postcards. Mail in 6 week intervals so you'll hit the same 500 people 4 times in a 6 month spread. This is recommended versus hitting 2000 people once, which would use the full $1000.

If you send 200+ postcards at a time, you get "bulk rates" which cuts postage in half. My mailings are out-of-state so it costs $.26/each or $70/250 cards. My printer charges $35 for the printing so I pay $105/250 postcards and I mail a batch every week. I break them into multiple campaigns of 250 and have 6 running at a time. Hence why having a list of more names than you can mail to is a forward thinking idea. Once you land deals, up your volume of mailings.

The assignable contract the wholesaler has with the seller offers protection.

Details about the property would certainly help. Clifford Ave isn't the most desirable area to own rentals, but there are a number of landlords who successfully invest there. I think it's beneficial being on Clifford opposed to an off-street since Clifford has heavy traffic which results in less property crime. @Mark Updegraff gave solid advice and I'd reiterate walking the property and scoping out the area to see if it's a good fit to your strategy.

Pros: cheap units and high cap rates

Cons: DSS/Sec 8 tenants likely and crime

Welcome to BP! Congrats on wanting to start a family - I did just that in 2013. A 8 week old boy is certainly a good motivator. I sent you a message regarding your criteria. Rochester has a wide range of properties that can suit your needs. I can also refer you to competent property managers.

It seems like you answered your own question. Use a city/county and search for 60%+ equity. See how many that brings you and add or subtract if needed. As long as your budget allows a consistent mail campaign you'll do well with any list.

I don't have experience obtaining lists from title companies so I can't mention anything on that.

You will be able to obtain a list of 13,000+ from www.listsource.com - have you looked into the criteria yet? If you search "list source criteria" you can find a lot of forum posts and blogs discussing details.

@Leah M. Welcome to BP - it's refreshing to hear you're new investors yet have managed to purchased two rentals in a seemingly difficult area. Good luck and I hope 2014 is a successful year for you two!