All Forum Posts by: Vanessa Blais

I'm looking for Dodd-Frank compliant advertising copy advice for advertising for private lenders.

I think I might be confusing Dodd Frank with  "Reg 504 and Reg 506 within Regulation D"

Yes, I'm trying to find private lenders.  I advertised for "Partners" because I was under the impression that we can't 'solicit' private lenders, but I would prefer a 'lender' at 15% than a partner at up to 50%.

Whenever I read about 'raising capital', it's usually related to bigger deals and getting capital for those deals from several different sources.  

I will be buying one SFH home at a time, and I only need one lender per house/mortgage.

So I have tried to read the Dodd Frank legislation, but I can't make heads or tails of it, but some time back, I'd heard that we couldn't advertise the way we used to for private lenders (Attn Investors Earn 8%-15% return on your money secured by first mortgage in real estate)...  

Then I heard that we had to either a.) advertise for 'partners' and then segue into just lending or b.) build relationships first.  

I actually did place an ad on CL for a 'partner' and I did get one good response from someone who says if I can show him some credibility and a deal, he'll put up the money if I do all the work.  

Everything I've read with regards to Dodd Frank on 'advertising' for private lenders seems to indicate that the advertising rules only apply if you're borrowing over $5M or if you are commingling funds and forming a security. 

I am looking for one lender only, per property, which are all single family homes for less than $75K.

Can anyone tell me what I need to know to be sure I'm in compliance with Dodd-Frank with regards to advertising/soliciting private lenders? Thanks.

I read this question and variations on it a lot... and I have been buying and selling real estate since 199, direct mail was my main (and most profitable) marketing model and I've also been writing direct response copy for 15 years, so I'm going to tell you this:  Your target audience is 'owners in distress.'  Just because the house is vacant, that doesn't mean the homeowner is in distress, so you're biggest issue right now, is 'waste.'  You are burning through money because you aren't targeting well enough.  "Vacant Due to Distress" is who you need to be reaching.  

Start with the property appraiser's website.  Often if the mailing address is different than the physical address, the appraier's office will know that and if they do, they publish it on the property info page. 

Call the post office... I know there is something you can mail to the known address and write something on the envelope that will instruct the PO to notify you of a change of address, but the procedure is escaping me right now.

There's a bazillion 'people finder sites'  - use them.

Also, check social media accounts, especially sites like Linked-In and even CL, where people upload resumes which usually have contact info on them.

Ask neighbors.

And there are always skip tracers.  Find a local PI firm and see if you can make a deal with them for skip tracing services.

I can't read through all 293 replies, so I can only go off your OP, and based on that, here's my crash course-

#1 Go read anything you can find by Dan Kennedy.
#2 This is a numbers game and your sample size is insignificant for getting real data, though, your response rate isn't bad at all based on that.  Plan on mailing out at least 1,000 pieces before you can even begin to start measuring response and conversion rates. 
#3.  The money is in the follow up.  I mailed out 7-11 letters per prospect.  (Because everything changes with time and circumstance.) *Again... Dan Kennedy.

Even below average copy will convert at .05% if the market is targeted. Response and conversion rates go up according to several factors:  the targeting, the copy, the timeline of the prospects problems and associated emotions... 

Shoot me a PM if you want and we can exchange numbers and I'll give you a call and walk you through more. 

I have some questions about what kinds of data mining services people are using to locate "Homeowners in Distress".

What services do you use?
What do you like about them?
What do you not like about them?
How much do they charge?
Do you think the price is worth it?

What does the service not offer that you wish they did offer?

The numbers work beautifully, if I can fund, but I can't because of the cloud. I've talked to the neighbors, (got the former owner's entire life story) and I see no real issues cropping up with a motion to quiet the title, so I am going to tell my broker to offer him a L/O on the following terms:
 
1.) Lease house for 25% of market rent with up to you 4 years to exercise separate option to buy
2.) I have 3 months to secure a tenant buyer
3.) I will file the motion as soon as I have a tenant buyer
4.) As soon as the motion is granted, I will buy the property.  Should the motion be denied, I will continue to lease the property for 4 years until the cloud falls off by default.  Should any heirs make a claim of ownership rights to the property within those 4 years, I will be released from any and all obligations to the lease and the option to buy.  

That's all I can think of... as for finding off market deals, we're working on that too.

Thanks all... My broker is also telling me that she wouldn't put money into someone else's problem property.  I was looking at it from the perspective that we make the money we make because the properties have problems and we have solutions.  

I am definitely getting a hinky feeling about this lender, and my broker explained a bit of the wire fraud that's been happening the past few years, so I'm starting to think that's what this might be.

I'm out $400 for a rushed appraisal because he only gave me 3 calendar days to get it done and that was on a Thursday.

I was thinking of offering the seller a lease with option to buy deal, that I could sandwich lease option, on the contingency that if the motion to quiet the title goes through before the term of the lease (up to the 4 years that we have to wait for clear title) I would close as soon as it does, and if we have to wait out the whole 4 years, then I will get back any money I have to put into it from rents.  

At this point, that's the only way I see the deal working at all. My broker says he's very aggressive and says he does these all the time, but I know all the big players in this area and none of the landlords that I know are going to pay more than $30K -$35K 'cash' of their own money with that kind of risk (4 years that 'heirs' might come forward and claim rights to the property being the biggest).  

And deals are really hard to come by around here right now. We're on an upswing in this area, bidding $5,000 over list price and still getting outbid on all of them.  

Ok, here's the deal... ARV is $120K on a 4BR,2 BA 1 Car Garage house in C- neighborhood. I've got it under contract at $47K right now. Monday morning, title called to tell me not to bring in the escrow money because they can't clear title for 4 years due to owner having purchased property at a tax deed sale. (We are in Florida, and house is in Pasco county, title co in Hillsborough County).

Question
Part 1- Seller says he does these all the time and all I have to do is close without title insurance and then file a "Motion to Quiet Title" at a cost of $1,000-$2,500 and 2-3 months.  (I've been through a motion to quiet before and it took two years but that was in large part because I let a really crappy lawyer do it).  Has anyone else ever found a private money or hard money lender that will fund without a clear title in situations like this?

Part 2- I have been contacted through a REI group I admin on FB with an offer for funding on deals, and I brought this one to him and he offered me just a little over a 65% LTV ($80K,) on the deal. BUT... he's got no website, no license as a lender (he's in Washington State, so I don't know if it's required to be licensed as a private lender there, no 1033 just the shortest application form I've ever seen that doesn't even ask for my social, just my driver's license number and a copy of my DL, and all no doc... no bank statements, no tax returns... no credit pull? Verification of income is done by asking me my supervisor's name and phone number at my work, (or name of accountant).

Thanks Burke, I'm actually just starting to rebuild after the crash handed my a** to me back in '07.  I'm nowhere near that level yet.  I'm starting over from scratch.