All Forum Posts by: Hal Cranmer

There is a group of economists that saw it coming - the Austrian economists. However, they believe in free markets fixing things so nobody listens to them. Everyone wants a government solution. You can check out their website at http://www.mises.org. Check out 'The Bailout Reader' in the top right corner of their home page. They have articles going back to 2002 talking about this crisis.
The most famous person who talked about Austrian economics (and was yelling as loud as he could) was Representative Ron Paul. Rep. Paul ran as a Republican in the 2008 Presidential campaign, but all the press ignored him. He was saying in the debates that we were headed for a disaster.

I have five single and multifamily properties that have some decent turnover. They are mostly near a University and downtown in Minneapolis, so I get a lot of students or young people just starting out. So I am showing the places to people a lot during the year.
I have read a lot about marketing and found out about back-end sales or steering customers to other businesses similar to mine. I was thinking I'm missing out in providing other opportunities to sell to people who come look at my places.
The fact that prospective tenants come look at my places mean that they are interested in living in that area. So if they don't rent out my place, they will rent out someone else's. Therefore, has anyone tried to keep the renter's contact information in a mailing list and offered other services to them? Things that pop off the top of my head include:

1. Referring them to other landlords in the area (since they are not going to rent your place anyway)
2. Restaurant coupons
3. Big chain stores in the area (Home Depot, Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble etc.)
4. Coffee shops
5. Furniture stores
6. Automotive repair and service (oil changes, etc.)
7. Movie Theaters
8. Plays, Art Museums, other entertainment attractions
9. Real Estate agents if the tenant is looking to rent before buying

Has anyone else 'upsold' tenants to other businesses in the area? What kind of arrangements did you work out with other businesses? How did you make sure the other business paid you a referral fee if the prospective tenant used their service?

These upselling techniques (it seems to me) would work with both people - those that looked at your place and turned it down, or those that rented from you.

Thanks for any advice.

Tim,

I agree with all your points except #1. If you read the Constitution, there is nothing in it referring to the US as a 'nation'. In fact, during the Constitutional convention, the delegates debated putting in the word nation and voted it down - because they did not want to be a nation but rather a confederation of states. Prior to the Civil War, the US was referred to in the the plural ("The United States are great trading partners" for instance). So 'National Defense' is just a way to help consolidate power in the central government.
An early 20th century Congressman, Randolph Bourne, said "War is the Health of the State", and he was right. You can't have a huge national defence without a growing government. Look at the growth of the Fed Gov't since the War on Terror kicked off. Also look at every war in this country's history - and you'll see tremendous growth in government at the same time.
If you are worried about security, look at who actually took out terrorists on 9/11 - it was private citizens. The government with it's 1/2 trillion dollar defense budget was impotent against 19 guys armed with box cutters.
I say this as a veteran. The military spends money like there is no tomorrow on ridiculous stuff, and we really don't get much of a return from it. As for national pride, I think you get much more pride from your family, your friends, and your accomplishments, than you will ever get from the government.
Sorry to get on a soap box - just my 2 cents.

I would like to have a political party where all the members resign and serve their constituents through their own business ventures. From the founding of this country through about 1840, most Americans only contact with the Federal Government was by using the Post Office. Now that would be a change I could believe in!

You really want to know how to solve this crisis. The answer lies at this website:
http://www.mises.org
This is the website of Austrian (or free market) economics. They predicted the dot com bubble bursting in 1999, and the housing collapse as far back as 2002. The rock star of Austrian economics, also predicted the Great Depression in 1927, and WWII in the early 30's. Quite a track record.

Their answer. Go back on the Gold Standard. DRAMATICALLY scale back government. Let the bad investments be liquidated. Only then will you see the economy rebound. It will be painful for a short time, but then we'll recover. Right now all the government is doing is prolonging and increasing the pain we will eventually feel (if you are not feeling it enough now).

Any Ron Paul fans around here? He predicted all of this when he ran in the primaries.

Curt and Kirk,

Thanks for the replies. I look forward to working with you guys in the future. Curt - I have two big questions - how to market for rental properties that cash flow, and how to select a good property manager if I get more properties.
Kirk - I have a friend in Dallas who has a brother that is a RE investor. I'll get in touch with him. I was also reading Dave Lindahl's course on apartment investing and it sounded very interesting - especially since he invests all over the country. He said Dallas was the next big growth area - is that what you are seeing? Thanks.

Thanks Caitlyn. After you take a look at John's course, can you let me know what you think? I did a quick search on google for him - lots of articles but I did not see where he was selling his course. Can you tell me where to look?

Maybe this is my cynical nature, but it seems to me this guy was arrested for talking honestly about what politicians do. He was using his office to get money from some people and give it to others (himself in this case). How is that different than all these other politicians who just took billions from us and gave it to banks and auto companies who donate heavily to the politicians campaigns. Why do we arrest this guy and yet let all the other ones go?

I noticed there were two people selling Donna's course on ebay - one with the 140 page book on 'Note Buying - the ultimate short sale' ($99 on ebay) and one with the 140 page book and the 500 page book for about $500. Could you buy the note using just the 140 page book? Thanks.