All Forum Posts by: Joel Sherlock

Thank you @Jon Klaus Sorry I missed this message.

Great post gentlemen! Thank you @Bill Exeter and @Dave Foster for sharing your breakdowns.

@Ryan Fisher Have you considered pushing your interest to the back end? The first $100 in profit/return is distributed as it was invested, and the remaining profits are split equally.

Great post @Devan Mcclish Thank you for sharing the details and break downs! 

Thank You @Isaac Blocher

The term “Boring is sexy” was one my mentor had used so many times, I always understood the overarching meaning. Safe and secure, slow and steady. My focus has always been on growth markets, good job growth for the area, steady population increases and low unemployment. Our buy and hold portfolio looks for caps in the 6-8 range.

I often hear stories of investors making 10+ in boom markets, (for example: Canada’s Fort McMurray or North Dakota in the USA) and found myself looking at deals in those markets. Tempted to stray from my mentor’s advice chasing the big returns. In the past 8 years I have watched some of my friend and business associates learn the lesson first hand in these markets but each time I am still tempted to jump in.

Its only over the past 3-4 months as some of the oil boom towns (Fort McMurray in particular) are seeing huge vacancies and property values decrease and unemployment jumps. Hearing the tales of price reduction after price reduction and monthly shortfalls certainly tell a different tale then the boom days of not too long ago.

I am reminded now of the long term focus and the meaning of these lessons. “Boring is Sexy” The security and feeling accompanied by consistent growth. The lack of stress when a tenant gives notice and we are in markets that have extremely low vacancy rates (less that 1% in a few markets we are in now) Having 19 applications for a property in the first hour its advertised. All great feelings… good returns and low risk. Boring but Sexy.

As I write this half of me hopes it will be of value to someone, while the other half wants it to be a reminder to me next time someone brings me a Hot Deal in a market that does not fit our proven structure.

Make it a great day! 

Joel

Thanks for taking the time to read my rant.

@Corey Woodruff I always recommend prior to closing on any deal know all of the competition in the area and market. Its always important to know what level you need to bring the home up to in order to be just slightly nicer then the others in the area.

For example: Do you need hardwood or will laminate be more then enough. Is granite in the kitchen and bath needed or an unnecessary luxury for the market. This will always vary market to market. I have seen many first timers take properties to far and blow budgets because they were excited to make the home "perfect"

Once you have a firm understanding of what level a home needs to be complete and competitive (this applies to rentals or re sales) only then can you work backwards from the estimated finished market value, less the renos you would need to bring it up to par and if there is enough money between that number and the purchase price then its a go.

Cheers

Joel

@Account Closed Congratulations on your hard work! I am a firm believer in education, systems and good old fashion hard work.

What systems are you using? Automated? CRM based?

We use a custom designed system with our CRM that has some automated components are lots of auto populated reminders for our agents. I am always interestded in talking with other agents who understand systems allow us to deliver better service to a larger number of customers.

@Jacob A. Great comments from all the posts, I completely agree with @Mindy Jensen on the simplest and lowest cost method of sitting in another agents open house with proper prospecting plans and dialogues. 

@Nicholas Smith Mentioned mail drops can be effective but crafting a message that will get noticed in this market it an art and needs to be crafted well. Also we find this strategy works only on multiple sends. Don't budget for or expect one send to produce results, it will take a few touches (3-4 at min) to get a good read on a farm.

@David Hunter had a comment on door knocking and I personally believe we have come full circle and so few people are actually doing this now that sellers often welcome to opportunity to talk real estate with a real person who knocked on their door.

I would also recommend keeping a close eye on your market. How many months of inventory do you currently have? ie If everyone stopped listing homes today, how many month at current sale rates would it take to sell all the homes. This will give you a good idea of if you are in a buyers market or sellers market and you will need to adjust your dialogues and approaches accordingly.

Great thread! Thank you.

@Max Shepherdson Sorry I missed this message, I would be happy to share the numbers with you. How is your day tomorrow to jump on a call?