All Forum Posts by: Jason Grote

@Jeff Thompson :
Door knocking! Wow, few want to do that anymore. The average homeowner is becoming more and more rude to the cold call door knocker! I think the effort is worth a try and if you come across someone that is in the market or will be soon, you have a leg up over anyone else. People will respond to a person before a letter or postcard anyday! Let me know how it goes, please...

In my market, there seems to be so many investors watching the MLS that ultimately one or two green investors will overpay or are willing to settle for a small profit.

My wife and I would literally drive neighborhoods and write down the addresses of houses that looked distressed. We would then send them a very non-business looking letter with a handwritten envelope. The response rate is very good and we survived off of this for several years, but about a year ago the response became terrible and we started a website.

Now we have become lazy and are depending on the site to produce leads. Thankfully it is for now! You sift through alot of leads, but the diamonds come!

If marketing budget is small, here is a very effective technique:
Pick a couple of neighborhoods that you want to acquire a rental property in and go to the online tax roll and send postcards (letters are better) to mailing addresses that do not match the street address. They are more than likely landlords. If they are tired of being a landlord, and many are, they will call you and you can hopefully pick up one at a good price!

Shouldn't a seasoned investor be able to inspect at least 80% of the property himself? We have personally never hired an inspector to check out a property. We have however brought out a foundation repair company to shoot levels and the such. Aren't thorough inspections for retail buyers?

@Brandon Hobbs: This is my favorite part of Real Estate! Initially working with the seller is what will set you apart from another investor. If you put yourself in their shoes, and handle them with the attitude of, "I want to help you!", they will make it easier for you to work with! This will take up a lot of slack in your inexperience! Because of the stress and emotion usually involved, the seller needs to feel comfortable with YOU!

Shari,
You are on to something! I use an agent to list our properties when we do not get a good fit from our small buyer pool. Now, the agent is my wife and it doesn't cost us anything, but you might consider offering some sort of flat fee listing or a discounted percentage since the sale should be quick and fairly simple (as-is).

There are other investors in my city that have been doing this a long time and are doing well!

Really, it means nothing in the sense of days till you can close. What it does mean is that the listing agent has a listing agreement, a signed and faxed 3rd party authorization, the bank has done an initial review, and there has been an initial outreach to the seller. When it comes to short sales, he or she who has the most patience wins. Experienced short sale agents will typically shoot you straight because they do not want to be hounded. The inexperienced buy into much false hope with the timing of the bank's performance and pass that false hope to you the buyer!

Amy, I live in Austin, TX, [solicitation removed] Wish you the best!

Josh, I am also interested. Although I have been a member here for a little while, I have not been real active. We launched a blog through my website and enjoy writing. Let me know what you might need from me! Thanks!

Greg,
Wow, what humility! When I started, I did not want anyone to know that I was new, so I put on my fake investor talk. Long story made short, I would have learned many things faster by networking and communicating with folks that have broken the ice in their own investing career. I wish you the best!