All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Greene

@James McCray you have to tighten your lists on ListSource so you don't waste your time. You need to target the highest equity for every parameter, but you can pay a monthly and ListSource will create the lists for you for absentee and everything. You can only scale to homeowners in the home for 10 years or more, but to add to that you can adjust the homeowner's age higher to be more effective when looking for empty nesters.

@Hadley Benoit - any price compensation is purely up to you in terms of how much it will cost to get them out. After several cash for keys deals you might be able to evaluate and give yourself a fixed number to balance against the cost, but in the beginning, you have to think two month's rent at the absolute least, maybe even three to be safe. 

However, if you are asking if the REO companies will consider that a factor in your offer reduction percentage, they won't. They could care less whether it is occupied or not, it's just the cost of doing business on your end. If you are able to see the property and make contact with the tenant during the showing window, you may be able to get more of an idea of whether you need to factor this in. They could be on the way out, the could be planning on staying forever - get as much info as you can on site.

@Nick M. - most CRMs enable automatic lead flow from Zillow to your CRM. When the lead comes in on Zillow it is added to your CRM with all the information contained in the contact. CRMs can also generate an auto response text and email for these leads.

@Chris Lawrence - depending on which site you are on, you may be paying a 5% buyer premium on your purchase price. Make sure to look out for that as you need to factor that into your valuation. Also, be prepared to know your top number. Most auction properties in my area always respond (from an online bid) with a note that they are moving to highest and best offers and you must respond or leave your offer as-is.

Important: For condos, make sure to find the property management company that runs the development and confirm the HOA fees. BUT you must also confirm whether or not there are any pending assessment against the association (new decks, exterior redo, etc.) AND whether there is any pending litigation against the association. These are a MUST because they will not be disclosed and the auction company will not be liable for this.

@Cornelis Uys - best option is the local county's Sheriff's Office. Just Google the county and sheriff's sale or foreclosure auction and you should find one for each area. If you can't find it, call your target county and ask for the website. If they don't have good access, you can use Zillow to get about 50% value on their preforeclosures listed in each area.

The school doesn't matter at all. The instructor could make a difference in terms of learning. I think less laid back would be better for your broker's license because of all of the potential compliance issues you will need to learn about.

@Nicole Aleksandrowicz - find a mentor first inside your brokerage. A mentor can not only teach you a lot, they often have a surplus of leads or can give you some of their less savory leads to play around with. Ask around your office for anyone who needs help hosting an Open House. These are your best bets with people you don't know. But don't forget about all of the people you do know. Work your Sphere of Influence by letting them know gently that you are now licensed and are happy to help. Your sphere can contain more ready buyers and sellers than anyone can imagine.

My first listing came from a handwritten card I sent to an expired listing. I ended up selling the home in a week and got both sides.

@Daniel Johnson - just calling a lender for prospects will get you nowhere. You have to send lenders buyers ready for a pre-approval before they will even consider sending you a potential client. For them to refer a buyer out, they need to know you will close since it's their referral on the line. Before you can get value from service providers in the industry you have to give value. If you are hosting an Open House for someone, invite a local lender to participate with you and that mat stoke the fire.

@Luke McCann - I think 6 is the magic number, but direct mail can still have an effect. I think to stand out your postcards or mailers need to bring them some value instead of just a catchy way of asking if they have grown out of their home. Maybe the first few are market stats for multis and other related plus value adds for them. Then by #4 or #5 you can hit them with an "Aren't you tired of your tenants" card.

@Jered Lafuze - whether you are looking to transition into a career as an agent or a REI, the best way to transition from a full-time job into real estate is to find a mentor who is doing what you might want to do and offer you help. With your experience, you could provide valuable insight to a commercial RE agent, but you have to give to get back later for it to work when you still have a full-time job.