All Forum Posts by: Jason Farmer

Greetings

Im a big data nerd, just wanted to know if anyone knew of a web portal or software, that is similar to sites like realquest, or property shark etc. where you can search by both Parcel and address to Find the owners names and mailing Address and property type, beds, bath etc...

Ive been crawling and extracting data for free from the county site for some time, but now alot of county are cracking down on it, and also having to build a crawler for every county is a headache, i would like one place to get all the info from. Ive tried realquest, and property shark i dont like either really. Anyone have any good sites for getting real estate property data....free or paid

Thanks Guys

@Annie Li

Now what @Dale Stevens says is correct, but he is speaking from an investor that can get in his car and drive there in less than an hr..

These places are great for the local guys, all across the U.S there are little pockets area where investor clean up, because its home to them. i know an old guy with hand over fist properties in torn down Gary and he does extremely well and hasnt worked in over 20 years. but hes a local guy and can drive by everyone of his properties daily if he wants, everyone in the city knows him and respects him which adds tons of value to the situation. There is an absolute way to make a lot of money even in an area as rough as this one so i would agree 100%. But since your starting out and further more out of state its rare without a really good and solid team it would work for you.

@Annie Li We bought it in the end of  2011, sold it in 2014, and i dont like to be negative, but this area will never recover, there is no chance for this area near Gary to recover, have you driven just down the block onto Broadway, you wont even have to go 3 blocks to see burned down, boarded and destroyed commercial real estate, tons of burn homes. Etc. I just left there earlier Dec. and someone was killed just a few blocks from this place.

I dont personally know @Sharad M. but i know quit a bit of investors and wholesalers out there that know him, and this is his area, he knows it well, and it takes a certain type of investor to invest in areas like these. You have to understand the type of renter this property will more than likely get. You should take a trip out there for a week, and just drive the area, get a feell for it and your eyes will open up, and it will give you more insight on where an out of state investor should buy, dont get me wrong, Lake County is gem to me, and this county has alot of nice house for cheap that rent well. But you have to know the area. It so important if you want to be as successful like someone like @Sharad M.

And I dont want to discourage you, but its so important you actually go there and understand the area and how much one street to the next can change. Homes prices here are kind of a mirage they look great from far off but as you get closer they dont make sense. 52k, you can find propertys for that price in a better part of the city. Patience is the key until you can development a nice marketing ninch to find better off market properties. My last purchase there was a 2400sq ft home we got for 48k. In a very nice part of the city.It took some direct mail, but it came out of no where. I think you should just keep looking, and get something that will bring in nice qualified renters that will make a property their home. 

@Annie Li

greetings, my partner and I first investment property was 1 block on 52nd st.., im from CA to, born and raised, long story short, alot of family there, i love it travel there at least 3 times a year, so i know the area just like i know my own streets. we have a couple in Merrillville now...but Anyway

Thats a very tough area, its extremely close to Gary, literally one block. A lot of high thief and burglary crimes really close to that area. we bought our property fairly cheap, rented it for $1100 and that lasted about 2 years. We could not find long term quality renters, its not a desirable area, the house kept getting broken into, and vandalized. I figured because it had a Merrillville address it would pass, however its just too close to Gary.  And for the price plus rehab, its not worth it, i think you would buying a headache this close to Gary. 

I think its great you have compassion for others, i would consider myself a very compassionate person, and I LOVE TO GIVE TO OTHERS, i mean i absolutely find happiness in giving to others, however its simple

Just pay market value for the houses. So you can sleep!

Point Blank take the emotion out of real estate, this isnt the type of business for it unless you have the cash and just want to give it away. Be fair and honest, go into a sellers house assuming nothing, your job is to make sure they are happy in the end. If you really want to go the extra mile, then educate them, show them how to research comps, show them how to fairly price their house, then allow them to set a price. Theres are alot of things you can do to make yourself fell better about what you do. 

@J Scott

I’m sure this will go over so many BP readers head. I really enjoyed the read, because this was my exact path that's lead me into a very success wholesaling business.

I actually started selling on Amazon years ago doing, "retail arbitrage". My Amazon business grew quickly, but it was learning arbitrage to and exact science that got me there. For some reason the value snapped in my mind really quick. It went from retail arbitrage, running around from store to store buying everything in the their clearance section and reselling it on Amazon, to later understanding the value of making relationships with reputable distributors that can get me these same products in bulk and faster....And to this day imp in the top 350 sellers on Amazon, where there are more than 2 million sellers....

But I said that to say, 3 years ago I started wholesaling and there were tons of similarities in the process, and it seemed like it just fell into place, I took the same methods and system in my Amazon business to my wholesaling business and I haven’t looked back since...This was great I hope other BP members pay attention and understand the message...

@Jay Hinrichs

I love this man 

"but rentals are rentals are rentals all the same issues happen every were in the US"

if people could understand this concept it would create a whole new nest of wealthy young people....i dont care how many inventions we make, how far technology goes, rather we start driving flying cars, we will ALWAYS need a place to eat.sleep and take a dump...

You remind me of my mentor her in CA,.

Victorville, Lake Elsinore, Rialto, Pomona, Riverside, San Bernardino, Colton, Lywood.there are a ton of more cities, mostly IE and Riverside County.

The thing i love about southern CA is no matter where you buy you can charge premium rent amounts according to the area standards. Get out and just drive, tour these cities. Yorba Linda is the last city coming out of Orange, less than 20 mins from Riverside County area. All our counties except for Ventura County are all less than 45 mins in distance of each other. How you grew u and what your used to has an affect on how you view other cities, Ive been all around Southern CA and most cities people have named all have decent parts to them. Its like this, if you live in Orange County, the one city every names as the ghetto city is Santa Ana. But coming from some cities in Riverside County, some in San Bernardino County,some in LA County you would find out alot of people would say Santa Ana is luxury city....LOL...Its all perception, you would probably think i was crazy to mention Compton...When you think about the history of the city and what you see in movies, you would run, but guess what, My wife grew in a very nice part of Compton, where there are really nice homes, owned buy older people with good city and school jobs. Where all cultures of people live, its not dangerous...And rent is high, the homes hold good vaule "based on the value of the area"...Brand new developments near buy...

What im saying is dont limit yourself really get out there and look, and dont base it off what someone on BP tells you. When real estate is booming any area in So Cal will appreciate greatly....Any area from "ghetto" to the beach cities. Of course be smart dont just go anywhere, an on any block....but in general So Cal has a very rare R.E.I culture you wont find anywhere else...When your looking in the price range yur looking in you have to think outside the box...

Everyone "ghetto" is different. I grew up in La County,"city of Norwalk"  Santa Ana would have been heaven to me back then...LOL

Good Luck

@Lennie Holland...LOL

Well its late for me, lots of family over, and babies crying in every room for Turkey Day...Im going to bed...Enjoy

@Lennie Holland

I have a partner and we split everything right down the middle, we cn spend far more than that,,,, but it pays off, So Cal is a tricky market, we do a good amount of deals a year with decent spreads, but theres always those huge deals, that come around 2 or 3 times a year...when they come we dont mess around we put alot back into the marketing side of the business which can carry our marketing for months...and im no expert, but i bleed marketing, i love it, its steroids to me, so i study it, i study the big companies like Sears, Walmart, kmart...etc...and i see how they operate and i apply it to real estate...My partner is a sales guy, he bleeds sales...So combine we make a good team, and one thing we both learned coming from the mortgage world, is LEAD CAPTURING, so we understand that and it allows to keep track of everyone who calls, everyone we speak to, follow ups etc...

And no matter what anyone tells you, direct marketing is always the best, a simple letter or postcard, wording is not very important just get to the point...The big companies survive from this, they know what you want before you even know you want it, they track every dime you spend, every keystroke you make, and they feed you advertisment all day, and you dont even realize it...how does the mortgage guy know you need to refinance, how does Sears know you bought a house and wants to give you 50% off all appliances, how does the car guy know you only have 1 year left on your 5 yr car loan, and hes offering you the best eal ever...THEY ALWAYS KNOW...and we as REI should always know...its the same concept, its just finding those people....But anyhoo i know you didnt ask for ll of this, its late, and i always ramble when its late....its a bad habit for me