All Forum Posts by: Justin McClelland

As Justin Silverio mentioned, going with a specific location would be ideal. It looks like Alameda County (CA) is fairly large. So if you narrow down a handful of zip codes that have the highest activity of cash-buyer activity, that may be an ideal focus. Since you're wholesaling, knowing where the cash-buyers actually buy will put you in the right territory.

I haven't tried this, however it is a good idea. $30/month per yard sounds extremely high however. At that price point, it might be cheaper to eat the city ordinance fines and place the signs wherever you want. Perhaps just knocking on the homeowners' door and asking for permission would get the same result.

One thing I have experienced is that with bandit signs in the ground, you will receive a high response-rate, but short lifetime of sign. Bandit signs on telephone poles however, will get you a lower response rate due to the fact that they're a bit inconspicuous, but I've had some stay posted for 4+ months and generate a slow trickle of phone calls the entire duration.

Perhaps, there's something I don't know here and I'm oversimplifying, but I'd say that the person who needs the permit is the person who needs to be 'permitted' to do the repairs. The buyer.

I'd suggest starting with Craigslist and post in the jobs section as an employer. State your criteria for what your looking for in a bird-dog, what it pays, etc. Present it as a part-time job that you're offering. You should have luck on Craigslist.

This keyword function is the single feature that brought me back to BP after quite the hiatus. Saves a ton of time. I would list what my alerts are, but I don't want to receive an email about them all. Perhaps, I'lll mask them. Cash Buy*r, Yellow Lett*r, just to name a few.

If the subject property is in Shawnee County, I'm fairly sure you walk into the Appraiser's Office and find a public computer terminal to look this up. Most county's make the same information that the title company taps into, available to the public.

Once you look it up on a county computer you should be able to pull up the both original mortgage documents, they'll appear as scans. Then you'll be able to find your mortgagee information that you're looking for and other chain of title info.

Gene Hacker is right that you should keep in mind housing discrimination laws, however it sounds like you are merely asking how to 'attract' a specific demographic. Nothing illegal about that.

I'd say the bulk of your answer lies in where you market. Where are those who are 50+ turning when they begin their residence search?

Just to brainstorm in 10 seconds, here are some places I think:
- Church bulletins
- Bingo hall bulletins
- Cafeteria bulletins
- YMCA newsletter
- Newspapers/Yellowpages (they're prob the only age group reading these at this point)
- Senior Citizen mailing list

Property Wholesaling may be a good way for you to try out real estate, with minimal upfront cash investment, and see if it's for you.

If you post a Craigslist ad that you need an investor-friendly agent and get very specific with your requirements upfront, you will have a flood of prospects to choose from.

A quick tip would be to select an area nearest to you like J Scott mentioned. And since you mentioned you want to wholesale, run some numbers on where the investor activity is nearest you. You can measure investor activity in the form of cash-solds. The easiest route may be to have a Realtor run this report for you. Once you know where people are buying property, then I'd call that your target area.