All Forum Posts by: Lucas Machado

63.4 acres of vacant land listed above for sale. Asking price $45,000. Area yet to be developed. Very motivated – make an offer!

Property Descriptions:

Parcel #1:

Property Code: Vacant Lands & Default Real Property Class

Land Use Code: 20-39 AC

Size: 20 Acres

Parcel #2:

Property Code: Vacant Lands & Default Real Property Class

Land Use Code: 40-79 AC

Size: 43.40 Acres

PM me for additional details.

There's a middle ground there. You don't want to harass them, particularly if you call so soon and they haven't seen your card. However, if they haven't seen your card in 3-5 days (people should be checking their mail every few days - or they probably won't be checking it in 2 weeks), give them a call then.

Don't sleep on SEO/Adwords. The leads are "hot" as far as leads go. Direct-mail is great, but it's in many cases oversaturated and the leads - because you are contacting them - are not highly motivated.

SEO/Google Adwords want to sell (that's why they Googled to sell their house) to pull up your ad.

Not saying dive head first into Adwords as that can be heavily expensive if you aren't sure how to proceed. But, like others said, SEO can take a bit to get returns.

I've been working hard on SEO about 3-months now, and getting around 10 to 20 leads per week of motivated home sellers. Again, I don't mean motivated ready to sell at a discount, but people truly interested in moving their property.

If it's on the MLS, and you don't have it under contract, I would be very upfront that you would appreciate it they don't buy it themselves.

I'm not saying some experienced and long term major real estate player would do that.

But if you're telling everyone about your deal (like 1000s of random people at a REIA), I can almost guarantee that will be under contract with someone else (if it's in fact a good deal)

And there's nothing wrong with that, to be honest. It's listed for sale. Anyone can and should make a bid. You might never be able to lock it up.

First, what strategies are you using? I looked at RealeFlow - seemed interesting. However, it also seemed like if you don't know what you're doing you could end up in a really bad place. For example, it features "low equity" leads. I'm not saying a low equity can't be a deal, but certainly you'd need some other major motivating factor. In bankruptcy, look up the automatic stay in your area. There can be lots of rules preventing sale of assets once bankruptcy is instituted. Bankruptcy is one of those things that SOUNDS GREAT but is hard to work. Absentee leads? Well, that might sound good, but you need to avoid corporations or companies that own lots of properties to the extent possible (not always possible if they mis-spell their names and use different mailing addresses). Tax liens is cool, but if they recent'y purchased property, they'd rather die than sell at a loss (seriously), in my experience people would go to the day of auction rather than sell at at a loss).

Also - going to be real about your site. I don't know how or who recommended that - but it needs facelift. My site may not be the prettiest, but it converts over 15% for Google Adwords and I get lots of organic leads. It's all very distracting and I have to spend like 30 seconds to a minute to even figure out what you do and where you enter the info. 

Is this a hybrid agent/cash buyer site? If so, seriously consider breaking them up. Your site needs a PURPOSE, it's not a business hub. Now, it's perfectly acceptable have a business hub site, but if you think your home page is going to be pulling in your organic traffic, then that can't be a business hub site. You can start a completely diff site or different page.

And to be honest, I think I only found it because I spend alot of time on lead generation websites and know how to move fast - I could see home sellers never finding where to input their info.

You also feature that "we are not real estate agents" - but then have a bunch of what appear to be MLS listings hehe . . .

@Ray Agosto The question is far too broad to get the answer you are looking for : )

@Linda Govan

As someone who has done hard-money loans (gotten hard-money loans or similar financing) and worked JV's with more experienced (and less experienced) investors, that all seems very convoluted and complex. Honestly, I wouldn't waste time thinking about a "credit partner".

HML is a valid option though, but it should really only be a few points an and 10 to 12% interest. Keep in mind, it's not necessarily out of the kindness of the HML heart to take a chance on you, if you default, they can foreclose and get the property.

Like @Rick Pozos, if you have a great deal it shouldn't be hard to find a partner or hard-money lender. Keep in mind, partners have experience, want to get paid, and if you a great deal you can probably get a minimum of 25% if they are managing and paying for a good contract. I don't mean bird-dogging, you might be lucky to get 10% in that scenario.  People contact me everyday with horrible leads or contracts to the point I can barely respond. I respect the hustle of people seeking to partner or get a loan - but you will build better relationships by being picky on what deals you present.

"Gurus" get a negative connotation because in many cases they lack on the ground local experience. It's easy to sit in some webinar or fly people in for some course and charge $2,000. I think of "gurus" like that and that's why you are throwing your money away. These people either don't know the local market, local players, or quit the game for a reason. 

If a person has serious deal experience - and you can easily confirm this by just asking them about a few properties they've owned, or a few references for transactions they've worked - 50% 50% is MORE than generous if they are bringing the money.

If someone brought me a lead, and I was bringing the EXPERIENCE and MONEY - I wouldn't give 50%. Doesn't make sense. Perhaps others out there are willing to put up all the cash and manage all the work for a 25% cut, but that seems shady to me.

If a person told me they were going to pay for a deal and manage a deal, and I just had to bring the lead/contract for 50% profit share and do nothing else, that would be my new business : )

I think the BIG issue here is - not whether the $7,400 is worth it or not worth it. It's whether you will actually find deals. No mentor is going to do that for you. So if you're paying $7,400, and don't have any marketing or MLS strategies to find good priced deals, then yes you probably are throwing away 7.4k.

Keep in mind for tax delinquency, it's a great niche, but just because they are on the tax delinquency list doesn't mean you should necessarily spend hundreds of dollars going after it. Depending on the area, tax delinquency can be a HUGE quantity of leads.

I would still apply other criteria you might apply to for example eviction or out-of-state owners (perhaps a little more lenient). For example, I don't care how tax delinquent they are, I've never seen a person willing to sell a house at a loss they purchased 3 years ago. Hell, I don't know if I've ever seen anyone willing to take a major loss no matter when they purchased it. Similarly, if its a landlord that owns 50 properties, he's probably not giving you a price that works even if he's behind. Obviously, corporations wouldn't be worth it.

So, just make sure you're not treating every back tax lead the same.

You're looking at MLS listings . . . but are you making offers?

Deals can honestly come from anywhere. Send a contract, call the agent confirm they received, and ask if they have pocket listings. You might get the property you offered on, or the pocket listing. It sounds little, but I once got quite a large deal simply asking that question.

No real harm in making an offer that would be a great deal for you, and getting in the flow of making offers on a regular basis. If they don't accept it, no sweat. If they accept it, great, got your first investment.