All Forum Posts by: Matthew Charron

@Ray Johnson So lets say as a beginning investor trying to wholesale to generate some income for future purchases. Should I decide on a company name, design a website to explain what I do and capture leads, begin branding and have cards associated with that business as opposed to just having a simple card like I had mentioned above? Just trying to understand the best way to start putting myself out there to acquire some off market deals.

Hello fellow BPers got a quick question for you. I am new to REI and have no properties but I have been networking and have some contacts. I'm looking to score some off market deals to wholesale and this question is related to having a business card. Now I don't have a business name or a business set up and no website as I don't think it's time to start branding yet. However I do want to have some kind of card to hand out to people I meet so they can contact me. Would it be okay to have a card that simply says "Need to sell your house fast for cash? I can help!" And then my name and number without having a company name or logo on it? Thoughts?

I am a newbie myself but I feel like butting in for the sake of conversation and trying to exercise some of what I have learned. The first thing if you want to have these partners would be to make sure all your interests are aligned. If one wants to flip, one want to buy and hold, and one wants to just be a private lender then you could run into some issues. If you plan on using traditional financing to purchase the property, for example a bank loan closing in the typical 45-60 days I hear, as opposed to paying cash and closing quickly then you could put yourself in the position of paying retail prices and facing lots of competition. If you do manage to land the property with traditional financing, how are you splitting up the costs of the down payment and closing costs and etc? Do you have any money yourself to split three ways or are you planning on using your associates as equity partners? Not sure how long it typically takes to refinance a conventional loan to get your money back so if its a couple years will they be satisfied putting up the cash up front and only having the 3 way split cash flow to slowly pay them back until you can refinance? If paid for in full with cash I believe you cut down the seasoning period drastically allowing quicker payback and earning cash flow immediately being able to refinance sooner making it a bit better deal to split with partners cause now you have the capital to buy another. Once a property is being considered and brought under contract you would definitely want to speak with an attorney and a tax professional to make sure you have everyone's interests covered in full and an entity set up and taxed properly if it best suits the situation. Have to make sure you're protecting everyone's personal assets if something goes wrong. As for the split you could do it evenly 3 ways if you are putting together the deal and managing the property and they are just financing. If you feel you want to do a 40/40/20 to just get started and interest them more in the deal maybe that is a way to go. I am sure some more experienced people would have a better answer for you but as I said, I just wanted to chime in to get myself more involved and share what I've learned and see if I have any good ideas. Good luck!

Thanks again Ray Lai I was going to be messaging you directly to see what you had to say on the subject but you beat me to the punch. I took your advice and signed myself up to get my license. Plan to build my buyers list and marketing list while I'm in the process of building capital and getting licensed.

@Gen SteMarie is that website something like listsource and etc? How much does it typically cost to pull lists from the websites like that?

Braden Smith I was actually reading that article yesterday which prompted this question. He was mapping areas based on price point before he went out to drive them. Was curious how you went about finding that information whether it be just pulling up a map and searching the county assessor house by house or another way.

Quick question for you wholesalers and direct mail folks out there. I'm getting ready to start building my target areas for sending direct mail. Was going to start building the list by some driving for dollars at first. Is there a way to target certain price point areas to start with? Do you just find a zip code you like and punch in random addresses to see what they're assessed at? What's a good way to find this out or should I just pick a zip code and just write down all distressed properties and add them to the list regardless or price? Or should I just skip all this and buy lists online? Was trying to save up money before I start to make sure I can keep up with the mailings and figured this would help me kill two birds with one stone. Thanks all.

@Ray Lai Thank you very much for the informative response. That definitely gave me some solid points to ponder and get in order for me to get started. I would like to talk more sometime about getting set up to start marketing. I am very serious about getting into REI and I want to make sure all my bases are covered to start walking. Ill send over a request to connect. Thanks again.

I'm looking to start doing some direct mail marketing, driving for dollars and door knocking to stir up some off market deals. I've heard of two websites to get mail listings off of and I'm sure there are other ways to find the target audience as well. I'm curious as a beginner how exactly do you get started sending out these post cards and letters. More specifically I'm looking to know do I need a "business" or do I just use my name and contact information? I'm sure it would seem more professional to send it as a letter from a company as opposed to just a guy trying to buy your house wouldn't it? If anyone can point me into the right direction to figure out how and where to get started in this process I would be very appreciative. Thanks BP friends!

Thanks John I'll be sure I look into the details to cover as much as I can if flood insurance is needed.