All Forum Posts by: Matthew Rose

I myself am still relatively new at this stuff, but prior to being involved in REI I spent many years in corporate sales, doing a lot of phone communication. For me, I think the key is like Silver said getting the seller to talk so that you can listen for their wants and needs and hopefully come up with a win-win solution. Silver's recommended questions to ask I think are spot on. Even if you determine that you can't hit your target buy price, I would try to find a way to be of value to the seller and your network, for example, recommend them to a listing agent if they haven't listed already. But still act in such a way to minimize time wasting.
Another strategy, if you are creative or can partner with someone who is, would be to try and come up with multiple offer options, like cash, seller financing, subject to, etc.

Jon, I think you deserve a pat on the back for taking action and actually generating leads and talking to sellers, You're already on your way, just keep at it, practice makes perfect.

Sorry Karlos, I know this response is very late.

This deal actually never went through. After my marketing brought the seller lead in, my partner got it under contract, and then my marketing brought the buyer lead in, I met w/buyer who flew over from Hawaii island (I am on Oahu-Honolulu), who was eager to buy, it was just too complicated to figure out how to salvage knowing this was going into bankruptcy.

Around that time I also realized I need to optimize my business to stop wasting time on leads that go nowhere, of which there were alot!

This prop was on the Big Island, the cheapest island to buy in Hawaii right now, as valuations have tanked, Oahu (Honolulu) of course being the most expensive. Oahu's valuations have held up quite well. We were going after props w/FMV range of $400-600K for Oahu. This potential mortgage assignment deal was not our target farm area on Oahu, but went after it anyway thinking seller financing would still be an attractive option to prospective buyers. Believe this prop had been valued at about $250-75K.

Thanks for the help-out Jimmy. Sorry, guess I should not assume everyone posting knows what that acronym means. Also, what I meant to say Yvette is that you should join & connect with people in the shortsale or pre-foreclosure 'groups' here on BP (not forum, sorry).

Another thing you might consider is doing something less complicated than short sales as your first deals, if you happen to be starting out. My first (& only, so far) flip deal was a short sale, lasted me more than a year, hardly made any $. Personally, I would not even bother negotiating your own, but that's just me.

Josh, thanks, I am going to follow-up on your tip. Just got another spam mail that I've marked the source spam already multiple times. One other thing: My primary e-mail has "ibuyhouses" in it, ya think that may be part of the problem? Probably need to change my address name.

Yvette, just a thought, but have you tried networking at your local REIA? I would try to find out how others who are actually doing pre-foreclosures in your state are dealing with this, and get their recs for title companies and attorneys. If you haven't already, join the shortsale forum on BP and seek out communication/colleagues with other OR state REI folks.

I created a separate e-mail account for most of the opt-ins, and just ignore it for the most part :). What bothers me is lately I've noticed guru mails popping up uninvited at my primary e-mail, and some of them have no unsubscribe option. In some cases I swear I marked them as spam, but the same gurus popped up later. Anyone else have this experience?

Daniel, if the seller is motivated, it really shouldn't matter that much. You want to use an option contract first to get it under contract, then when you assign it to your buyer, you use an assignment contract. Usually you make a small earnest deposit for consideration on the option, say $10, that's the most you risk. Prior to doing any of that I would network to get some potential buyers first. Go to your local REIA or network with other BP members in your farm area.

Thanks Bryan, you are very helpful! I hope there is some way I can help you in the future.

Bryan and Bill, thanks so much for your further feedback.

Yes, already using Kirschner's Autopilot system. Seems to be doing OK, as long as you do enough marketing to get a decent volume of leads, not getting as many as I'd like yet. Using both websites & live operator service. Will probably eventually go with a more customized site, as our company gets larger.

Already started checking into using servicing company, whether this deal works out or not, we think the current market seems good to pursue more of the same in the future. The one we think looks interesting is First American Finance Corp. I will plan to call them next week. You guys heard of them? Also talked earlier today we should consider to write in a balloon pmt. after 3- 5 yrs , to make the new buyer refi out once they can qualify...that's our idea anyway, also to have attorney verify everything's good (right? :D ). One of our company members is also a loan officer who can do credit checks and is knowledgeable about credit repair. Have another lead that is a military family wanting to transfer back to mainland, but stuck with a property they can't sell due to no equity. I imagine that could end up being a large portion of these types of deals, once we get better at marketing for them.

Yes, reason for assignment on this particular deal is thin equity. We originally tried to do a lease-option/wrap, realized the market could not bare what we would need for ROI to make it worth our while. Intent is to disclose to buyer what is going on. If she is still interested, then we'll look further into, but at this point I think it's probably not worth the headache, although would probably make for a good case study :mrgreen:

YES, good point! That's why I got into this game in the first place, to get rich and get outta the rat race! That way I can enjoy this place's beauty even more...thanks for reminding me how lucky I am to live here. OK, gotta get back to grinding....