All Forum Posts by: Michael Norris

hmm, I see. I have not started a direct mail campaign yet, but I have only heard of the process off of the BP podcasts. 

Thanks!

Thanks @Ned Carey for the quick reply!

Can you speak more about your direct marketing? Did you market to the same audience up to 7 times rotating between different mediums ex. yellow letter one time, then post cards etc.? All markets are different, but on the BP podcasts, it seems like marketing campaigns are the way to go, even though everyone mostly gets low percentage returns (~1-2%).  

I have been analyzing a number of properties on Zillow using the Bigger Pockets rental calculator and I am finding, from a price perspective, that most houses in my area just aren't a good fit for rental properties.  The ~20% that are  good introductory prices for rentals  are in need of a good rehab. This is fine, I have nothing against a rehab, but what I am questioning is:

• What would be the best tool to generate the lowest price on a property,  a marketing campaign (yellow letter/ postcards) or a real estate agent? 

Being a new investor, I want to say that the lowest average possible price that could be negotiated from a lead off of a marketing campaign will be better than the lowest average possible price that could be negotiated on a property off the MLS. I come to this conclusion, that the marketing campaign will be better, due to working with motivated sellers (more liable to negotiate). I also know that in order to get the best price possible, the wholesalers are running their own marketing campaigns. Also, the cherry on top would be avoiding the ~3%, the costs of doing business with a real estate agent.  

I understand that real estate agents preform a lot of tasks ex. provide tours of properties, discover properties that fit the clients needs etc. All of these tasks help to validate their cut of ~3%. While looking at things only from a price perspective, are rental property investors stupid/ lazy when purchasing deals straight from zillow/ trulia/ MLS? --- gee, now I know why investors are motivated to get their real estate license. haha

Hello, @Gregory Gadson

I am looking to get started in the Savannah market. PM me if you would like to team up to find a deal!

Thanks,

Michael

Hello @Jesse Clinton, @Natasha Johnson, @Khadijah Hunter

I am also a new investor looking to complete my first deal. I am willing to team up and do the leg work in exchange for some guidance on a deal. I am currently out of Hilton Head, so Savannah is only a hop, skip and a jump away :) 

Please feel free to connect and /or PM me!

Thanks,

Michael 

Thank you all for the replies! @Angelica Thrasher   @Justin Lenk @Aaron M Cloe I am pleasantly surprised to hear the results!  Hearing that is reasonable to screen sellers via phone calls is welcomed!

Thanks, 

Michael 

New investor here. When getting a lead would it be wise to chat via phone for an initial screening of the potential seller rather than driving to meet with the seller? A conversation by phone would save a lot of time, instead of driving across town. It would be nice to feel out the motivation of the seller and possibly capture some pricing information through an initial phone conversation. Although, while doing all of this work via phone, I could be out talking face to face with the potential seller and building a rapport.

I understand there will be a starting phone conversation, the question is how far to take the conversation and how quickly do you get out to talk to the seller in person? 

I was driven to this question through Michael Quarles podcast. He has a big operation and screens his leads twice. Maybe it all comes down to the size of the operation. A big investment firm would screen sellers via phone, while the small operations would visit every lead in person.   `\O/`  

In just poking around, I ran across this website and thought it might be useful for others. http://www.unitedstateszipcodes.org/  I have recently moved and I am still discovering the statistics of my area. 

Some screen shots include: 

I may have just figured it out... With in the CPanel, while installing WordPress it offered up this menu. Where I assume you can forward the main site to anything?

Anyways, the same question still stands. What is the best practice, having up to three different pages, buyers, sellers and main site or just one site that is "forwarded" (I believe that is the correct verbiage) to both the buyers and sellers page?

I am working on creating a sellers squeeze page, but in the future it would be nice to attach the sellers page with a main real estate site. ( Ex. Mainsite.com/sell ) 

Is this possible to do ion the fly with out getting a programmer involved? 

What is the best practice, having up to three different pages, buyers, sellers and main site or just one site that is "forwarded" (I believe that is the correct verbiage) to both the buyers and sellers page?