All Forum Posts by: MICHAEL YBARRA

 You're on the right path if you're taking action!

When people ask you where you got their information, just laugh and say that it's amazing what you can find in the Internet. Never fails to pacify the most curious of callers.

Part of your challenge is in becoming an effecive copywriter. The way to become a great copywriter is to talk to hundreds ane hundreds of people so that you become an expert at the type problems that bother them. 

Watergate's "deep throat" told report to follow the money. Harmon says, "follow the pain".

"obituary" leads are not probates - court cases are probates..

Thanks so much everyone! I can't wait!!! :)

@Jon Huber I have no doubt.... It is soooo cold here, and there's a layer of ice over everything!!! I'll be sure to check out the area that you mentioned near Santa Monica. Are there other areas outside of LA you would suggest?

Jon and @Arlen Chou yes, I'd love to go to any meetups! Even though I'm probably a ways out from moving if I do it, meeting other investors would really help give me an idea of what that would be like... Also I only know a few people in CA and will be traveling solo, so having things to do in the evenings and meeting local people would be great!

@Erin A. and @Jim Edmunds Thanks for the wine country suggestions... I'll definitely have to check that out! Erin, I'll be messaging you later for more ideas! I would be interested to know more about Central Valley, though would hesitate to invest somewhere with an economy based mostly on one sector, particularly a sector that I know nothing about like agriculture... 

My name is Sharon and I'm a serial entrepreneur, that has a over 20 years experience in the IT field.  Over the last 10 years, I've enjoyed owning and operating a home-based franchise, contracting independently, managing my rental property and now diving into commercial real estate.  

I may be one of those newbies guilty of this. I think I've only hit the "following" button, but maybe not. I don't recall seeing a place to write a quick note along associated with the request. I have noticed that not everyone accepts BP emails internally. I just figured in the BP system "following" just allowed me to, well, follow people I feel are worthy of watching because they hold an interest for me. I certainly didn't know you had to accept or decline the request.

All that being said, sorry if I was one to bother you or anyone else. I hope you keep in mind that us newbies are likely just in "awe" of you guys and want to emulate what you have done (we don't want to recreate a wheel you all have shown us works). 

I have written a few post and emails/correspondence now and I am very certain at this point I sound just as dorky and raw as I feel in this world. One of the things I've been enjoying on this site is the ability to learn and explore. 

Thank you for the knowledge that you accept and decline our requests and I for one will certainly take a moment to introduce myself. I hope all those that receive my correspondence know I am far more intelligent that my writings let onto at this stage. I look forward to being a veteran of the REI world and getting these requests.

@Casanova Brooks I think @MICHAEL YBARRA calls the signs to get deal from the wholesalers by getting put on their buyers list.  I just started doing this myself and I think it's a good way to get some great deals.  we just bought our latest fix-n-flip from a wholesaler.  If they are truly good and honest wholesalers they will leave some profit for the buyer if they want to stay in business for an extended period of time. If they squeeze every dollar they can out of the buyer and seller they won't be doing many deals for long, people talk and their reputation will be tarnished. 

Pre-probate, as the name implies, is a situation where the record title owner is deceased and no probate action filed. 

Contrary to popular belief, probate is not automatic and requires an affirmative filing. 

A couple of years ago California's Deoartment of Health Care Service referred to me a stack of 90 cases where no probates had been filed, county PA's would not accept and families would not take any action.  I passed on these for personal reasons (I already had too much on my plate) and CA-DOJ took over these Medi-Cal claims. 

I have acquired many, many properties with substantial equity and profits that never became probates.

Of course, the decedent did not file the probate. 

FYI, we work many cases each year that are "pre-probate" in that the record owner us deceased but no probate action has been filed (yet). 

When I was actively marketing to PR's we wanted to keep about 1,000 - 5,000 active records in our system and mailed a sequence of pieces over a period up to 18 months. 

You can really work with as few as 50-250 records IMHO if your marketing is effective. Since I work all 58 counties and have done this for decades, I no longer market offline direct to principals (PR's) or heirs + Bene's. 

After building a respectable size list, I suggest you segment your list further and identify additional problems that can be pulled from public records. 

My role now is working the complicated probate puzzle case files that others (esoecially attorneys) don't figure out. I leave the simple files for the house buy/sell crowd.