All Forum Posts by: Mike Sumsky

@Joel H., glad you enjoyed the REAPS meeting last night.  You should definitely check out the REAPS satellite meetings.  They are smaller group settings and allow you more direct learning and networking opportunities.  Most important advice I can give you is to just get out there and start taking action.  Find one or two ways to locate off-market opportunities and start talking with sellers.  Most of your learning will be on-the-job. 

@Phoebe Hodges-Carter, I use SmartMove as well, and agree that having the tenant respond to the link can seem a little cumbersome and can delay the process if they don't check their email frequently.  I will always let them know to expect this email and will even call/text when it gets sent out and I don't have that problem anymore.  By the way, I'm not sure how many rentals you have, but if you have enough to warrant using a property management software, if you use Buildium the credit/background checks through SmartMove are only $12.

Glad you could make it @Casey Rolland.  Hopefully I'll see you at the next one.

Can you pull up recorded mortgages on your county website?  One strategy would be to sort your list by Last Sale Date and only mail properties that have been owned for ____ number of years.  It's not an exact science, but I've found it to be pretty effective and often better than just searching for equity.  A house that was purchased 6 months ago by an investor who paid cash will have no mortgage but may not be the best lead.

Attn: Washington State Investors - REAPS is having it's monthly Kitsap meeting TONIGHT!  1/7/2015 at 6:30pm

It's our kickoff meeting for 2015 and you should definitely come to network, learn and get ready to make it a great year.  If you're coming from Seattle, it's just a quick ferry ride to Bainbridge, here's what we're discussing:

Best Practices for 2015

A new year is upon us! How was your 2014? Did you meet or beat your goals for the year? Did you even have goals for the year? 

As we enter 2015, you’ll notice that the real estate landscape continues to change. Even though there’s more competition from other investors, you can still set yourself up to have your best investing year yet! It’s more important than EVER to understand what’s happening in the current real estate market so you can position yourself for success.

In this can’t-miss meeting, you’ll learn about:

• The State of The Market: What has the real estate market been doing, and what could influence its direction in 2015?

• What’s working right NOW

• Off-Market Deals: Why finding motivated sellers that other investors don’t know about will be priority #1

• Your Real Estate Plan of Action: How to set goals for yourself, and more importantly, how to make sure you will achieve them this year.

You won’t want to miss this big kickoff meeting for 2015. See you WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015 at the Poulsbo Library. Doors open at 6:30pm for networking. Meeting starts promptly at 7:00pm.

In the meantime check out our calendar and make sure to pre-register for all of our events. Our main meeting is held monthly on the 4th Thursday in Bellevue, WA. Members can attend this meeting free. Guests are $15 online or $20 at the door. If you have never attended one of our events then just register online and use promo code “kitsaprocks” to attend your first meeting for free.

About our Moderator:

Mike Sumsky is a long-time REAPS member, REAPS Board member and MC of the REAPS Kitsap satellite group. He is a full-time real estate investor and owner of Washington Home Solutions, based out of Bremerton, WA. Mike specializes in creative deal structuring, raising private money, wholesaling and lease options. When Mike is not flipping houses, you can probably find him sitting in a coffee shop with his laptop, wine tasting with his wife, playing golf, or spending time outdoors.

REAPS Members Free (with REAPS badge)
Guests: $15 online, $20 at the door

Poulsbo Library
700 NE Lincoln Road
Poulsbo WA 98370 

Hi John, 

Welcome to Bigger Pockets!  I'm in Bremerton and invest full-time.  There is good opportunity hear if you know how to find off-market deals.  Also a good renter pool with the shipyard and Navy.  You should attend the REAPS meeting in Poulsbo so you can network with other investors.  Normally it's on the first Thursday of each month at the Poulsbo library, but January's meeting will be on Wednesday Jan 7th because of the holiday and scheduling conflict.  Look forward to connecting with you.

You might want to try mailing to a different list.  As others have stated, the absentee owner list is easy to get and a lot of other investors are mailing it.  You might want to consider vacant properties, tax delinquent, code violation or other "motivated" situations which fewer investors target simply because it takes more effort to build the list.

Keep at it though!

FYI, the meeting on Monday the 8th in Fife is a networking/holiday party/charity drive.  It will be a great chance for you to mingle with other local investors, eat some good food and have a lot of fun.  Bring a bag of non-perishable food or unworn clothing and you can get in for just $5.  I think they're limiting the number of attendees so you really need to pre-register at reapsweb.com.  I'll be there, hope to see you guys too.

@Account Closed , I use Buildium.com to manage all of my rentals.  (it's awesome!)  I do all of my credit and background checks through Buildium, full credit report and criminal background check is only $11.99.  I'm not sure how many properties you manage but it might be worth checking out.  Buildium is $40/mo for up to 40 units.

@Stephanie Dupuis gives some good suggestions.  I use Jim Henderson with Landlord Solutions, he's great.  I'll also give a thumbs up for John Kinney as well, he's an excellent attorney.