All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Rich,

I guess it's nice to be Rich. ;)

Alex,

Embrace your competition, not fear it. There are thousands of deals out there. How many deals can you actually do? Different message hit different folks in different way. It depends on the timing of your letter too, and who's reading it at that time.

Competition is a great thing. It keeps you on your toes. With that said, the trustee sale market in my area has dried up considerably this year. We have about 30 guys trying tobright over 3-5 properties every day. I guess you could argue that too much competition is not good. I stopped going to the courthouse steps since March. There is no point. :)

Ed,

15% is the federal tax rate for capital gain. Here in CA, we have to pay state tax on top of the federal tax, which could be up to 9.8% depending on your tax bracket. If we wait till next year, the tax rate might be as high as 33.6%. (20% + 3.8% + 9.8%). Not sure about your state tax.

Keith,

Real estate is about leverage. If you could finance a property 100% and still have positive cashflow, why not do it? You have essentially transferred all of the risk onto the lender.

Isn't it nice to have positive cashflow on 100% financed rental properties and still keep all of your cash in your pockets, or shall I say biggerpockets? :)

I buy properties at the courthouse steps, get a HELOC on it immediately, and do a cash-out refinance 1 year later. In most cases, I was able to pull out 95% - 105% of my purchased price money. Well, at least that's my strategy.

Just remember that leverage is a double edged sword so do it responsively or you may get hurt. :)

Nick,

Long time lurker, 1st time poster. Not intend to steer business away from Michael either. Not sure if Joshua would delete the links, but I buy my envelopes from xpressdocs.com. I buy window envelops from them for 2.8 cents each. When you're sending out 2,500 letters per month, every penny adds up.

Costco is selling 24lbs paper with 800 pages/ream for $5 each. That's a freaking steal. I typically use 28lbs paper because it separates you from your competition on top of your message.

I buy my printers on Amazon and refill ink/cartridges on supermediastore.com. Of course when I run short on supplies, I have to pay retail prices at Staples or Office Max.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliations with any of these companies. Just want to share where I think you can get good deals on office supplies.