All Forum Posts by: Marvin McTaw

The code violators list sounds like an interesting lead source. That being said, I'd recommend you start with the absentee owners list. Make sure you mail out in large enough volume (e.g. 500-1000 people) and regularity (i.e. in a targeted one month campaign to the same people or monthly). You should get enough leads from that to get you started. 

I understand the rationale for the code violations list but its probably unnecessary at this point and you're just giving yourself extra work to do, especially if you're just getting started. Maybe after you've mailed out the to the absentee list, you could do a separate campaign to the code violators with a postcard like "I saw via the public records your property had a code violation and you received a fine. Let me buy your property so you don't ever have to deal with this again." or something like that. 

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

Hi David. These are the keywords/special circumstances I use when looking for properties: 

• short sale, bank owned, REO, Estate Sale, Handyman Special, Needs Work, TLC, Motivated Seller, SOLD AS IS

"Sold As Is" is usually the worst one though because it pulls up a lot of rehabbed properties that aren't usually deals but I keep it just in case I find that one gem. In regards to looking for the change from pending to active, that might be something to look at too but I generally find the actives are more than enough to go through for my team and I. 

Happy MLS hunting! :)

@Kyle Kufeldt - I'd be interested in it for Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties. Depends on how much you're charging for it and what else you're bringing to the table. 

@Matt Gee - I don't think there is. I keep track of the auctions in my CRM/project management system so it's pretty easy to see when the auctions fail because we have to re-bid on them. 

@Kevin Polite - yeah you can definitely learn things at the meetings. Probably the most useful sub-group for me was the Creative Financing sub-group. I've gone two or three times.

re: Virtual Assistants

I use virtual assistants for a variety of tasks including marketing (e.g. contacting FSBO's, sending out direct mail campaigns, posting ads to sell properties, etc.), research (e.g. running skip traces, pulling comps, etc.), bidding on auction homes (HUD Homes, online auctions), and screening seller leads (i.e. anyone who calls in from marketing). I found a couple of the VA's I found on oDesk (now Upwork.com) and the other two that I have doing pre-screening were referred to me from a property management company manager.

My virtual assistants are primarily based in the Philippines and the two pre-screeners are in South America. I pay them an hourly rate and bonuses for whenever we sell houses. In regards to training, I have a training module in my CRM/Project Management system and generally try to write everything down step-by-step and do a screencast so they will know exactly what they are supposed to do.

In addition to training them, I would say one of the biggest tasks is making sure you hire the right people. You will get a a lot of people applying for your jobs. Sifting through them can be kind of difficult but when you find good ones, hold on to them.  

What else would you like to know?

cc: @Josh Singh

Marina great advice - always great to have help! I currently have virtual assistants that help me sift through deals, screen sellers, and get deals done. I've worked with agents in the past primarily on HUD deals. I'd love to hear any advice/suggestions you have. Also if you can connect me with yours, please feel free to put me in touch.

Thank you!

 Yeah John there are definitely a lot of Atlanta folks in here. There's also a sub-forum for Atlanta at http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/647-atlanta-real-estate-forum. Why don't you take the reigns and organize one?

 Welcome to BP! What kind of deals are you looking to do?

 Thanks Mark