All Forum Posts by: Clayton P.

Thanks guys but I'm aware of the disclaimers. I'm specifically looking for a way to help cross reference. The disclaimer alone isn't enough for my particular situation, my broker is insisting I don't solicit properties already listed, end of story. I'm surprised there's nothing out there for this?

 My average letter run is about 1000 give or take, between initial mailer and followups. Listsource is $0.08 per address, at those prices 1000 addresses is pretty inexpensive. 

@Andrew Michael Sure man. But: telling you in advance that there are way more knowledgeable guys than me on BP. But my experience was this:

To go my route, you'll want to call and ask to speak to their commercial lender. We went back and forth via email & she offered to bring in their residential lender too, so it was the 3 of us in the office together. To sum it up, they offered loaning on 70% LTV (construction funds included & released in draws by milestones if needed - as long as it fits inside the 70% LTV), fixed for 5 years, then readjusts upwards to the day's rate, then another 5 years, etc. 30 year amortization, no points. They were very receptive, especially if you're investing in the zip code the bank is in - they're big on strengthening their local economy, and nobody does that better than real estate investors. In our setup, I'd be bringing in a PL to fund that 30% down (PL and I have an LLC), we split ownership by whatever the operating agreement states, LLC as the grantee. That was just how I would use them. But yeah, no caps on the amount of mortgages you hold and as your name / your LLC builds more of a relationship, they said the costs/terms get more favorable.

They asked me to bring in past 3 years tax returns of either myself or the LLC(s), and P&L on the properties I own, and to pepper inside of that, I included my business plan, before&after pics of a rehab I did on a unit, & some other things. $10 at staples for a nice portfolio-folder, business card in the corner, and that was all she wrote.

I just hooked up with one. How I found them:

Went on the FDIC website and looked up all banks around where I'm buying, then started filtering them down by how many branches they had in the company as a whole, not just in the area. When I got down to 3 to 5 branches per bank, that's where I started. Set a meeting with one of them, brought in my business plan, some sample deals, & some other materials, they presented me their side, and we're ready to do business, and I have no cap on the mortgages they'll give me, as long as the financials are good. Try it, you might have some luck.

Being a Realtor I can't solicit properties that are already listed. I can input individual addresses in the MLS to see if they're listed but when you get to hundreds/thousands of addresses you need to cross reference, that's not so doable.

Any ideas?

Great to get all the replies. A mix of lack of capital & DIY spirit had me doing it myself. Never done it before, so it was trial and error, started upstairs in case something went horribly wrong. All in all it was about 1000 sq. ft., started at a grit in the 20's, and took it to 150, about 4 grits later. I'm happy. Spent about $850.00, instead of the quotes I got at $4/sq.ft., so it was about $3k+ of savings, and tenants love it 

Started at this: (After painting, & I regret not putting plastic on the walls for dust)

And took it to this:

It's not perfect by any means and the edges were a tough learning curve. One of the unexpected bonuses was the wood was different in every room, and especially in the room above, it absorbed the stain way differently. At first I was hating it but in the end when everything was done, it gave a nice contrast from room to room. 

I have beautiful wood floors covered in brown, nasty paint in one of my units. I was planning on using a drum sander to handle it, with a very-low number grit. Has anybody done this? What's the best way to deal with the paint and still preserve the wood? Any tips would be appreciated

sooo... no police follow up, almost 3 weeks later... and I've been taking in about 10-15 calls per day off my recent mailer.... so I'd say everything is going well. Definitely lesson learned.

^haha! guess you get embarrassed a lil too easy then sweetheart.

**for the record, I'm learning as I go, & I'm not attached to your or your business, so it shouldn't bother you so much. Sure I might add a little to the stigma of shaaaady real estate people as I'm LEARNING, but who really does more damage, little old me making a couple mistakes as I learn by doing, or the guys out there who intentionally snake people out of their money by "teaching", guys even I'VE met at my early level, at REI meetings just doing one big upsell and stealing money from naive people. Really man, who's doing more damage.

I'm not afraid to take my bumps as I go, but you going out of your way just to rub it in my face, on the internet, is pretty embarrassing on your part.

The person is definitely a real police officer haha, in a town not 15 minutes away from my doorstep.

Long story short, I contacted the officer back the next day, left a voicemail with him saying something along the lines of... Hey officer so and so, this is Clay, I agree to stop the mailers right now, but be aware that those letters people brought to you were mailed out in a batch of over 200 letters, so if after now you get more complaints, it's not that I kept mailing, it's that the letters from the original batch might still be circulating... so I covered my bases that way, then as I wrapped up the voicemail, told him to feel free to call me back and explain to me how I crossed the line.

Haven't heard anything back yet but either way, no harm no foul.

PS - thanks Bill, very informative