All Forum Posts by: Nelson Van

@Jerryll Noorden

Pretty cool concept. I do think direct mail is a thing of the past and what you do is possibly/probably the future of real estate marketing.

With that being said I’m curious as to what your customer acquisition cost typically is. I would imagine it varies per market. Also what age groups are your customers? I ask this with curiosity of how active the older people are online.

@Robert Johnson

If this were at all possible I would strongly recommend looking into the financials of owning an RV. To my understanding they are depreciating money pits that are a complete pain in the rear. If this is true it would probably be a terrible investment and living in one of the units would be much more wise. My perspective is completely third party so I’m not sure if there is much validity.

@Nick Macklin

There are a lot of different options in our area. I would recommend contacting one of the agents who has posted on here already but I will hit on a few things pertaining to our area that you may want to consider.

1) Norfolk — Lots of distressed houses and opportunities, below average school system, crime can be an issue if you don’t know your way around.

2) Chesapeake — lots of new construction competition, longer commute time, for the most part good schools

3) VA Beach — I would aim for something close to I264. Quicker commute times, real estate tends to be cheaper, schools are decent.

As far as adding a unit you will have to be creative in the VA beach/Chesapeake areas because multi families are few and far between. I have seen a few properties in VA Beach with detached garages that would be prime for AirBNB.

Good luck on your search and feel free to reach out.

I think this is a great topic and the answers are obviously different from everyone. In my opinion a lot of people get their motivation from some type of fear. Whether it be fear of not being good enough for society, fear of failing their family(financially or emotionally), fear of losing their job, etc...

With all this being said I try to get my motivation from self satisfaction. For instance I am a super competitive person. Competing in anything is fun to me. There are times when I create competitions between myself and there are also times where I create competition between myself and someone else.

Another source of motivation i have within is the satisfaction of being productive. Trust me there have been some plenty days where I have been completely useless and at the end of the day it does not feel good. On the flip side there are also plenty of days where I work myself into the ground and at the end of the day It is completely euphoric. Identifying this and making changes is the key.

Everyday is a choice. Everyone is different. Find out what ultimately makes you happy, create a plan, and get after it!

Hope this can help you or if not hope it helps someone else!

@Bailey Kramer

1) Find a commission/bonus based job and learn how to sell at a very high level

2) Start studying real estate

3) Save money up for a house hack and buy one ASAP(at this age this could be a Single Family and rent rooms out to friends)

4) Live your life like a 19 year old with no responsibility and have as much fun as possible without risking your future all while paying yourself first!

@Adam F.

Not really sure how to handle this in a real estate type way as I have no experience, but this may be a great opportunity to twist some sales into closing the deal.

I would ask them why they want to see it again. If their issues can be solved in anyway without showing it then that would be ideal.

If not I would acknowledge why they want to see it, tell them it makes sense, and offer to show it to them again. Ask them when they want to see it. After that ask them if there is an earlier time they can view it.

If their answer is “no” tell them you have another showing at that time, but you’d love to show it to them any other time to abide by social distancing.

If the answer is “yes” then say okay great because I have a showing already scheduled for this time from a well qualified renter.

This should put some urgency behind their decision and “kill their time” as I like to put it. Also it may make them want to close the deal right there if they are serious about the unit.

Hope this can add some value in some way!

@Zachary Giles

My wife and I were in a similar scenario not too long ago. We managed to fall into 40k worth of credit card debt in about 4 years. When everything stopped spiraling down hill and we got a hold of it we couldn’t believe how far we had fallen. It was absolutely sickening and we couldn’t believe it. We both resented ourselves for being so irresponsible however we were strong enough to pick each other up. We made the decision together that we were going to pay every cent of it off as soon as possible. We made a solid plan and stuck to it. Most of this was possible because I made a career change that was bonus oriented and really focused on how to master sales.

1) We balance transferred 80% of it to interest free cards for the next 12 months with a very low fee

2) We created a budget that was realistic and allowed us to still have fun as we are very social people

3) I worked every hour possible without sacrificing our time together

4) No money was to go into savings until everything was paid.

With our plan we were able to pay off all of our debt in about 10 months while still maintaining a life style that we enjoyed. After paying everything off it was a huge achievement and really brought us closer. It also removed a lot of financial stress and personal doubt.

Now that all of our debt is paid off my wife has opened her own business and has it positively cash flowing in just 5 months. My plan was to buy my first property in March, but due to COVID and a serious back injury I am running rather late on my deadline. This may have been a blessing in disguise as I have been able to really make my investment plan much more intricate. I am definitely itching to get started but my inability to go see listings is a huge road block.

At the end of the day I don’t know if financial gurus would praise me or throw me under the bus, but at the end of the day I would do it the exact same way again due to personal gains.

When it was all said and done it strengthened our marriage and taught us financial responsibility/discipline the hard way.

Not sure if this helps at all but I hope it helps you or someone else.

I don’t think 8-10% is a bad deal for a property manager but I’ve never understood why real estate transactions and fees are percentage based.

For instance my real estate agent is going to get 3%. More then likely he is going to do the same amount of work if I’m buying a 150k house vs a 400k house.

Another example is if one of my units is a B class property renting for 2200 vs my D class renting at 600. The D class unit is more than likely going to be more work for my property manager but he’s getting paid less and vice Vera on the B class property.

@Lynnette E.

This is a great breakdown of everything. I’m a rookie investor myself. How do you get the ages of everything(rood, heat, water heater, kitchen, etc..) before offering?

@Jonathan Taylor

Hey,

Thanks for the follow up. All this information definitely helps. I think my best bet is reaching out to my lender and seeing if

1) They are funding 203k loans

2) If they are still willing to lend over the “guaranteed amount” with all of the things going on with Covid.