All Forum Posts by: Owen Dashner

After looking at so many properties that have been hit by copper thieves over the years, I have started to have this recurring fantasy about catching them in the act.  I have personally had several rentals broken into, but I have never been able to catch anyone red-handed.

Any investors out there that have been fortunate/unfortunate enough to catch someone in the act?  What did you do and how did it turn out?

The best way without question would be in person so that you can gauge both their verbal and non-verbal reaction to what you are offering.  Plus, it is always easier to tell someone 'no' over the phone or in writing than it is in person.

Shawn, in my experience you will have better luck with local (and possibly regional) banks/credit unions.  They generally like to lend to their own communities and are more likely to do portfolio loans.  

Yes, it is possible.  If you are going the bank route (and intend on holding it longer term), I would start calling your smaller local banks and credit unions and ask about their terms.  You'll likely need to find a portfolio lender (one who keeps the loans in house instead of selling on secondary market).  They have more flexibility on terms.

I second Listsource.  Super easy to customize the list you want, prices are pretty reasonable.

During the latter part of last year, I woke up in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep because I couldn't shut my mind off. I laid there letting my mind wander, and inevitably I ended up thinking about real estate. Deals I had in the works, things I needed to do, etc.

Finally, I gave up on sleep and grabbed my phone and got on the Craigslist app. I have a few keyword searches that I try to do every day on multiple sites to try and locate sellers in my farm areas, and I remembered that I had not done one today yet. I typed in the name of the small town I live in, and a new post comes up: "Fixer Upper - $15K". It's a post from someone selling a gutted 1000 sft. slab home (no basement, pretty common in some parts of my town). These houses are very cookie cutter and are generally very easy to rehab (I have done several). So I knew that this was a no-brainer at that price, even if it needed a total overhaul.

So I sent the seller an email saying I was very interested in it, I was a cash buyer, and would like to get the address and view it as soon as possible. This was at 2 in the morning, mind you, so I was not expecting a quick reply, and I was planning on calling in the morning anyway. But I also knew that the 5 or 6 other serious investors in my town would pounce on this deal if they got there first.

I fell back asleep eventually and woke up a little before 6 am. I thought to myself, "How early can I call this seller and not run the risk of annoying him/her and losing the deal?". So, I waited until 7 am and I called the number and a woman answers. I let her know that I saw the CL ad and was a serious buyer, had emailed her and I was hoping to see if I could look at the house. She agreed to meet me there, and it turned out that the house is on a street that I know very well.

I arrived a little before the seller, and the house is about what I expected: a shell on top of a foundation. The framing and foundation were in good shape, it had steel siding, and a roof - and that was about it. The seller pulled up, and before she even got out of her car, she said, "I know you!" As it turned out, her daughter was a volunteer coach on my daughter's tee ball team, and was someone I had struck up a friendship with. Through a nice conversation, I discover that the seller had been investing in real estate for a number of years, and had bought the subject property via a tax foreclosure. But she had too many irons in the fire for a big rehab and just wanted to cash out and free up some money.

She then told me that she had already had two other calls on the house, but would love to sell the house to me if I am interested. We end up doing a handshake deal at $15K, agreeing to sign the paperwork later in the day (which we did).

On the way home, I thought about all of the to-do’s I'm going to have with this big rehab. Then I thought, why not see if I can unload it as-is to another rehabber for a quick profit? So I called my friend and fellow rehabber and say, "I have a house for sale that's right up your alley". I tell him about it and that I'd sell it to him for $25K. He complains for a while about my markup and we joke back and forth, but we end up agreeing on $25K if I will pay for roofing materials and he can have a couple months to close.

I ended up closing on the purchase with the seller a week later.  Fast forward a couple of months, and I close on the sale for a nifty $10K (almost) profit.

Moral of the story: Sleep is for suckers!  You never know when you are going to wake up (literally) and find a great deal, and that is exactly why I get excited about this business every day.

Ryan, you need to put together a business plan before you do any more searching for funds.  Put yourself in the position of someone with money to lend.  If you had a person with no reportable income, very limited experience, and no business plan approach you asking for money, would you lend it to him/her?

Come to the table with a detailed plan outlining your experience, your business structure, and exactly what you are going to do with money (including exit strategies in case deals go south).  Having all of this put together will make a lender much more inclined to take you seriously.

I would be really surprised if anyone says they prefer a big bank over a small one. Every time I've dealt with a big bank, I feel like I just got a colonoscopy after meeting all of the paperwork/information requests.

Once you get a good relationship in place at one or more smaller banks, you can get deals done more quickly with less underwriting, better turnaround time on pre-approvals, etc.

Go smalls!

Thank you for the detailed response, Joel! That directory link is EXTREMELY helpful too - thanks so much!

I was driving by a property last week that I knew was vacant. I noticed a guy in the yard with a clipboard and a camera taking some pictures, so I threw it into reverse and struck up a conversation with him.

It turned out that he was doing a "drive-by inspection" for a mortgage company, but he was an independent contractor. Basically for that particular job, he was to drive over to the house, take 2 pictures and then send them to his client with his opinion on whether or not the house was occupied. For this he got paid $15. He does this for both insurance companies to verify repairs, and for mortgage companies when a borrower is delinquent.

I had never heard of this profession prior to this conversation and was very intrigued by the potential for lead generation on distressed property/owners, not to mention the ability to make some extra cash. The guy told me that he turns away WAY more work than he actually takes on because he works with multiple insurance/mortgage/property management companies. Basically he wakes up in the morning and looks at his email and picks out which assignments he wants to take on that day/week.

Is it just me, or is this not the perfect gig for a real estate investor??? Get paid to do what we already are doing every day anyway (finding vacant houses and taking pictures), all the while finding way more motivated seller leads that we would through almost any other method?

Is anyone out there doing either field inspector or property preservation work specifically to generate leads for your investing business? If so, how did you get started and how has it been going for you?