All Forum Posts by: Owen Dashner

Fred,

I have used the letter below for awhile, and have received good feedback from the folks that have called me as a result of a mailing. I always ask them, "What made you decide to call me?". Invariably the answer is that my letter seemed more personal and made me sound like someone they could talk to easily.

I took a look at a lot of different "guru" letters, and one thing I realized is that I would have never called most of them if I were the person receiving the letter. I tried to look at it from the person receiving the letter's point of view. Stay away from writing something in all caps like, "ARE YOU AWARE YOU WILL BE EVICTED BY THE SHERRIFF IF YOU DO NOT SELL YOUR HOUSE BEFORE THE AUCTION???". I mean, seriously- who likes to be talked to like that. I try to make mine more personal.

My example letter below may not be perfect (and I'm certainly open to other suggestions), but it has been fairly effective for me in my area. Obviously you can customize/personalize it for your own use.

Your Name
Address
Contact Info

Seller Name
Seller Address.
City, State, Zip

Dear Ms. (Seller’s last name),
I would like to buy your house. My wife, (wife’s name), and I live in (name of city) ourselves, and we buy a few properties each year in the area. We are honest, friendly and hardworking people and hopefully you would be willing to give us the opportunity to meet you and make you an offer to buy your house on (address of property).
I specialize in helping people in the (geographic area you focus in) area who are facing foreclosure, which may or may not apply to your current situation. If you are in this situation currently, I obviously do not need to tell you how stressful it is- both financially and mentally. A lot of people facing foreclosure that I have spoken to recently are are not able to refinance their homes due to the ever-tightening lender requirements in this depressed real estate market. It is also taking a very long time to sell homes, even with a realtor. I just sold a house in CB 2 weeks ago that had been on the market since January ’08- that is a long time to wait for a sale!

If you are running out of options, I can help. All that you have to do is to pick up the telephone right now, and call me at (your phone number) to set up an appointment so that I can make you an offer to buy your house today. I will give you a cashier’s check for your house prior to the sale and stop the foreclosure and keep it off your credit report. And, I will handle all of the details of the sale and deal with your lender and the title company processing all of the paperwork that is necessary to transfer the property’s title.

I look forward to hearing from you very soon and to working with you to stop the foreclosure process on your house. I promise I will not waste your time- nor pressure you into doing something you do not want to do.

Sincerely,

(Your name)

Jeff,

I was not aware of that technique being illegal (and am certain I have read about it in several books as a method to build a buyers list), and certainly would not want to imply that anyone should use illegal techniques.

In my defense, the property I wholesaled was legitimately under contract, and I built my buyers list from all of the calls I got from my ad (before I had it sold).

My apologies if my first post indicated otherwise- that certainly was not my intention.

Thank you for pointing it out.

Will,

I agree with Dan, never just rely on Zillow or tax assessed values- they have very little to do with fair market value. The best advice I can give someone who is just starting out would be to narrow your focus area to one zip code, then narrow it further to 2 or 3 subdivisions within that zip code. Become an expert on the sale prices in those areas so that whenever a bargain property becomes available, you will know immediately that it is a great deal and can act quickly.

Good luck!

Matthew,

It has been said (by someone smarter than me), "Fall in love with the numbers, not the house". Nobody likes to lose money on a deal, especially if you don't end up buying it. But if worst case scenario you back out of the deal and lose a deposit, chalk those costs up to tuition. The worst thing you can do is start playing with the numbers to try to make them fit. Get hard comps on both the retail ARV and the rental rates (look online, look in the paper, and call 'for rent' ads).

I have done 5 rehab deals, most of them extensive. But I still shy away from foundation issues. Those can be expensive.

Keep your chin up and take solace on the fact that you took the time to do a reality check and ask for advice instead of letting your pride get in the way.

Best of luck!

I have to put in my 2 cents on Foreclosures.com products...

I have bought and read both of Alexis McGee's books, as well as signed up for the foreclosures.com website for the pre-foreclosure lists... While the 2 books were decent reads (there are better ones out there), I would not recommend the website service. Only after signing up for it did I realize that they did not even offer lists in my geographic area of interest. And the other area I checked out had old and inaccurate data on about half of the properties.

Just my opinion!

Thanks Dan!

I recently got access to $130K cash via a partner, so I'm ideally looking for a good 'flip' property to build up some more capital. One issue that I'm going to run into is the conforming loan limit, since I currently have 5 properties mortgaged under my name. So, I am also going to form an LLC, with the goal being asset protection and establishing a business line of credit (after the LLC has proven cash/cashflow).

I'm also looking for cheap rental properties close to home. You can pick up rental properties in my area for $50-60K pretty easily.

Thanks again for the warm welcome!

Owen

Garry,

I am actually in a similar situation. I have 5 sf houses in my name (on title and on mortgage). From some of the research I have done, Jon's response is correct (quit claiming to the LLC). It would essentially be the equivalent to your LLC buying the property subject to the existing mortgage (held by you personally).

However, the bigger issue is the insurance policy on the property. Once title passes to your LLC, the property would need a new insurance policy issued in the LLC's name. While this does not seem like a big deal in and of itself, the newly issued insurance policy would be mailed to the lender- obviously indicating a change in ownership.

I would really like some more input on this as well from investors familiar with this issue.

Thanks!
Owen

What a great site!

I live in a suburb of Omaha, NE and have been a real estate investor for almost 4 years. I have flipped a couple, currently own 5 rentals, and I am looking to ramp up my investing biz.

Most of my experience has been distressed property rehabs- either selling or renting. But, I am a voracious reader and have over 50 real estate books in my personal library on various aspects of REI. I currently have a full-time job, but I plan on doing REI full time when I can replace my job income with passive income.

I am very happy to meet all of you and exchange ideas in this great game of real estate investing!

Best regards,
Owen