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All Forum Posts by: Raymond Williamson

Raymond Williamson has started 7 posts and replied 29 times.

I am wanting to flip properties, but I also hold for passive income for which I would like to utilize owner (creative) financing. I'm curious what criteria people are searching (for direct mail) for targeting their specific niches.

What criteria do you use when pulling list for direct mail marketing? Example......what do you search when you are targeting seller financing properties, properties to wholesale, properties to flip, and so on? I'm trying to pinpoint my direct mail marketing efforts and curious what other investors are doing.

@Jay H. would you share that sauce once more please?

I agree with @Eric Thomson  about factoring in maintenance and vacancy cost. I would be a little more conservative and factor in a little more for 2 reasons; first this is your first investment and you will be on a learning curve, secondly it looks like the second floor has not been updated so you will have to either update it yourself for will have to start repairing things soon.

I have few other questions here. Why is the seller selling (sounds motivated)? You can definitely negotiate the price down or for favorable terms. Do you have the reserves to put down?  Are you managing it yourself or are you going to have a company step in? Do you have experience in construction or do you need to contract out all the repairs? Is it rented out and how long is left on the contracts? How much will you be receiving in security deposits from the owner? I could go on with the questions but my point is that you need to open up the lines of communication with the seller. If the seller is distressed you could be sitting on a gold mind after negotiations or the seller could be looking for a sucker to take over their problem. If they have a problem it is a good thing (that is what we look for), as investors we are problem solvers as long as the terms are good.

Originally posted by @Chaz Reid:

What subject are you referring to? Wholesaling or house flipping? 

 The books are about flipping but the same skill sets involved when wholesaling. I figure these books would help me with wholesaling.

I haven't received them yet. I have read many good reviews on them both. Any thoughts or suggestions for my next step to help improve my knowledge of the subject?

Originally posted by @Anthony Micklus:

My experience with marketing for properties has shown no response from my website but I did get quite a good response by placing a "We Buy" ad on Facebook. Facebook ads are relatively cheap. You can determine how much you want to spend per day on the ad or for the entire campaign the more you pay the more often your ad will show up. I only paid $100 but I got 4 responses I can't remember exactly how long the ad went but it wasn't very long. And also to be fair I live in a low population state so there is not much competition here. In the Greater Cincinnati area you may need to spend more to get your ad frequency up. I have also done well with placing ads in the smaller newspapers.

I also wanted to give you a tip about mentors. And that is go visit the Coffee and Doughnut shops in your area. Make sure is is early in the morning like around 6 or 7AM in many of them you will find a group of people (typically older men.) that are there pretty much every morning these will very likely have the mentors you are looking for. I found such a group at a local McDonalds they get together and meet every day starting at 6:30AM I started hanging out with these guys one day a week and found out that between them they built most of the housing in the area I live in. The cool thing about it is that they love to share their advice they don't charge me a dime they just enjoy sharing their knowledge.

 Great information.....the Coffee and Doughnut idea is brilliant. I will check out the Facebook option. Just curious if you purchased any of the properties that responded to your ad? If so, what terms (cash, creative financing, wholesaling)? 

 @Account Closed , I will start turning over the rocks to find that golden nugget. I wonder what kind of responses I would get if I posted for a mentor on Craigslist (could be frightening)?

Originally posted by @Uyenchi Ho:

Don't spend much money on a website.  Godaddy often have discount, and I've recently opened an account with Wordpress through Godaddy for $1 a month.  So I paid $12 for the entire year.  I was lucky to have my husband set it up for me, but you can do it yourself if you're not completely technologically challenged like myself.  Even so, I've only had 1 person submitted a form through my site, and that was because he received my direct mailer.  Honestly, I don't think it really would have mattered whether you have a website at this point.  

I would advice you spend a few bucks on having some basic business cards made. You will want to go to your local REI clubs, and having business cards build credibility with other investors.

Also, a great free resource is your local title company.  Before I even sent out my first mailer, I went to a local First American Title company, and they set up for me a MyFirstAm account where I can look up owners, property profile, etc.  I use it on a daily basis.  All absolutely free.  All they ask from you is to bring them title insurance work.  It's a great partnership.

Good luck!

 Thanks, I will follow this advice and try to get in contact with a local title company. The SEO issues with website's are the big mystery. I wonder if you paid someone to manage that part for a few months if you wouldn't see more results (I am thinking out loud)?

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Save your money for your first deal and find an expert investor/mentor in your area who can direct you to the best deals. Impossible? It isn't. Serious players are in every major city, dudes/ladies who have 500+ deals to their name. those are the people who will make you money. And there are mentors who don't charge you, as mine does not. 

I would love to work with a mentor. Nowadays, everybody is a Guru. How do you find the people who have a teachers heart?My current work schedule doesn't allow me to attend local REIA meetings so I am at a disadvantage there. If you or anybody reading know any honest mentors in the Greater Cincinnati area I would like to talk to them.