All Forum Posts by: Rob Wilson

Great information here.  I found another that has paid courses, but also some free information.  Great Excel spreadsheets too.

https://www.getrefm.com

Another one that has paid education is ULI Online Learning.  They have some REALLY good stuff too

happy learning.

 Brandt,

It's great to hear this post is helping you!  I love it!

List source doesn't provide phone numbers, unfortunately.  I've heard of some people buying lists from listsource and then getting a virtual assistant to search places like whitepages online for phone numbers.  I wouldn't mind doing that, but I think it would be very time consuming, not only to farm the numbers, but to call them.  

I sent the letters with a regular business envelope and they were handwritten.  I've since moved over the invitation style with the yellow letter for some of my other mailings and I find it to be more effective and a lot easier to manage.  I've used Jerry Puckett to send some of my newer mailers and it's been trouble free.  The letters look great too.

I did not create a questionnaire because I'm comfortable talking with these type of investors.  I have created a list of questions in the past for other property types (ie subject-to) that I was unfamiliar with.  I think it's a great idea.

Before I sent my mailer I knew what I wanted to pay per door for a complex and I just made sure to do my calculations while I was on a phone call with someone.  If I found them to be way outside of my range, I cut the small talk and moved on!  If it was close, I spent more time trying to figure out their motivation.

Good luck!  Good deals are out there!

Rob

I'm going to be making some upgrades to the complex which will cost me around 10-15k depending on how much I do.  I'm going to get the laundry facility up and operational and I'm going to do a facelift to the complex in hopes to attract a better tenant class.  Most of the changes will be management changes, which will cost me more time than money.

The second mortgage is just a security instrument.  It'll be released in 2 years after I've made all of my payments on time.

Thanks for the interest,

Rob

 Paul,

Listsource provides great lists.  You want to make sure that you have a target market that you feel comfortable with before you start working on your list.  I further narrowed down to my submarket which involved mostly lower income units.  I used the filter in listsource to show me only buildings that had between 4-200 units that had complete addresses.  I ended up with around 650 names.  

Listsource can provide the list in an excel spreadsheet.  I then used the spreadsheet to track the calls and to keep track of the owners who called.

I got around 30 calls.  I did get around 60 RTS (return to sender) for wrong addresses, etc..  I'm not sure if there is a way to prohibit that.  I've just removed them from my list and will only send to the good addresses on my next mailer.

I just called back an owner earlier this week, who called me from this mailer.  He owns 70 units, mostly small multifamily and duplexes.  He is interested in selling.  Before I went and met with him I looked through the local mortgage records and found his name!  He has owner financed some of his property recently, so I assumed he would owner finance what he has.  Our meeting went very well, go figure, he IS open to owner financing.  We'll see if the numbers work, but so far, it's a great start.

Another tip:  Some areas show the note when mortgages are made.  If you are going to make a deal with someone who you feel might of owner financed in the past.  You can search your local records and find a mortgage AND note that they've used in the past.  You can get a feel for what kind of terms they've agreed to and use that to make your offer.  My area unfortunately doesn't provide the note.

Another thought:  Through listsource you can create a list of owners who've owner financed.  Many ways you could farm that list!

Have a good one,

Rob

It took about 3 months before I talked to the right person.  Along the way I met some great local investors and found my maintenance crew from another apartment owner.   I also got a much better feel of the local market occupancy and rents.

I'm planning to launch another mailer within 30 days because of how much this last one brought me. 

Thanks for all the kind comments. 

Rob

 I'm sorry I was looking over my deal, it's a 20 year note instead of a 30.  It has a 5 year call on it so I'll have to find some other debt in a few years.

The owner was just a tired landlord.  What made this deal so palatable to him was the fact that when he bought the property he also bought it 100% from the previous owner, so he knew where I was coming from. He since has paid it off and owned free and clear.  He just wanted out and good cash flow with no hassle was right up his ally.

 It's low income property.  I've always grown up managing low income property and find myself gravitating towards it.  When the economy took a huge hit my occupancy percentage on the residential portfolio stayed at 95%, I can't say the same for my commercial buildings.  I also feel more comfortable with lower income tenants because they are easy to train.  If you get a good person with a good work ethic they just need to know your expectations.  Maybe since this is all I know, I don't know what I'm missing, lol.  But, It works pretty well for me.

Thanks for the question

 Jay,

Man, that's great you're down in my neck of the woods.  I love it down here!

The seller and I negotiated to give him 10k of the sales proceeds and then I'll pay off my other SFR 1st mortgage with a portion of the proceeds and give him a 1st on that house instead of the 2nd he currently holds. Gives him a little more security. This seller has been really great and I feel we are working this deal to each others mutual benefit. I'm sure he would've liked more of the lot sale, but he was willing to let me have it and I can sure use it to grow my business, which I think he appreciates.

Here ya go:

I’ve spent a significant amount of time researching multifamily communities, and have identified your property as one I would possibly be interested in, should you have the desire to sell it.

My name is Rob Wilson and I’ve been lucky enough to take over my family real estate business, which I’ve been working on for the past 8 years. I’m looking to expand our business and am seeking an opportunity where I can use my hardworking management team to help provide affordable housing.

I am in a position to move quickly if the right opportunity presents itself. I am interested in finding units that meet my long term goals, which include purchasing low to moderate income properties, located in Charleston South Carolina, containing 4-100 units.

I have the financial backing to pay cash for your property, but I am also willing to discuss land contracts, and other creative financing should you be looking for interest income or other ways of creating cash flow.

Most importantly, should you have the desire to sell; I am willing to pay a fair market price for a property that fits my investment goals. Please contact me at [REMOVED] or by email [REMOVED] if you would like to discuss the sale of your property.

Have a great day,

Rob Wilson

PS. Vacant properties in need of rehab are OK!

Sure I will share!  I got the list from list source and had someone handwrite the envelopes for all of the recipients.  The letter was on my company letterhead. It was a very personal letter that explained who I was and that I was looking to expand my portfolio and to please call me if they were looking to sell.  I got a lot of phone calls from the letters.  I will continue to do them in the future!