All Forum Posts by: Ryan Johnson

Hi Jarred!

Getting a website set up sooner rather than later if you have the marketing dollars to invest is usually a good idea. It can take time for your website to grow and become established so having something up that you can plug away at is a process you want to begin making a habit of it.

For investing a website can be good in pretty much any area:

- If you're a buyer you can spell out what you're looking for;
- If you're a wholesaler you can post what you have under contract;
- Seller Financing
- PML (Though you have to be careful how you market there)

One thing about websites that people often overlook is that using it has to be part of your operations, using it in your marketing funnel. So it's not just content creation but also getting the hang of driving traffic both online and off.

So your marketing materials, e-mail/forum signatures, elevator pitch all offer you a solid base to practice plugging your site.

Another thing that makes it a great help is that the information you would regularly have to explain repeatedly can written once and directed to. Big time saver to give someone a domain name than communicate all the numbers over the phone.

I suppose at the core nothing happens overnight, you're building habits and investing in your REI marketing. If you're doing anything like buying lists and direct mail you should definitely have something up the recipient can reference.

As much as I love BP blogs, it's no substitute if you're marketing locally with investors trying to make deals happen.

Also, get an email with your domain so with each email you send out from it you are doing something to spread the awareness of the site that doesn't require any extra effort.

All I can say is that I we fully second Joe's approach!

Pursuing absentee/out of state owner lists is an approach we've been practicing to bide our time and keep a pulse in the midst of this 'dry' spell before the levy breaks.

I think that one of the best advantages is that approach draws leads from so many situations.

Having a clearly defined buyers list turns the absentee owner list into gold and can save a great deal of marketing costs as you can filter for properties in areas and price ranges dictated by the requests of your buyers list.

When something clicks and the phone rings your operation of funneling deals to the proper channels will seal the deal!

But I'm cautiously optimistic about the coming wave of inventory, and am ready to be wrong. If I'm wrong it's probate and absentee wholesaling into buy and hold. On the other hand if the flood happens having a sturdy buyers list of the best cash buyers with the quickest turn around is going to be leveraged advantage!

Buy/Hold isn't in my cards yet, the operations/procedures are in the works, but the fact that there is the real chance of an impending flood of inventory; This tells me to hold off so I can pick up long term properties at the lower price where every dollar I can invest will go that much further.

Some may say we've hit the bottom, but both Mike Jacka and I hold the belief that shadow inventory exists unsustainably. This is growing larger until reality grinds the shadow barrier releasing the inventory that's been withheld all this time.

With these properties spending more time in the shadows they are literally rotting from neglect and jilted homeowners wear 'n tear.

I'd love to see some more probate discussion because that will be one technique that will be relevant no matter what the environment because of the unique characteristics of probate situations.

People will pass away no matter what the market and probate pain relief will always be in demand.

In an effort to keep this topic from going off tangent I set up another thread to cater to the brainstorming of possible settings and potential investors.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/49-private-conventional-lending-discussion/topics/52312-brainstorming-ideas-for-settings-and-

Keep this one geared towards ironing out the reality of refinancing out. :)

This thread was started to have a place to brainstorm ideas that aim to raise private money. The goal is to think outside the box and realize prospects and locations to meet prospects that aren't readily apparent.

On another forum on BP we were talking about how we can use HML to rehab and hold for cash flow by refinancing out. The idea brought up by Bill (Financeexaminer) who if you're not following, you should!

The first idea was to target an obvious market such as those with CD's @ 2.5 where even 6-7% may seem utterly outstanding. Profile little old ladies, my thought was to take up volunteering at a local retirement home and just being social.

Personally I'm loving the idea because I'm a huge fan of the 50's, need to work on my cribbage skills, and just love talking to retirees in general.

Had it not been for Bill's suggestion I don't think I would have entertained the idea anytime soon. This topic is all about throwing ideas against the wall and, to each their own, run with some ideas and share experience!

FE that is a great idea! lol perhaps I should spend less time hobnobbing in after work bars and more time volunteering at retirement homes. :)

@ Jon - I totally agree that it would be for the best to post here vs. chatting on messengers. It was just at the time of posting that I was looking for some live chat to bounce ideas and shed some more light. But by all means I'm more than happy to keep the topic on board here and post whatever outside info I receive so I can layout what I have in front of me for everyone to see and contribute :).

The big question I have at the moment is that I'm going to be creating an LLC this month which I plan to build this business model under. While the HML requirements are clear enough and will happily lend to the right deal I'm fairly content there. Fortunately I'm friends with Scott McLain from Red Dirt Lending so I'm working on a list of Q's to send his way for insight, I'm sure he wouldn't mind me sharing those details.

What I'm totally in the dark about is how a new LLC starting with HM converts to refinancing out into a much lower rate that lends itself to the hold and cash flow.

I presume the first thing to do after creating an LLC would be to open a business account with a bank.

1) Can new LLC's even qualify for any sort of credit line off the bat?

2) If the property is under an LLC and the plan is to refinance what are some of a the standard requirements for Refinancing under an LLC?

3) @Edwin in your business equation what % of the ARV would you expect to receive in the refinance if, for the sake of simplicity, your ARV = their BPO?

4) Now to muddy up the waters some, in your experience what kind of differentiation are you typically encountering between your ARV and their BPO. I know this is the last thing from an exact science, but any rules of thumbs or observations based on your experience would certainly be appreciated by anyone who comes across this board.

@ HML is most definitely not for long term, RDL does 6 months @ 16.9%anu.

For a refi-rate what are you guys encountering?

Looking to chat with some investors that have been taking something similar to the approach i've had in mind. Hard Money Rehab -> Refi -> Rent-to-Own (or hold as a long term rental). Most interested in conversion about the rehab->refi part of it. Msg me![b]

Hi Adrian,

I took a look at the site and my take on what I saw was that it simply a clever a marketing angle. The CAREI Certification is more of a novelty item really because nobody is going to be expecting anyone to be CAREI certified. The whole .org thing shouldn't be as convincing as it is because in reality you can simply buy a domain that is a .org and there isn't any sort of verification.

So I imagine they took a template of an online school/certification based site and REI'd it. I got to hand it to them though it's pretty clever and I hope their intentions are pure. If you give it a go let us know how it goes and what the quality level is :).

GL Adrian!

Minna I know exactly what you mean... seller leads off the internet that are worth a d@mn are pretty scarce. But conjuring up buyers is a lot more realistic :).

Well I'm happy to hear that you guys haven't invested anytime heading down the wrong direction with twitter. The whole twitter environment is still sorting itself out and you haven' t doomed yourselves to poor practices.

Making a Facebook Page with a vanity url as another point of contact and somewhere to direct those who bite when you toss out a line to your personal social group. I'm part of the school of thought that has a personal and business facebook profile because I don't want to alienate myself from my personal group.