All Forum Posts by: Stephen Lee

Hey all,

I've seen a lot of people in the industry using virtual assistants. Most are wholesalers who have high call volumes or Realtors who have a lot of easy to complete busy work. My issue is that I mostly spend all day running comps, putting in offers, or driving properties that I've identified as good properties.

For those of you who have used a VA in the past, have you had them submit offers for you? My concern with this is the fact that it's kind of a big deal if it gets messed up. Submitting it for the wrong amount, not including the correct contingencies, etc. I also don't even know if that's legal or not... (I'm in Maryland by the way)

I mainly would like to use him/her to run comps for me. 5 minutes a comp, 75-150 leads a day excluding leads from my marketing, you do the math. Whatever that comes out to, it's too difficult for me to do myself, but I'm also not at the point where I feel comfortable taking someone on full time. For those of you that have had VAs run comps for you, what are some things that you had told them that helped them grasp the art of figuring out an ARV? I realize that it's not as easy as just telling someone once and that's it, that it'll be a learning process, but I'd appreciate any advice. I also don't know if it's legal (again in MD) to give out my MLS login information to them in order to allow them to run comps. Maybe people get around this by subscribing to other services like FlipComp or Privy for their virtual assistants?

Again, any advice at all on the matter would be appreciated. Any suggested sources for VAs, countries, what you paid, what you had them do, etc

Thanks!

@Russell Brazil yes that's pretty much it. I miss the target by a couple thousand every time but I come in with an offer expecting to negotiate. Might just have to submit closer to my best offer right off the bat

@Mike Cumbie I believe in the past I have submitted POF with my offers to her but not all of the time. Definitely strengthens the offer and makes you get taken more seriously.

@Russell Brazil @Lori Lincoln yes I am using buyers agents for all of these offers. I have agents who send me listings and they send in the offers for me. I believe out of those 10 or so offers I've used 4 different agents. Everyone says the same thing. That's why I've been trying to reach out to her personally and build a relationship. To no avail so far.

I was wondering if anybody had dealt with any of the high volume REO agents that are impossible to work with. There's one woman who is local who gets great deals in my area. I have submitted about 10 offers on different properties and heard back nothing. They weren't lowballs, usually they're within 10% of the asking price, one was even above asking! Still nothing. No highest and best, no rejection, no counter. And then when it goes under contract with somebody else that's the only notification that I get that I'm not getting the property. Last one was listed at 300, I submitted for 275, checked today and somebody else won it at 283. I am sick and tired of losing out on properties by a couple thousands of dollars. Countless phone calls and emails, I've never been able to even get this woman on the line or get a response or a call back. I've been trying to let me buy her lunch just so I can sit down and get some face time. Does anybody have any idea how I may be able to get onto her good side and/or have a chance of winning these properties?

@Robert Graham I'm aware of that but it certainly wouldn't be the first or last time I've heard of it happening. I wouldn't necessarily expect the login info rather me just basically telling them the search i need run and then have them forward the results to me so i can go through them.

Thanks Robert! I have a few people I'm going to reach out to and then will probably go through the BP forums for Columbia investor friendly realtors.

Thanks everyone!

I'll have to have my flipper on the ground down there meet with some realtors and see if he can make some connections before picking up our first property. Maybe if they're trusting enough he/she will give us the login info so we can take a look for ourselves. 

The only reservation I have with using realtors for ARVs is they're usually best case scenario comps while I use worst case scenario comps. But if I had a realtor that trusted me enough to give me the MLS access I can double check what they have. Thanks everyone!

Hello all,

I'm from Maryland and have done plenty of flips up here in my local area because I am licensed and have MLS access. Last week I met a hungry young man in South Carolina who wants to do flips with my money down there and do a 50/50 split. I'd love to get that system in place and rolling but my biggest concern is making sure that he (and me double checking him) is going to be able to properly evaluate the market and run comps. He doesn't have MLS access so I wanted to know what everybody else's experiences with this was. I know zillow and redfin are probably the best resources but they don't include nearly as much as the MLS obviously. Those two are probably the best gameplan for us at this point but wanted to see if anyone else had any experience overcoming this issue. Thanks!

@Aron Cohen that's awesome man. hoping to get into the BRRR game myself as a long term strategy. good stuff!

Hi everybody,

I'm looking to increase my volume to closing on 1 new flip a week by the end of the year. I was just wondering what everybody thought about when to replace non-cosmetic items in the house. I usually almost always replace things like the AC condenser unit, electrical panel, furnace, hot water heater, etc unless they look/are fairly new (less than 10 years old). I was just wondering what others strategies are on this. I've heard everything from "kitchens and bathrooms sell houses" to people who swear by always replacing or at least servicing these items just to ensure that they don't have any problems during inspection. 

Let me know what you all think! Do you have a set age for these items that they'll always be replaced? Do you at all base your decision off of how these items look to the naked eye? Do you take into account what the finished property is going to sell for?

Thanks!