All Forum Posts by: Tyler Frost

Investors who survived the 08 crash. What is the best piece of advice you would give on getting through the next turn and what was the biggest mistake you saw an investor make that didn't get through it?

Mason Hickman Thanks! Solid advice!

Assuming things don't crash and burn in the coming months I am planning on partnering with a real estate agent on a couple of flips and I am a licensed contractor and I am trying to structure our partnership fairly. Here is the situation. We will obtain financing together, he will be responsible for finding the deal, I will assess the property, he will handle comps and other agent duties. We will write out a scope of work together and agree upon a budget. Once we close I will be responsible for pulling permits and overseeing construction and my wife will handle the accounting a provide weekly reports and pictures to the real estate partner. After completion he will list, market and sell the property. Here is where I am getting snagged. The agent will obviously gain a commission from the sell and if the listing. What I am having a hard time structuring is if the agent is making money off the sell as an agent and the commission is coming out of the deal, I am trying to figure out how to fairly be compensated for being the contractor and overseeing the project. Profits will be 50/50 otherwise. Should I collect the same amount as he collects in commission before profits are split? I am not wanting to sound greedy because I understand the value of the agent partner, but I will also be committing as much time or more in the remodel phase as he will be in the selling phase. For reference, I will not be performing any labor myself, but rather oversee subs, pull permits, ensure material is ordered and delivered on time and things like that. Any suggestions on how this should be structured fairly for both of us?

I currently have 1 flip and 1 spec that are about to finish and be ready to list within the next two weeks. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little anxious. Worst case scenario though is I slash the price and I break even or rent them out for a small amount of cash flow and sell when the market turns back up if it does indeed take a nose dive. I don't plan on buying any flips until we see where this goes. But, I currently don't have many rentals because of the competition in the market the last few years. I know there are always good deals, but in this hot market my strategy has been to flip and build and accumulate cash and wait on the downturn. If the market does take a serious turn my strategy will turn from flipping to buying B&C class rentals. 

Has anyone tried pulling a list of specialty leads that specify the type of motivation (i.e inherited, pre-foreclosure, divorce, 65+ with high equity)?  If so, did you feel like you were getting a quality list? My cost per lead is higher than just pulling an absentee list from ListSource and I am hoping that it is accurate but there is no way to tell beforehand.

If you have experience with these specialized leads what lists did you find to have the best success rate?

Thanks!

I am about to run my first serious marketing campaign. I've got everything setup except an answering service, which will be needed since I still work. Looking for recommendations for a good company. I'm assuming volume will be low in the beginning so I have been looking at Specialty Answering Service for $31 a month plus $1.19 per minute. Any suggestions or experiences are appreciated.

@Michael Volek

Thanks for a little positive feedback. Thought this was a Facebook post for a minute with all the negativity. I clearly understand that most people don’t want to receive a junk text. Just like they don’t want to receive junk email or a junk letter in the mail. But we’re not looking for most people. People are obviously having some success. I listened to a Jim Ingersoll podcast where they’re getting $18 of profit per dollar spent on text blast as opposed to $10 on direct mail.

I’m all about some constructive criticism but let’s hear why it’s a bad idea, not just it’s a terrible idea. Just looking for some tips on the good and bad that people have actually experienced.

So based on the podcasts from a couple of weeks ago with the gentleman from Mississippi and some other things I've been hearing, text blasting kind of seems to be the new wave of direct mail. I like the idea because you get quicker feedback and unlike mail, people can opt out so you get a better value with follow ups than you would with mail. Anybody been have success with this? What kind of wording are you using in your texts and what kind of systems are you using to implement?

@Scott Mac Thanks!

Okay folks, I'm taking the plunge. I have dabbled in real estate for a few years but I am about to take the leap and make real estate investing my full time gig. I have a meeting with a real estate attorney and my accountant later this week to get LLCs and so forth setup. Primarily looking to get as much protection and layers as possible on the front end to prevent costly issues down the road. What are the most important questions you think I should be asking my attorney and accountant at this early phase of the process? Broad ideas and anyone with specific knowledge of Alabama are both greatly appreciated!