All Forum Posts by: Wesley Sherow

@Brandon Gidicsin @Elin Anderson sounds like we trio need to have a coffee date. Sending everyone connects, and hope to chat soon! 

Good morning @Casper Boutens

I know a little bit about realtor branding, so I figured I'd chime in. An IDX isn't necessary for your website, but you are required to display your license number and some basic information about yourself in case you do display MLS listings on the site. Generally it's good practice to simply display that everywhere you can. Once you're a licensed realtor, this is a pertinent requirement. Even if you're uploading your own listings manually, you're still required to display that information.

Giveaways are a great way to grow your following, and as long as the transactional nature stays strictly on the "join my mailing list, or whatever" in return for a chance to win something, you're in the clear. Most conflicts that realtors have to avoid are more strictly surrounding real estate transactions. Another rule of thumb here is to consider fairness in a transaction. If you're giving someone preferential treatment, or giving something away that might be seen as a kickback in return for an offer or consideration on a deal, that's when you might fall into muddy water. 

As for website disclaimers, the primary one is the following: An Internet site which consists of information regarding properties which have been listed with a real estate brokerage, the identity of that real estate brokerage or licensee for each property and information related to those properties must be present.

As far as must haves, i'd include a picture, and contact information. Beyond that, in my experience real estate is very much a relationship business. I've met extremely successful realtors with websites that look like they jumped right out of the 90's internet boom days. 

I'm not an attorney, so obviously do your own research on requirements for your site. 

All the best! 

 @Kevin Scott good morning! Finding a good property management company can be a challenge sometimes. I run a property management company based out of Albany, NY, but we don't go out more than 20 miles from our radius typically unless we're looking at large portfolios. I wanted to chime in a tip however that might help on your search for one. 

Property management is a pretty simple business. So long as they're collecting rent, leasing to vetted qualified tenants, and doing affordable work you're pretty much in the clear. But any property management company big or small is going to have multiple priorities, and as a small owner you're not always going to be at the top of that list. 

Regardless of who you choose the most important rule is to be an active owner. Visit your properties once or twice every month in the beginning, and less when you've built trust with your manager. Always verify their information, and keep track of your deposits. When you take an active role in working with your management company, for better or for worse, they will put you higher on their priority list because they want to keep your business. 

Besides good practice of staying on top of them, taking an active role in your property manager's doings is going to help you better understand your market, and make better purchasing decisions in the long term. 

Hope any of this helps, and best of luck! 

Hi Bigger Pockets Community! 

I am entering into an excellent deal renovating and redeveloping a historic boutique hotel in Albany, New York. I am looking for others who have done similar projects to chit-chat with and discuss strategy. I've done AirBnB's for many years, but this is my first jump into the formal hotel ownership space, and I'm wondering what pitfalls others have seen that I may avoid. 

This is a development from gut renovation, of a historic Victorian era property in the Capital Square region. You'll find a picture of it on my profile page. Some questions that come to mind: 

- Would you hire a full-time house manager for a 13-15 bedroom B&B?

- What economies of scale issues might I have to look out for by operating such a small hotel? 

- Would you treat this more like a large AirBnB, or like a small commercial hotel venture? 

Anybody who has done work in this space I would love to connect with to  learn more about it! 

Hey @Jason Mills, i'm an investor that focuses on Upstate New York as a whole. If you're interested in investment funds/syndicates and have interesting deals feel free to send them my way. The majority of my portfolio is in the Capital Region. My specialty is financial modeling. 

Dj, nice to meet you. Wholeselling is an interesting field, as it's very easy to pour in sweat equity to find great deals, and then earn some margins on them. I myself buy from Wholesellers frequently. What's amazing about real estate is that you can basically do whatever you want, within reason. Creative deals are at your finger tips, and limited only by your own creativity. 

There's people out there who haven't considered selling their place, and with some cold calling you could find them. In those cases with their permission you could offer to buy their property with relatively little down and an option for assignment, but even at that i've met wholesellers who sometimes don't even put any money down. 

As for some more direct answers to your questions, the only way I know to build a list of buyers is to be listing properties frequently, asking friends/family for referrals, and as in most any industry get the connections by doing. The first deal may be the hardest one to close as you have to go out and search, but ultimately a good deal is a good deal, and it WILL be recognized by investors if you're even minimally out there. 

At a minimum, if this works our feel free to add me to your network of potential buyers. 

Hey Bailey, I have a good contractor that i'm partners with. He currently does all of my own renovations, but I'm taking on some extra work to keep him busy in between my own investments. If you'd like to connect/grab coffee let me know! 

Hey Elin, in case you're still looking for other people in a similar investment space, I'm currently invested in Hudson, NY, Albany, NY, and the surrounding areas - so not very far from you. Happy to talk shop, especially if you're buying the coffee ;)

Hey Anthony, I see that this was a bit of an older post that didn't get a reply. In case you need a contractor, I work directly with one who moved up from Queens to work on all of my projects. Depending on the scope of work, i'm sure he can fit something into his schedule. If you're still looking for this send me a direct message and i'll link you up!