All Forum Posts by: Jeremy Ferguson

I am just starting out as a wholesaler working probates mainly for the past few weeks. We have gone to visit a couple of homes but haven't closed our first deal. I just spoke with a woman that wants us to come out next Saturday to look at her home.

Before we got off the phone she gave me her email address and asked me to send her my credentials. I told her I was a private investor and she said it would just make her feel comfortable having me over and in her home if she had some information on me...

Should I send her some references I have in the real estate industry? What would you do here?

Jeremy

@Rick H. thanks.

Hello BP, I would love some feedback from anyone with experience mailing out to probates.

We are on our second mailing to probates so still tweaking things a bit. We have a woman that goes down to the court house to pull the data and then she sends us the spreadsheet. We have "deceased last address" and we refer to that address in our letter. What we have found is that 50% of the "deceased last address" is the same address of the PR. So essentially they are living with the PR before they passed but that isn't that property address that may be up for sale.

My question is this... Should we manually go look up each person in tax records and see if we can find another address or should we just omit that section of the letter? I am not sure how your letters are setup but if you see a great response from listing the address, I would want to keep it and find a way to get more accurate data. If it's not really a big deal, I may just remove that from the letter.

I am using the letter found in the file place but we have made some small edits. I would love to hear what works for others.

I completely understand that testing is important but I am just curious as to what everyone's experienc is. If you want to share your letter I would love that as well.

You, sent 14 minutes ago

Ok thanks for the response, I just didn't want to pass it up and then realize there was another way to go about things. I am new to all of this and while my goal is to wholesale, I take each opportunity with an open mind.

Thanks again!

We are marketing to probates in our area and I just got off the phone with a woman who's father just refinanced his home a couple of years ago, then passed away. They owe the bank just as much as the home is worth if they sold it retail.

They also owe 2-3 months back pay on the mortgage. They just want to get rid of the house and be done with it without spending a dime of their own money. We cannot wholesale this home with the current numbers but my question is this.. Would she be best off just giving this home back to the bank and will any of this effect her financially if their is money owed? 

If so, would it would make sense for us to catch the mortgage up by paying the 2-3 months and see if she will seller finance? I am looking for other options before I close the books on this one. 

She is motivated and wants to get rid of it soon. They home is in great condition (may need some paint and carpets). Should we walk away or present another option to her?

@John Hixon I was just wondering the same thing. I am new at this and just went out and did my first home visit today. I took good notes and measurements but now just need some ballpark figures on a few things. I found the homewyse and used their "high end" pricing to be safe but still wasn't sure how accurate it was. 

I think at the end of the day a contractor will get the materials much cheaper than what they are listing. These prices seem to be for the general consumer. I think they are safe but my guess is that they are on the high side.

Not sure why my post was edited above but it no longer even makes sense...

@Mike C. mentioned. Prices are much cheaper than what you will find right in NYC but it's still within commuting distance. 

Also, try to think about user intent, "We buy houses (city)" may make sense to you but someone looking to sell their home may not even think of that. Think about the user and what they would be searching for, try to forget what you already know and dumb it down.

It really depends on your business and what you're trying to focus on but I use keywordrevealer.com - you will discover some great keywords and it will even tell you how difficult each keyword is to rank for... for free!  :)

Good luck!