All Forum Posts by: Shawn Hershberger

Probate Marketing Question...

I'm currently marketing to probates. My first piece is being mailed about 6 months after the probate has been filed. Thought process is hopefully most of the other investors have become impatient and moved on and my consistent marketing will be the one they see every month. 

What timing has worked best for others? Do you begin mailing the month the probate is filed, and every month thereafter? Or do you wait a bit, 3-6 months after filing? Thanks for the feedback. 

I thought about sending him a purchase contract for the amount we spoke about. Worth doing? All cash.

I hand wrote yellow letters to a house near me and got a call from the owner last September (he owns the property with his ex wife). He said he was interested in selling and I got into the house to look around and work up an offer. Owner lives out of state. House needs a lot of work, water damage, new roof, landscaping, etc. 

I made him an offer and we would communicate every 2 weeks or so. I haven’t heard from him in about 2 months after a couple attempts. When I originally mailed letters last year, I mailed to his ex wife because they had different last names. I recently got a call from his ex wife who found one of my letters. 

Not sure what do here. The owner I’ve been communicating with no longer gets back to me, and I now have a new outlet with the other owner. Should I call the ex wife back and explain where we are? I highly doubt she knows how bad the house is. There’s potentially $20-40k profit if price is right? Any suggestions??

My partner and I are in negotiation for a 6-unit property in NE Ohio, below are details: 

• 4 rented, 2 vacant / average rent $735 (4 rented units $720, 2 vacant $775)
  • Owner pays water, sewer, trash
• 2 br, 1.5 bath, roughly 900 sf
• Garage with door + extra parking area
• Roof in good shape, air and furnace in good shape
• Realistic gross all units filled: monthly $4,400 / yearly $53,000
• We walked through both vacant units, very clean and basic. Could probably add $500-1,000 into each unit for cosmetics, but not necessary, ready to rent 
• We are discussing purchase price between $370,000-$385,000. Seller may be interested in seller financing, but hasn't decided yet. 
• With numbers above, cap rate is 8.9%. 

Seems like a great deal with very little downside. Would love some others thoughts. Am I missing something???

I've done a number of wholesale deals, never multifamily. I own 6 rentals but those were purchase almost 9 years ago. 

I personally don't think I would cold call probates, in my experience it's just too sensitive of a situation to navigate. More times than not they aren't real happy receiving mail let along a phone call. If you are set on calling, I would wait a while after the file date. If you decide to call give an update I'd be interested to hear the kind of response you get. 

If you don't know them directly, maybe handwrite a letter and put it in the mail, and then follow up monthly. A lot of times executors or PR's think they have have no choice but to sell through a realtor. Letting them know their options right off the bat may save you headache 3-6 months from now if it ends up in probate. Good luck!

Calling all probate title experts...I need your help!

I currently do probate marketing to 3 counties near me. I would like to add an additional county with a fairly large population, but after some research within the probate court and also discussions with 2 local attorneys, I can only search the records either by case number or last name. What options do I have? Other than obituaries, do I have any other option? 

The other 3 counties I target have all the info online, so it's still tedious but it's a simple process.

Any ideas please let me know. Thanks! 

Maybe I didn’t ask my question correctly. I pull all my leads myself and have been doing so for some time, but I’m at the point now I’m interested in hiring someone to do it for me. 

I would like to know more about hiring someone local to me. Any thoughts on what to pay to pull leads? $ per hour? I would also like them to do my marketing, any thoughts on that? 

Those of you that have a local team, would love to hear your thoughts on how you started this process. 

I have been investing almost solely in probate deals for the past 8 months. 3 out the 4 counties I invest in have records available online, with one requiring you to go to the courthouse. I am ready to hire someone to pull and maintain my leads and would also like them to handle marketing. 

Who do I start with? Is it necessary to have someone with a light title background? Because one of the counties requires you to physically visit the courthouse, I figure I will need someone somewhat local. Also, what do you typically pay? Would love to know how some of you have navigated this transition. Thanks! 

I've been a BP member for over 2 years, but have not contributed to the site hardly at all.
A little bit about me: I've been investing in real estate on and off for about 8 years. I started out in rentals, liquidated those because my partner, my father, needed the capital. I then started wholesaling, with very mixed results. Some good deals, a bunch that started good then ended bad and a number of disasters. All along the way, I've done very little in the way of educating myself....the right way. I've spent plenty of money on guru courses, which essentially resulted in wasted money and energy. 
I've come full circle in this business and now am ready to build a portfolio of passive income properties. I'm ready to do it the right way, even if it means slower. I've been listening to the podcasts and I can't seem to get enough. So much good, applicable information. 
I'm done with thinking I need to be the smartest guy in the room. That's a fools way of thinking. I want to connect, meet new people and learn this business from people that have ultimately been successful, doing it the right way.

With all that being said, I am looking forward to scouring this site and soaking up as much information as possible. I'd be very interested in connecting with investors from my area, Akron/Canton area in Ohio, but honestly am anxious to connect with anyone and everyone who's been there, done that. 

I'd like to think I've learned from my mistakes, and truly look forward to a bright future.

Thanks,
Shawn Hershberger