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speedingpenguin

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Everything posted by speedingpenguin

  1. Ahh MC, I think you spoke to soon. 14-0 baby! Chris thanks for the reply. I spent 1 year with the big box brokerage and I did the training, paid heavily for their brand and never used their facility. I just left and they tried to squeeze extra fees out of me and I had to maneuver to get my listings away from them. Left a bad taste for me. Still most of what I do are Lease Purchase deals and they get on the MLS. For me it was learning their game, getting inside, and now breaking away to do my thing. I haven't done lease-options since moving to NC, are you listing them as an agent or getting them under contract as a principal and then listing them on your own behalf? Sandwich deals that you hang on to or are you plugging buyers in and selling them your contract?
  2. VRG is growing, I think they're in 15 or 16 states now... they cater to the "independent-minded" agents, which is great for investors. They get a flat fee rather than a percentage of the commission that you get paid as an agent, and while they do offer online resources and training, it's somewhat limited. They don't require you to participate in any specific training other than what's required by the licensing board though, which is cool. I interviewed one of the big name brokerages in town when I first got my NC license and they have an intensive 4 week training that all their agents go through and they have specific requirements of daily/weekly/monthly activity which is great if you're goal is to list houses and receive commissions, not so much if you're flipping houses or contracts. In exchange for the extra training, and the cost of running a physical office, they take a fairly significant percentage of your commissions until you reach a certain point where they start taking less, where the VRG is a virtual office with less overhead and fewer resources available, but they only take a couple hundred dollars from your commission rather than up to 30 or 40% or whatever the big retail brokerages start a new agent off at.
  3. I love it... It's perfect for investors since it's inexpensive (as far as dues and commission splits or fees) and hands-off (you're on your own to run your business how you like), if you were a newbie looking to make a career in retail real estate I would say to find a KW or Allen Tate office for the training, resources, and brand recognition. I tried that route (big name brokerage) as a wholesaler and it's a totally different story. That's why the VRG rocks. :-) There are a good number of brokers with VRG here in Charlotte, I see yard signs when I'm out driving around. There's not much name recognition (i.e. zero) when you tell a seller (or buyer) that you're with the Virtual Realty Group. That's fine with me though!
  4. Chris, my brand is Triad Management & Realty; the brokerage where I will hang my license is The Virtual Realty Group. Nice, that's who I'm with as well!
  5. What's the name of the brokerage?
  6. FWIW I bought the Naked Investor manual and had never done a deal before, less than a month later I got my first Lease Option deal under contract and a month after that had made ~5k ($3,500 up front and a note for the rest), so yes... with the Naked Investor manual alone you should be able to do a lease option deal. Combine the manual with all the info on the web and you'll have way more information than you need to get started.
  7. Hahaha! That's debatable I'm sure... I do kinda miss the Want Advertiser magazine they had in New England (not sure if it was published in other areas as well)... There was something fun about flipping through the pages every week circling ads (though at that time I was more interested in cars and car parts than real estate for sale....) Craigslist came along and took the challenge out of it... and put them out of business...
  8. Just to make you guys feel old, I remember when I was a little kid and you couldn't use the phone AND the internet at the same time... ...And when I was in middle school, I had a Palm Pilot to keep track of homework and use as a calculator... It was color, but didn't have wifi or cellular data, you had to save webpages to it if you wanted to view them on the go...
  9. Listening in on someone more experienced make calls like MC offers with his training program is priceless, for sure... Aside from that though, falling flat on your face and getting yourself into tough telephone situations and screwing up potential deals is good training too. IMO it's just as important to learn what not to do on the phone as it is to learn what to do. Maybe not the most fun or efficient way to go, but if you stumble through a bunch of calls (and keep picking up the phone to make more), eventually you'll figure out how to handle sellers in a way that works. When I was getting started I painted myself into corners and blew a bunch of phone calls, but learned never to make those mistakes again! Much easier to watch and learn the right way from someone and mimic what they do, but don't beat yourself up on calls gone awry, learn from them and move on!
  10. Move on to the next one, forget about trying to teach any of the old school real estate dinosaurs new tricks. You'll run in to attorneys, agents, brokers, etc. who will tell you that what you're doing is illegal or can't be done... I've found it's not even worth continuing the conversation with these people, just say "Oh, okay..." and move on. They're not going to help you in this case, and you won't be able to convince them otherwise. Go to a local REIA and network there to meet investor-friendly attorneys who are familiar with assignments, lease options, etc. and who are willing to be creative as far as finding ways to get deals done, rather than shooting them down because they're not the standard cookie-cutter type deals that most buyers and sellers are looking for. You may have to talk to several before you find one who's familiar with these strategies, but they ARE out there. Don't get discouraged by people trying to talk you out of your goals... They can't help it that all they know is traditional old-school real estate... not that assignments or lease options haven't been around, but lets face it, it is unconventional real estate strategy...
  11. Thanks, MC. You know I poke fun if your antiquity in good fun... Out of all the thousands of dollars I've spent on education, the Naked Investor manual has gone the farthest in the "bang for the buck" department. I guess wisdom comes with age, so be proud! hahaha
  12. Ellis, don't make it more complicated than it needs to be. Don't expect to close a lease option deal on the first phone call, just have a 3-5 minute conversation with the seller (with you asking the questions, that is). Lease options are no longer my primary focus (wholesaling / wholetailing now, though L/O's are always a direction to go in when the situation is right), but after struggling with how to position myself for years, I think that for me at least, coming in AS AN INVESTOR BUYER (not property manager, business owner, consultant, etc.) and not instantly going in the lease-option direction is the easiest, simplest, and quickest way to get in the door. In other words, even though in the back of your mind you're thinking "I'm looking for an opportunity to do a lease option here, not pay cash or owner finance or short sale", start the conversation off (email or phone) as if you're looking to purchase an investment property for your own portfolio. "Hi, I saw your ad for the house on W. Main St in Anytown... I'm looking to buy an investment property in that area and was curious if your house was still available?" "Yes, it's still for sale..." "Awesome, I saw the craigslist ad and it caught my attention... Is this a rental property for you, or do you live there yourself?" (if it's a rental property, you'll find out if it's rented, how much it has/could rent for, what happened with the last tenant, did the owner have a good experience as a landlord... if they live there, find out why they're moving, where to, and when... these are all clues to whether or not there's motivation) "We've lived in this house for the past 25 years... we had the place custom built, raised our kids here, added on a living room and a porch to the back of the house about 15 years ago, just re-tiled the bathroom upstairs, blah blah blah" "Great, it sounds like a nice place! How come you want to sell it?" "Well, the kids are off at college in Wyoming and my wife just got laid off, I'm self employed so we're thinking of moving somewhere to be closer to the kids" "Wow, moving to Wyoming, that sounds interesting! So you have a place lined up out there already?" (Big clue as to their timeline / motivation) "No, we haven't started looking yet. We're getting the house ready to list with the Realtor who lives down the street and sells all the houses in this neighborhood, we want to sell this house and use the money to pay cash for a house out in the mountains" At this point I would put them in the "Unmotivated" category, say something like "You know, looking at these pictures and talking to you, I'm not sure this is the right property for me. I'm looking for something I can buy at a discount or with owner financing built in, and even though I could save you the 6% realtor commission, you're house is in great shape and you'll probably be able to get more by going ahead and listing with the Realtor. Mind if I keep your contact info in case things change down the road?" and GET OFF THE PHONE! save your notes, schedule a 90 day follow-up to see how things are going, and move on to the next lead. Don't mention the word lease-option, don't mention tenant buyers, don't try and pitch them on above market prices and top-quality tenants... it's not the right time, and they'll respect you for shooting straight and telling them that you're not their best bet... at this point in time. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * On the other hand, a motivated seller call might go like this (based on a real wholesale lease-option deal that put $8k in my pocket) "Hi, I saw your ad for the house on W. Main St in Anytown... I'm looking to buy an investment property in that area and was curious if your house was still available?" "Yes, it's still for sale..." "Awesome, I saw the craigslist ad and it caught my attention... Is this a rental property for you, or do you live there yourself?" "Oh, gosh... well, I was living there with my soon to be ex-husband, we bought the house back in the late 90's, but that bastard is living in London now with his secretary and I've moved into the condominium we own in the city. Out daughter goes to school in Anytown and she's been staying at the house while we move our stuff out to a storage facility" "Wow, sorry to hear, sounds like a lot's going on. How long have you had the house for sale?" "Thanks... we listed with Joe Blow Realtor back in August, he said he could sell the house in 90 days or less but here we are half a year later and we're probably going to have to list with Suzy Q the agent down the street, but we wanted to try and save the commission if we could. We re-fi'd and don't have much equity, so if we can eliminate the commission we can lower the price a little bit and hopefully sell it quickly, I'm stuck making the mortgage payment on the condo and the house and I don't know how much longer I can keep up" "Hmm, so it was listed for 90 days and no offers?" "We had a few low-ball offers, and one couple wanted the house but couldn't get the financing lined up..." "Interesting, so people are interested but just can't afford your asking price or get financed... I'll tell you what, a lot of the time I look for properties that are in need of some repairs or improvements and I can pay cash at a discount, but this house looks like it's in good shape so I wouldn't expect you to discount the price... Let me crunch some numbers and call you back, I think there could be a way for us to make this work. Is this the best number to reach you at?" BAM! Not a done deal yet, but at this point you've got MOTIVATION and FRUSTRATION! (in this real life example, the soon-to-be-ex-husband was happy to sign anything to get the wife off his back, so after explaining the lease option to her she signed, he signed, they then hired the second real estate agent, and I sold the lease-option to a tenant-buyer within about 60 days where the second agent still hadn't brought a serious offer to the table.) If you're new to putting deals together, excuse yourself to "crunch numbers" or "do your homework" and arrange to get back in touch with them that day or the following day. If you're working with a coach, bring them this type of lead and let them help close the deal. If you're on your own, do your comps and find out what similar houses are selling for, how long they stay on the market, what that size house would rent for, what your competition will be, etc. then review your Naked Investor manual a few times so you are comfortable explaining how a lease option works to the seller. When you call them back, your approach can be "Hey, I'm a cash buyer looking for rental properties... your house caught my eye, it looks really nice and while your price is fair, I can't pay nearly that much as an investor, but would you consider renting the house for a couple of years and sell at the end of the lease?" Since you have qualified the seller as MOTIVATED, and they've tried other options without luck, you can come in not as a salesman for some real estate company, but as an investor who has a potential solution for their frustrating situation. THE KEY IS MOTIVATION! Once you've identified a pain, an urgent need, or otherwise emotional state of mind regarding the house, then it's time to pause for a second and analyze your options. Whether wholesale, lease option, listing (if you're an agent or have one you refer sellers to), etc., figure out one or more options for the seller and get back to them to discuss those options.
  13. What about this for an idea... Put that article together in the form of a special report or eBook, and use that as a way not only to generate a lead (offer the eBook or report in exchange for their email and/or phone number) That could be a way to position yourself as an authority on the subject as well... instant credibility if they sign up to get a special report about how they can lease purchase the home of their dreams and your name and face is in the inside cover. Just use a SHORT ad to pitch the free report though.
  14. Leads are leads, who cares where they come from. If a person owns a house, and is the slightest bit interested in selling their house, they're a lead. As MC said earlier on, calling craigslist ads is probably not your best use of time EXCEPT that it can give you a place to practice talking with sellers so that if you get tongue-tied or the phone call is awkward, no big deal. That way when you get better quality leads coming in, you're a little bit more comfortable picking up the phone and having a conversation with them... which goes a LONG way (they can probably tell if you're nervous and fumbling your way through the call). Keep in mind when the Naked Investor manual was written, craigslist wasn't what it is today (was it even around? hell... were computers around? :-P sorry MC). Now more than ever, things are changing all the time. Adapt! The principles are the same, sellers situations are the same, their frustrations are the same (more or less), and the strategies are the same (Again, more or less) Get good at qualifying sellers quickly... The faster you can find out that someone is NOT likely to be doing business with you soon and get off the phone with them quick, the better off you are. PLAN YOUR PHONE CALLS! There is a place between scripted and unscripted, and I personally think that the middle ground is the place to be. Know how your seller calls are going to go (here's where talking to a bunch of unmotivated FSBO's can be good learning experience), what questions you're going to ask, how you're going to position yourself (important!)... Have a Plan B for when an agent picks up... those calls will probably go differently than if you are talking directly to a seller... know what you're going to say if an agent lead slips into your list. Max0r, your post about having difficulty handling the leads once you get them reminded me of where I was a couple of years ago... I had a few deals under my belt but hit a patch of deals that went bad and got nervous, which lead to my wanting to avoid the phone as much as possible. Tried outsourcing it to a VA, tried answering services, even tried letting leads sit (no, they don't eventually grow into money trees). At the end of the day, someone's gonna have to talk to the seller and put together deals where there are opportunities to do a deal. Might as well be you, or at least you should learn it and be able to do it so that you can then outsource it and know that it's being done correctly. I've noticed this... the less concerned I am about putting a deal together, and the more I'm trying to dis-qualify a seller, the easier it is to pick up the phone. When it's all about "come on, come on... let this one be a deal... say you'll give me the house for practically nothing and not ask any questions", of course you're going to dread picking up the phone... that's how it was for me. Now I call a lead, let them know I'm looking to buy an investment property in their area (positions you without seeming like a scam) and ask them to tell me about the house (or if it's a house thats not been advertised for sale, i.e. responding to an absentee owner letter, start with "Just wanted to find out if you were thinking of selling, or did you plan on keeping the house?") From there, let them talk for a short bit about the floors, cabinets, and fenced in back yard, but quickly start feeling for signs of un-motivation... about to list with a Realtor, could sell now or sell 10 years from now, just installed new appliances and a new roof, living in the house currently and need to find a place to buy before selling, etc. Since most of your leads won't be motivated sellers, pick out the unmotivated, unqualified ones quickly and kick them to the curb. You'll get less rejection (you're doing the rejecting now), phone calls will be quicker (once you've identified them as unmotivated, point them in the right direction and excuse yourself quick!), and you'll be less nervous next time a new lead comes in because your expectations are realistic, and once you've disqualified them you can rest easy knowing that you did your job and aren't missing out on anything good! If you're just screening leads for your teacher, have a few simple questions ready to feel for motivation, jot down some notes as they're talking, and thank them for their time and let them know you'll discuss their house with your partner and get back to them. Very little to screw up (though believe me, been there done that!) DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE PHONE!!! :-)
  15. The times, they are a-changin'! Looks interesting... a game changer for sure if/when it catches on!
  16. Yep, and I'm learning more about that now that I'm living and marketing in Charlotte... The suburban Boston market (real estate market, not the restaurant) is a completely different beast... not only as far as the real estate market itself, but sellers are a whole different animal down here. My whole marketing plan has been in a state of flux since entering this new market, as I learn what works / what doesn't and what it is people need/want around here.
  17. With the exception of "professional letters" that I mail out which include a return mailing address on the letter, not just the envelope, I only give a phone number. The goal of my marketing is to appear to be just a regular person, not a big company, so I tell the seller to call my cell phone if they're interested in selling. I agree with your theory of "if they can't pick up the phone and call, they aren't THAT motivated", though MC does bring up a good point as well... it's 2014 and there are probably a good chunk of people who would rather avoid touching the phone at all costs, so offering a website or email address may get some responses that a phone number alone may not. On the flip side of that, a seller who see's a website URL, email address, Facebook address, etc. may assume that you're one of 'those companies that are out to steal peoples houses' and not even respond, because they made that assumption. I had a webinar recording or CD from a program, I forget exactly who it was... Wendy Patton maybe? Anyway, she said that her marketing has every possible way to contact her on it... phone, fax, email, website, form they can fill in and mail back... and she said it worked well and all forms of communication got responses from sellers. I think I tried it a couple of times on smaller mailings and didn't get much of a response, so I went back to my more personal "call me on my cell phone" approach. Might be worth trying though, this thread has me thinking of changing up my marketing a little and including more ways to contact...
  18. Based on the title of the thread, I would assume nation-wide :-P
  19. Hi Mhmi, 1.) Since you shouldn't be putting much money down, you should be alright with the seller supplied photos and/or video for advertising the property... Even if the seller is showing the property, you should be the one discussing the deal with the potential tenant/buyer so after one or two showings you should know if the description and pictures are inacurate. 2.) Not sure about how you'd file a memorandum, I've never been in a situation where it seemed necessary. If it's a big $$$ deal or a situation where you need to secure your option, well... I guess you'll have to figure that one out. If you need to file it in person and can't have someone else do it, a few hundred bucks in airfare and a day of traveling might be worth it if the payoff is substantial. 3.) It sounds like you might be ready to find a local partner, someone who you can pay to run errends for you or split profits with in exchange for being your eyes and ears on the ground. Maybe find a real estate agent who you can give 1/2 months rent to help advertise, use their signs or have them put your signs out. What market are you working in, or multiple markets?
  20. Believe me, MC... I was in Daytona Beach the first week of November, you Floridians have it awesome as far as the weather goes... but as Jerry Seinfeld said, "the state flag of Florida should just be a steering wheel with a hat and two knuckles on it"... Drive slow, sit low... I'm not ready to retire and wait for death yet ;-)
  21. What's prompting the move? Well, for one, it's 48* in Charlotte today and not even 30* in Massachusetts... Charlotte is pretty much 10-15* warmer than Boston every time I check the weather on my phone. Plus the "winter" down south is much shorter than in New England. I'm sick and tired of driving around with a car covered in road salt and trecking through slush and ice for nearly half of the year. No woman (or man) prompting the move, but a beautiful young lady with a southern drawl is MUCH sexier than one with a BAHston accent (IMO) so that will also be a benefit of being down there B-) I've got family out in the country in NC (cattle and tobacco farmers), as well as Davidson (North of Charlotte) and Wilmington (on the coast), plus a brother who's moving from Fayetteville to Charlotte. I love being down in NC, and totally fell in love with the city of Charlotte a couple of years ago when I first spent some time in the city (and every time I've been back since). To me, it's just a nicer place to be than MA/NH where I've lived my whole life so far. Plus, the Charlotte Douglas International Airport is a million times nicer than Boston's Logan Airport... which counts for something! :-) Steve, PM me your number and I'll give you a call once I'm down there. Are there any REIA's in the area worth checking out?
  22. Awesome! I'm moving to Charlotte next month, would love to meet you and possibly work together on some deals... B-)
  23. Any Naked Investors in or around Charlotte, NC? I'd love to talk with you...
  24. ^^^ Agreed, Daniel... though I wouldn't be as quick to say "How serious are you? That's just laziness" because I'm guessing Shane's new to real estate investing and if I were to guess by his user name, he's probably a younger guy like myself and may be venturing in to the world of business and entrepreneurship for the first time. And if you think about it, one of the duties of a real estate agent is negotiating a transaction on behalf of the party they represent (buyer or seller). I think the trouble with having an agent negotiate a wholesale deal on your behalf is in that most agents won't understand, agree with, or know how to negotiate the type of deal you're trying to do here and if they do, they're probably an investor themselves or might be hesitant to get involved with an inexperienced investor who (I'm guessing) doesn't have tons of cash or funding available at the moment. There are agents out there who only work with investors and are NOT investors themselves, so they won't be taking the cream of the crop for themselves and passing along the table scraps to you. Network at your local REIA and if you don't find someone AT the REIA, talk with more experienced investors and see if they can recommend an agent who could help you with your goals. You may find the right person and be able to do something together after all. That being said... I would encourage you to follow Daniel's advice about getting out of your comfort zone and being the small percentage of investors who push through the uncomfortable process of learning the sales and negotiation aspect of the business. If you're in this for the long haul and not just for a chance to make a quick buck, learn to get uncomfortable, work on constantly improving your communication skills, and learn sales and negotiation! You may fall flat on your face at first, but as long as you keep getting up and trying again, you'll eventually start putting deals together. The skills you develop will help you in other areas of your life as well, and are applicable to other businesses or situations as well... Once you learn it, then it'll be more appropriate and much easier to outsource and have someone else do the 'dirty work' for you. (by dirty work, I mean whatever it is that you'd prefer not to be doing but is necessary for your business to run) Any update on this lead Shane?
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