speedingpenguin

I'm able to send 20 emails to CL ads daily by: a.) Being located in a market with enough houses on CL (though you can always expand and go "Virtual" if your own market is small) b.) Having a system in place that requires virtually no thought or effort from myself to collect, screen, sort, and send emails to the new addresses I find that in some CL areas there's a lot of realtor ads in fsbo section, but other areas seem to be mostly real fsbo's. It sucks that you have to deal with it, but it really isn't the end of the world, you CAN work around it

I consistently send emails to 20 CL addresses per day, 5 days a week, with no problems. That's the "magic number" I've found that doesn't trigger that error...

Sept 12 would work for me, lets keep this going! I missed the last couple because I didn't know about them, we should put together an email list so we can remind everyone the day before and a few hours before maybe?

20 emails to CL ads a day seems to be a safe number that works for me (err... my VA) You can get telephone numbers and send the same email messages through those FSBO sites, but I have been contacted by someone at one of those sites (Isoldmyhouse.com maybe?) after sending a bunch of messages, they basically asked why I was sending so many messages and when I told them (I'm looking for a lease-purchase and wasnt sure if any of the sellers on there might consider it) he said he'd put the messages through.... I don't know if that actually happened or not though. Just something to be aware of so you're not shocked if you get a call haha

Interesting situation: In addition to signing the Assignment of Agreements (seller signed off on the assignment to T/B), the tenant buyer made a written agreement with the seller to take care of specific maintenance required to keep the house in good shape. (they agreed to stain the deck in the spring/summer, trim hedges, that sort of stuff. They also had a written agreement for the tenant/buyer to purchase some furniture that the seller left behind) The seller called me up today looking for help, spring/summer has come and gone and the work hasn't been done and she's tired of one excuse after another and wants to know what to do. I didn't get involved with the agreements between the tenant buyer and the seller (for the maintenance and for the furniture), that's just between them but I'd like to at least be able to point the seller in the right direction and hopefully prevent this problem from turning in to a bigger one. Anyone have experience with anything like this? Any ideas as to what might be the best next step to suggest to the seller? Thanks, -Chris

talk about timing! hahaha

Thanks for the replies, I told them that I would have a yes or no by Friday because I've got a few other applications coming in and will be showing the house later in the week to a few more people. They already know that I'm going with the person who's the most solid candidate for the house as decided by myself and the homeowner. It's a C/A so I'd prefer to be out of the deal sooner rather than later, but want to have a backup plan in case none of the other applicants work out. I'll see what else rolls in, the other people who have seen the house have balked at the location... it's kinda out there, not close to any of the major cities so most people don't wanna have a long commute.... but over the last 24 hours I've had a lot of calls all of a sudden so we'll see!

I've got a tenant/buyer who's submitted their applications, they want the house, but they want to finance some of the option consideration. They've both owned homes before but are fairly recently divorced and both are still attached to the houses they owned with their exes (yes, they're both in the same situation) who are hopefully be selling/paying off their half to clear the man and woman applying off the titles to their old houses. They have been approved for a loan of 15% more than what they'll need to buy this house, contingent upon them not owning their other houses. They proposed putting $2,500 of the $6,000 option consideration down up front with the first months rent, and would like to spread the remaining $3,500 over 9 months. I'd be fine with it if they needed to finance a smaller portion of the option money, and don't really have a problem collecting $2,500 now and then $390/mo for the next 9 months, but I'm not sure if this is a bad sign as far as their capability to buy in the future, or if it seems too risky that they might wind up being hard to collect from? Would there be a way to set up some sort of automatic payment from a credit card or bank account every month? Or should I just pass on these people and hope that I find a tenant/buyer who can put the whole option fee down up front? I've had the property and been marketing it for 45 days and have another 45 days before the contract expires.... What would you do?

Sorry you had trouble figuring it out, Chris - The message was to find a way to get to the top (whatever your goal is), no matter how difficult it may be, or how long it takes, or the obstacles you may encounter. I like it! It's true for so much more than just marketing, I think that's where I got confused haha

With the emails, you've gotta be sending out a lot of emails or else you'll probably get bummed out that it's not getting a good response after the 2nd email. I'd suggest finding/creating a way to automate the process (of collecting email addresses and sending emails) so you don't have to be doing it all yourself every day. This can be done VERY very cheap. Welcome aboard!

Agreed!

My phone number was stolen and used for one of those a while back.... got a ton of calls for houses for rent in NY, PA, TN, and a few other states.... A few of the people who called on the ads emailed me links to the ads, so I emailed the address in the ad.... that exact same type of scam.... I started to play along with it but got busy with REAL work so I never finished....

BTI, thanks for explaining further. What you're saying makes more sense to me now. I'm still not 100% sure I agree entirely, but then again you've been in the business for over twice as long as I've been alive on this planet. What would your advice be? I'm hesitant to change the way I'm doing things because most of the sellers I've dealt with have gone through a few Realtors and are sick and tired of listing the property, so the fact that I'm not "another agent" who wants to "list" the property is a fairly big selling point for them. I'm curious, if I was doing this and DIDN'T have a license, would I be at risk for practicing real estate without a license? And if I did decide to drop the license (which has been something I've considered for quite a while, after realizing short sales were NOT the direction I wanted to go in...), would I still be up against the same issue because I'm an "inactive" agent? (I don't know about other parts of the country, but as I understand here in MA you don't really give up the license, you just go inactive... and if you decide to go active again you have to pay fees for the entire time you were inactive.... meaning once you're an agent you're always technically an agent?)

Congrats man! I was considering dropping cold calling because of the overwhelmingly negative response I'm getting, but I think I'll keep at it for a little while longer at least 'cause even just one decent deal could make it worthwhile!

Okay so you just get a regular listing and list it as a L/O, and set a fee that you get paid when you find a tenant/buyer for them? Steve, I agree 100%

unless they're willing and able to give up equity, or theres a HIGH level of motivation/pain, the 'No's I would probably let go of... Maybe follow up in 30-60 days and see if things have changed, but if they're not truly motivated and ready to go creative, you're probably fighting a loosing battle trying to get them to do a L/O. Have you thought of other ways you could market for more motivated sellers?

Cstg, sounds like a plan! Send me a message and let me know what time either next week or the week after would be best. And I agree with MC. Make the offer, if she accepts, great. If she says hell no! great, follow up with her! She ain't gettin any younger and houses aren't selling any faster, you might be able to help her get what she needs after she realizes that she probably won't get what she wants... :-) I forget where I heard this, but I remind myself sometimes when I'm not sure about making an offer.... but if you're not embarrassed when making the offer, the offer is probably too high

How would you do a C/A as an agent Jon? Do you still do a lease and option agreement with the seller and then assign them?

I don't search for tenant/buyers first - I find a property, put it under agreement, and then market the property. I build my buyers list as the calls come in for whatever property it is I'm marketing. If someone asks me about something I don't have, I make note of what it is they're looking for and if/when I get a property in the area they want that meets their needs I'd be happy to give them first dibs before blasting it to everyone, but I don't represent buyers in rent-to-own transactions. My broker sent me a buyer client who's looking for a RTO condo, I've got no problem with paying a brokerage fee for this one because a) the lead came from the office, I am representing her as an agent. And seeing as how our brokerage doesn't have an office (we're virtual - meetings at Panera type of group), no, I don't pay desk fees. We're going to be getting an office assistant soon, and I'll have no problem paying that fee. And if he/she was putting my RTO properties online or posting ads etc then I'd have no problem paying a fee for each of those transactions either. My issue/concern/question is that for transactions completely separate from the brokerage, I didn't think I had to pay any brokerage fee or split. When I joined the brokerage, it was with the understanding that I had my own wholesaling business going and that it was separate. I took my first wholesaling class FROM my broker (who's a great guy, probably the only broker I'd want to work with) and one of the things talked about in that wholesaling course was the fact that you don't need a license to do assignments of contract. How is assigning a lease agreement and an option agreement any different than assigning a contract to purchase or a straight option to purchase agreement? That's where I'm confused. Sellers and buyers that I meet with sign a disclosure acknowledging that I am a licensed agent, but that I'm NOT representing them as an agent but as a principal. The assignment agreement also very specifically states that I am NOT acting as an agent, but that I have a principal interest which I'm selling. It's signed by the seller and the tenant/buyer. I don't see where it's implied that I'm acting as an agent. And the reason I don't stay in the transaction the whole way through is because there is no spread. Maybe in a different market or if the right numbers came along that would be different, but so far all I've come across are sellers who have waited 6+ months listed with an agent with NO results, and who's asking rent is in-line with the market, and asking prices on the slightly higher side. I wouldn't be able to stay in these deals for 12-36 months under these conditions. Time will tell.

I couldn't figure it out.... walk up stairs backwards?

I'm in Chelmsford, about 30 mins north of Boston. Mike is right, virtual assistants can be a HUGE help! For that deal, an option might work good if you can negotiate a discounted price, or if the house is in good shape and fairly modern (not too outdated) maybe a lease option for a year or so....

Well, you could try doing a lease option with it and market it as a handyman special, maybe you'll find a plumber or someone who's looking to get in to a place and doesn't mind putting some work in to it... might have to compromise on another part of the deal to make it make sense.... low option $, lower than market rent for a certain amount of time, long lease with generous rent credit... something to sweeten the deal, contingent upon those repairs being completed within a timeframe? I've got a few people on my buyers list who specifically are looking for something they can rent to own that needs some fixing up... Can't hurt to try! The other option would be just that... an option! If the realistic fair market value with those 3 repairs done is $149k, and the seller will let it go for $127k and it needs $3200 in repairs, you could try and tack on $2-3k assignment fee and find a retail buyer or an investor buyer looking for a rental property who'll pay $130k for it and get a bit of a deal for doing some work themselves... Not the deal of the century, but a below market deal without the aggravation of waiting for a short sale... and it sounds like a pretty nice house! Either way, it can't hurt to try if you think it's worth your time! If nothing else you may find some buyers who may be interested in future deals you get! EDIT: Another thing you could consider is buying it (wholesaling it) subject to, where the seller will leave the mortgage in place and an escrow company will handle taking payments from the buyer and making the mortgage payment each month. I'm not 100% familiar with this sort of transaction so I don't want to go in to it much more than that, but do some research and see if it's something that might work. Would be an attractive deal for a retail or investor buyer if you set it up right!

LMAO a new standard for politicians and public figures to live up to

Try finding out the basics about their situation first before pitching the SLO idea... Figure out why they're selling, what the numbers are (best price, how much they owe, what their monthly payment is, how soon they need to be cashed out, etc.), who's involved with making a decision... all of this info will allow you to determine if they're a good prospect or not, while at the same time giving you the info you need to make a personalized solution to their problem (trying to sell the house to move closer to family, trying to sell because it's costing too much, tenant moved out and it's been vacant for 3 months and they're making the payment each month... good stuff to know!)

Either that or I've been living in an upside down world!