djbusch

I'd like to have your yellow letter guy's info. Hand writing them? Meh...

I got a call on the signs yesterday - from city hall (the caller gave her name and left a callback number, unlike the fine officer did Friday evening). It seems it was the city that swiped my signs Sunday morning. I'm not terribly worried about he city prosecuting me, but if their crews are out pulling signs up on Sunday, what day is safe to post them? These guys aren't screwing around!

I figured out why only 1 seller called. Somewhere between yesterday afternoon (I saw most of my signs still up) and a few hours ago, someone scoured the city and stole all but 2 of my signs. Bandits made off with my bandit signs! LOL! Good thing I have more blanks & stakes...muhahahahahaha!!!

Well, the deadline the "officer" set for me came and went, and he didn't call back. Maybe he's subpoenaing Google for my home address so he can send me my fines. LOL I changed my greeting. I probably should have done that long before now anyway. All in all, only 1 seller called. Maybe it's just a slow weekend. Maybe I'm putting them in the wrong locations. I'll try something different next week. Oh well, time to go pick up whatever signs are left and put them in the garage until Friday...

I put up 25 bandit signs in my small city last night around 7:00. At 11:00, I get a voicemail from someone, purporting to represent the city police department, demanding that each and every one be removed within 24 hours. I must admit, I was concerned...until this dimwit claimed the PD would obtain my information from Google (for my Google Voice number). The caller, whose number was "private", went on to explain that Google has been very helpful in such matters of late. Here's the unbelievable part - you don't have to give Google any personal information to get a Google Voice number. I'm sure the only reason this "officer" knew it was a Google number was because I hadn't changed the default greeting from "The Google Voice subscriber you have called..." Lesson learned. I'll change the greeting right away. LOL

My point is simply this: at this time, in this country, I still believe there are more "makers" than "takers." If the makers get active in electing real fiscal and social conservatives to offices small and large, we'll see a push back against the out of control government spending on entitlements and "free stuff" for the vunnables who mindlessly vote for Democrats every damned time. We all have to get involved. It's no longer a matter of waiting another 2 or 4 years for the problem to correct itself.

All we can do is elect Senators and Representatives who will push back against the "free stuff" crowd (Democrats). Whether this happens here and now or down the road (a la Greece), it's bound to happen. We can't sustain the status quo of 50% (or more) of the populace living on the backs of the other 50%. People aren't working, but they're eating, driving cars and talking on cellphones. 50 years ago, that would have been an affront to most Americans. We need to bring back the shame of accepting government handouts. I say end all social programs now. Local churches and community organizations will take up the slack in helping those truly in need. For the lazy entitlement slobs, substitute the food stamp debit card for a community gruel pot. It's more than they deserve.

Oh boy...let me rant for just a moment... Nearly 20K votes in Philadelphia and not a single one cast for Romney? 99% Democrat in Cuyahoga County Ohio? What about all those polls that showed Romney & Obama tied (or Romney ahead) the very week before the election? Then there's the curious case of the packed Romney/Ryan venues and the half-filled Obama appearances. What about the Republican election observers being tossed out of their polling places? Or the Obama propaganda on the walls of the polling places? Gentlemen (and ladies), I submit to you that this election was a Democrat hack-job (i.e. it was STOLEN). I believe that Mitt Romney conceded too easily, and that Republican lawyers should flood every "swing" state Obama won to verify the outcome of the elections in each state. Say what you want. This is what I believe.

Well fiddlesticks!! There must be a middle ground here somewhere.

Well, since I've stopped mentioning the actual terms in the ads, I can only assume I'm not marketing well enough. Daily ads on craigslist, ebay classifieds & backpage must not be effective anymore. I need to come up with a new budget-friendly method...

Sounds like a barrel of monkeys! Skype works for me, too (GonzoREI).

Doug, I can agree with you on this. I've been advertising for "rent to own" buyers for over a month and haven't received a single decent lead.

Quite possibly true. I have had an irrational fear of the phone, like it's a hand grenade dipped in ebola. It was only yesterday that I finally mustered up the cajones to dial the numbers and talk. Facing your fears is HARD!! However, I will defer to your wisdom in this instance and remove my phone number from the 1st e-mail. I don't want to explain what I'm proposing over the phone 20 times a week. Still, I have had nearly zero contact with sellers beyond the 2nd e-mail. Should the verbiage be tweeked to fit today's market conditions?

Michael, they're calling after the FIRST e-mail. What I'm finding is that a lot of them believe that I personally want to lease/purchase their home. I may have to revert that first e-mail back to the original format (no phone number). It's just very exciting to have such a response rate. And the Packers...I guess we'll see if Sunday was a fluke when they face our hated rivals (da Bears) tomorrow night.

Upon reading the advice of one of the many wise sages on TNI, I added my full name and telephone number to my first e-mails to FSBO/FRBOs on craigslist (a la MC's 2-email method). Much to my surprise (yeah, I'm a little thick), people started calling! A lot of people, in fact! Over 20 calls in the first 2 days. I had to shut down my automated e-mail script today just so I can catch up with the backlog of voicemails. My question is this: Should I even be calling these folks back? Of the 3 I've spoken to tonight, 1 is selling a mobile home for $8k, one has a hunting cabin up in the Upper Michigan hinterlands and the other rushed me off the phone when I admitted I don't have any buyers lined up for the area where her home is. I also feel like I'm doing something horribly wrong on the phone. In talking to all 3 sellers, I gave them the spiel about how I find sellers interested in lease/purchase and pair them up with buyers wishing to improve their credit and build equity at the same time. I'm pretty sure I have the $8k guy sold on a pure option (the profit potential is staggering on this deal...LOL) for $4k, but I think I need to smooth out my spiel before I turn of any more sellers (like little Miss #3 above). Suggestions? Thanks for reading my rant. We now return you to NFL football season. Go Pack (stop losing, knuckleheads!) Go!