bvarbel

I just learned this software can run 24/7. I set it up to check for new ads every 15 minutes. Then when it finds an ad, it emails "email #1." I'm sending out quite a few "email #2's" from this effort. The canned responses on Gmail Labs is a nice improvement. It takes me seconds to send email 2.

I had contracts taken from me from out of state sellers. They agreed to my short offer, and we had good rapport. Then I sent them the contracts to sign, and they didn't answer or return calls. My guess is they figured out they could save the option consideration and do it themselves. Lesson learned.

Do a search for gmail "Canned Responses", it will put a dropdown box in Gmail and you can store your typical responses or emails so you're not even copy/pasting just choosing which response you want filled in. Huge time saver. I set one up for every property as well so I can email potential tenant/buyers detailed information, links to pictures and videos of the property, etc. with one click (I usually will insert their name and if theres any other specific information that they requested... sure beats typing out a whole email though) The "Canned Responses" is a great tip. I just set that up, and its easy to use...much better than the copy paste I was always doing.

Ok, earlier I sent an email just for grins to any qualified ad on Craigslist within 125 miles of Colorado Springs. Within a couple hours, over 60 people responded--and they are still rolling in! Most were polite "no thank you's" but some were "yes, I'm interested, what did you have in mind." I probably sent at least 10+ second emails with attachment for this effort. I'm pretty pleased so far with how it works. Now to figure out how to actually convert leads ;-) I'm using Gmail, and if you copy the second email, its very quick to paste it into a new e-mail and add the attachment. It didn't take me any time at all to go through 60 e-mails, deleting the ones that were nothing, and sending out the second e-mail w/ attachment.

Check out this link: http://www.cubixsolutions.com/ For $30 a year (2 week free trial) you can run automatic searches on craigslist with any variables you want and for any area. For example I might search Colorado Springs (or within 125 miles) for rent with variables like (-apartment, -apartments, -office, -lease, -agent) just to eliminate ads that aren't possibly worth anything. Then you can create an e-mail and send that email from several accounts: Hello, my name is Brian, and I saw your ad on Craigslist. I was wondering if you would be interested in selling your house with a lease purchase? Thank you, Brian. Then you can automatically send the e-mail to every ad in the query every day. I just did a test for most of Colorado. Within 30 minutes I had 10 people asking me for more information, but I'm not sure how to automate the sending of the second e-mail and attachment. This seems really cool. If you try it and learn anything, let me know. I'm sure there are quirks to this, but so far so good. Now I just have to start sending out second e-mails. I imagine I'm going to get some hate mail too...but its par for the course. Brian...

I flag ads all the time, but I also send e-mails reminding agents of their responsibility to fully disclose their status as a licensee in my state. I've never had an apology from them. I've threatened to report them to the DRE. Its a lost cause, but I feel that my job of marketing would be easier if agents would stop pretending to be home owners by just posting their name. Sometimes agents contact me, and when I review the ad and find they didn't disclose...I always let them know. I'm sure they flag my ads and have them removed. On Trulia I had an agent get upset when I asked why they didn't follow their code of full disclosure. She said basically that all things real estate is their right/turf and I should always just assume its a realtor. I am not fond of this mentality.

I'm sorry Dee...I didn't hear anything about not making an account. I know there are some on here that will tell you about all the mysteries of Craigslist. All I can say is as far as creating ads go, I haven't had problems from my own account. I've had other problems from sending too many emails...CL made all my e-mails disappear for a couple days, but I was a "good boy" and they all started working again. Not sure if anyone can totally figure CL out...

I had to submit a phone number when I set up my account a couple months ago. Since then I've used my account to post many ads. I recommend setting up an account. From there you should be able to post, edit, repost, and delete as much as you want. Brian

I iike zillow. You can get a ton of information about a property there and it also links to the county assessor. The rent and selling prices can be fuzzy. If its a cookie cut neighborhood with lots of activity, its easier and more reliable. If its an odd/unique property with few comps, its much less reliable. I wouldn't take zillow's word for it...I think you should always get a couple opinions be it from your own observation of comparables like craigslist or a realtor or an appraisal... Also getting a homeowner's opinion of the rents and sales price and why will give you more information to compare sites like zillow to. I'm in a situation where zillow is off the mark by $70,000 because of another structure on a piece of horse property. I still use zillow to learn things, but I have to go with other opinions including the home seller and a realtor. Because I'm relatively new at this, its not fun making offers where you don't know for sure because the property is unique and you don't have enough supporting data.

Hey Dee, I saw earlier that you were working on a Tehachapi property...you know that is closer to me then you...I can't believe you are reaching into MY turf LOL. Actually, I'm trying to focus on stuff within an hour from me because its over 1,000,000 people and I have some familiarity with the area...I can't help, however, if those home owners are out of state or out of the area. Brian...

Eric, That looks interesting. I think I can create these protected files...I already send docs as PDF so they can't conveniently edit them. When it comes time to sign, however, they need to be able to print (or use a service like docusign). Once they can print, they can copy the file or at least re-type it. Some scanners even have optical character recognition. I wish there was a docusign type service that didn't allow you to print till you agreed to the deal and that signature was emailed back to me. I called a couple of these services and they allow you to print before signing...so anyone could steal your materials and abort the deal. It seems that dealing with out of area folks might be challenging if they chose to be dishonest--but that's true for anything.

Dee, I was forced to release contracts to out of state owners via scanner and e-mail--people who agreed to the short offer. They asked a bunch of questions, and then I never heard from them again. I think they stole the contracts and figured they could do the deal themselves since they were experienced landlords. I hope that doesn't happen to you. Does anyone know how to keep contracts safe when dealing with out of area homeowners?

I sent pilot's comment over to the company and this is what they replied: Hi Brian, The company that reported as installment loans was shut down as what they were doing was wrong and not compliant with FCRA rules. I believe their name was RentReporting.com so I understand the confusion. We do not report as installment loans. We are totally FCRA compliant and report as an "open" ongoing type of account. The landlord shows as the creditor and the amount per month for rent shows as the recurring rent payment on the credit report. Please let me know if you have any additional questions and I am happy to help. Note, I am not endorsing this or any similar company...I just think that the concept sounds interesting and useful if they do what they claim to do.

I hope that's true--good for us!

Its very very hot...like near 110 for several days and oddly humid with some thunderstorm activity...other than that I'm well. Since about the beginning of the month I've noticed an increase in responses to marketing activity...not sure if there is a rhythm and rhyme to this, but I'm hopeful it will translate into something.