Mastamike6

Hey everyone, I wanted to make a post on here offering to help any of you with financing your tenant buyers. I know that it is always a hot topic on here for you guys to find a loan officer that understands the lease option program and how to structure the financing. I own Michael's manual, have been a member of the naked investor site for several years and also went through John's lease option classes training program. Needless to say I understand the ins and outs of the lease option transaction. I recently took on a role as a loan officer and am able to write loans nationwide. If anyone needs help structuring a transaction, financing a client, or has a financing need of their own please get in touch with me. Please either pm me or my lease option business email is Mike@mahousingsolutions.com I look forward to working with you all, thanks!

What I have done in the past is offer the seller a portion of the option fee and explain to them that it is non-refundable and can br treated as a security deposit if the tenant-buyer does not exercise on their option. I then add an addendum to the assignment contract contract stating that in the event the contract is assigned, that original homeowner gets X amount of the Assignment fee paid.

I had a VA overseas copy and paste the addresses off the MLS into an excel spreadsheet. Then I look up the homeowner's name which I paste into the spreadsheet. Use word to do a mail merge and print the labels.

I held off of direct marketing due to a lack of start up funds for a while as well. I was (and still am) consistent on e-mailing all of the Craigslist ads in my area with an approach similar to MC's famous "two-email approach." But in the end I find that you spend so much time e-mailing and following up on leads with unmotivated sellers that it can get frustrating. Can't beat the cost though. I recently rook one of John's online classes and decided to bite the bullet and begin direct mailing. I have to say the response rate varies quite a bit depending on what you mail, but the leads you get back are much better and they are calling YOU versus you chasing them. Changes the game quite a bit when you are talking to them as you already know they are interested. See if you can find a good VA that can follow your detailed instructions and you may find it takes some of the burden off your schedule. Good luck.

When I was using a VA for my E-mail marketing here is what I did to keep track of their progress: 1. Set up a new Gmail account for them to use emailing the ads, making sure that your name appears as the Sender 2. Provide the VA with the e-mail address and password to the account 3. Setup e-mail forwarding from this new e-mail address to your e-mail address that you regularly use 4. Regularly log into this new e-mail to check their progress and see how many e-mails they have sent This will allow you to track their progress, have the responses sent (forwarded) to your regular e-mail, and not have the VA gain access to your regular e-mail. It works best with detailed instructions on the content and ads you want them to hit. Worked well for me for a while, but it was difficult working with someone who doesnt know the market as to what ads you want e-mailed and which ones you don't.

You could also remind them that T/B's take better care of the home because they are working towards buying it and making it their own as opposed to just renting someone else's place. I know John also preaches to have the t/b take out a home warranty to cover any maintenace or repairs to the home while they are leasing. This covers both parties interests in case it gets trashed or something goes wrong and the owner doesn't want to come out of pocket for the expense.

I had agreed to give the homeowner $1300 (equal to one months rent) of a $5000 option fee. I may go back to him and ask for his portion to be held in escrow and credited back to me upon the exercising of the option. A little extra incentive for me and he doesn't give up much to ensure I have skin in the game (even though I don't) Is there as better way to structure this?

I am working with a homeowner now who is agreeing to do a CA but is fearful that I have no incentive to have the tenant-buyer close on the purchase and wants to work in my compensation to the closing of the purchase. I plan on explaining to him that we collect the application information, qualify them, and then present them to the owner for approval before assigning our contract. However, I was thinking of counteroffering to him if I could get a larger piece of the option money. I want to be careful and not accept a commission at closing (I am not a licensed agent), but if i can work a larger payment and work with the tenant-buyer as I would anyway to get it closed then even better. Any suggestions on how I should work this?

What lenders have any of you worked with that have been able to apply our assignment fee as earnest money at closing? I have spoken to to local mortgage brokers that frequent my local REIA meetings and claim to be investor friendly but neither was able to get the assignment fee applied. John- I know you use Viewpoint mortgage, do you have a contact there that I could use? I have a tenant buyer about 7 months in that wants to exercise their option and is able to get qualified, however I have been unable to find someone local that can work with the contracts. I suppose the only downside to using someone out of state is that they can't do FHA correct? Any input is appreciated!

Any updates on how the mailings went Shar and Lynn?

I have had plenty of ads flagged and removed but have not been "ghosted." I have experimented a little bit to see what gets flagged and what does not, mostly you cannot post the same exact ad every so often, use the same property address in the description, etc. Take a read through the rules on the Craigslist site that describe what will be removed: companies that charge ANY fee before seekers can access full property listing details must post in 'apts registration fee'. each ad must be for a specific available unit multiple units in same building for same price can be listed in the same ad please remove ads promptly when unit advertised is taken bait and switch tactics are strictly forbidden include name of company (or broker) you work for, with name, company name, telephone, etc in text form, not as an image use the same email address and phone number consistently use your agency's Internet domain for email if you're at an agency small unobtrusive text link(s) placed near bottom of ad linking to your other ads on craigslist, listing details, or to your company site are ok, as long as full listing details are included in the main body of the ad detail each and every type of fee that could be required, including credit checks, application fees, registration fees, etc if tenant will have to pay more than $250 total for application, credit check, and other fees, post in 'broker fee' if you charge a 'low' or 'negotiable' fee, post in 'broker fee' if you are not a broker or agent, but you represent more than one owner, post in one of the broker categories. paying customers (nyc) can apply for an account and/or contact our billing department at billing@craigslist.org or 800-664-0633 paid ads must be purchased directly from craigslist, no transfer or resale is permitted

I use postlets which posts to zillow ans many other sites automatically for me at no cost. You can choose whether you want it to be listed as for sale/rent when you make the postlet.

Hey Shar, What type of list are you mailing to?

I have found that I get a 3-4 percent response rate on my postcards, which I am generally able to convert about 50 percent of to CA deals. This will vary depending on your postcard or brochure, the list you are mailing to, and the time of year. If you were looking to sign up 10 properties I would suggest at least 1,000 postcards or brochures. What have others found? What type of marketing campaigns do you all have going, have things begun to pick up with the spring weather?

This may seem like a juvenile question but I need some help on putting this deal together. Currently I have a lease option agreement with a homeowner for $298,000 purchase price, $1300/month rent. I was planning on doing a CA on it. I just received an offer requesting to owner finance the house with 10% down and a 5 year balloon payment cashing her out. Buyer is self employed with a successful construction company and has the money to put down, but he has not been in business long enough to qualify for a mortgage. How can I structure this deal with the homeowner and still receive my assignment fee? Pure option? Any feedback would be helpful, thank you!