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djbusch

Discouraged!!

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I've discussed various aspects of this particular deal here over the past few weeks. Now I get an e-mail from the sellers telling me (essentially) it's time to fish or cut bait. They want an offer in their hands, like NOW, and they're growing ever more impatient day by day.

 

Normally, a seller this motivated would be a golden opportunity to make some cash, but I'm having problems finding a tenant/buyer. In fact, I haven't heard from even a single promising prospect since I began marketing for them over 3 weeks ago. Of course, I'm working 60 hours a week (so I have no spare time) and my budget is tight (so craigslist is the only marketing outlet I can afford), so there's no way I could carry the property in a SLO situation. The sellers want to make an offer on another property by this weekend, and all I can think is how badly I got creamed holding another SLO home in the past.

 

I don't want to back out on them, but without a single t/b in the pipeline and no cash reserves, do I have any other option?

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David, it's all too easy to become discouraged. You've got to fight that or you'll eventually look back with regrets.

I've always said there are only two reasons why a property doesn't move: either the marketing is insufficient, or the terms aren't in line with the local market. From you description, it appears as if your marketiing is falling short.

Craig's List is fine as a starting point, but other things need to be done. At the very least you need to be placing free and/or inexpensive online ads on other sites, too. Backpage, Ebay classifieds, and other local sites.

Does the property have a sign on it? Have you utilized bandit signs in and around the area?

As for the homeowner, how soon were they expecting a deal from you? Three weeks is not a long time, at all, unless they are giving away a palace. Are they? If you don't work out for them, what's their Plan B?

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Hi David,

Are you placing versions of the ad every other day and also placing them in surrounding large areas where buyers might come from. This isn't meant to be anything other than trying to understand what you're doing.

 

I am just now marketing my first prop. yikes.

 

I think the thing I've learned over the years is to have a few (or more) deals on the table at once so I don't get overly attached to one succeeding. Of course we want to sell each one but sometimes the way the deal is it just doesn't move right away.

 

I'm a bit of an rebel and if some one gets pissy with me I can go to the dark side-----like "Oh you want an offer RIGHT now? So you can go buy another?? And this is MY prob??" Whew sorry I really can get a bit twisted when people get pushy when I'm workin to help solve a prob.

 

Hey Pros, If I'm out of line here, straighten me out.

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Daivid-

Online you can also use Postlets. Puts your ad with pics on a bunch of sites including Zillow. And I get some calls off Zillow.

 

Also, signs, signs, signs for the local traffic. Put a directional on a busy street with an arrow.

Flyers at apartment buildings and grocery stores.

Advertise the "Rent Credits!" as if it is a great deal.

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Also, signs, signs, signs for the local traffic. Put a directional on a busy street with an arrow.

Flyers at apartment buildings and grocery stores.

Advertise the "Rent Credits!" as if it is a great deal.

 

Steve, that sounds like great advice, and if I could afford signs right now, I'd do that immediately...but I can't. It's the age-old dilemma - I need to sell the deal to make money, but I need money to sell the deal.

 

I may just tell these folks I can't help them at this point and keep marketing for buyers while working on finding new sellers. Eventually I'll get everything pulled together and knock one out of the park. :)

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Hi David,

Are you placing versions of the ad every other day and also placing them in surrounding large areas where buyers might come from. This isn't meant to be anything other than trying to understand what you're doing.

 

Dee, there really aren't any "large" areas in my part of Wisconsin. I live in the largest market north of Milwaukee already. I'm renewing and reposting and reworking my ads daily, but so far I've managed to pull only spambots out of the ether. And none of the spambots are following up. LOL

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Can you afford to print out some flyers and post them in laundromat's and anywhere they have bulletin boards (grocery, gas stations, restaurants, hardware stores, break-rooms in businesses)? Even something printed on a home printer would do.

 

You can also print some out and hand deliver yourself. Maybe one side "I sell" and the other side "I buy", that way you aren't wasting a flyer, because you could get a homeowner (might need to sell) or renter (might want to buy).

 

Sometimes it is easy to forget that there were and still are effective ways to market besides the internet. I think too much focus is being put on just internet marketing.

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Now David I know you are a free-market-capitalist, and you know how screwed everything is at the moment. In my market people are just standing around with deer eyes thinking some Politian is going to save them and make everything better. You and I both know that is bullshit. With any business today you have to literally work three times as hard to get half the results that we did a few years ago, if you’re lucky. I am not sure if you are working a job now, but you can get a piece of “card board” and write Rent-To-Own with your number and place them around for not cost but a marking pen. Just tell the seller it makes potential tenant/buyers think they don’t have to deal with a corporate real estate agent and believe it or not these crapy signs can bring in more calls.

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Now David I know you are a free-market-capitalist, and you know how screwed everything is at the moment. In my market people are just standing around with deer eyes thinking some Politian is going to save them and make everything better. You and I both know that is bullshit. With any business today you have to literally work three times as hard to get half the results that we did a few years ago, if you’re lucky. I am not sure if you are working a job now, but you can get a piece of “card board” and write Rent-To-Own with your number and place them around for not cost but a marking pen. Just tell the seller it makes potential tenant/buyers think they don’t have to deal with a corporate real estate agent and believe it or not these crapy signs can bring in more calls.

 

LOL! I love the ingenuity of that approach! Yes, I work a J.O.B., around 60 hours per week just to keep the lights on and my Chihuahua fed...

 

I realize it's harder to make a buck today than it was, say, prior to November 2008, but I'll keep on. Hopefully sometime around November of this year, it will get a tad easier.

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Now David I know you are a free-market-capitalist, and you know how screwed everything is at the moment. In my market people are just standing around with deer eyes thinking some Politian is going to save them and make everything better. You and I both know that is bullshit. With any business today you have to literally work three times as hard to get half the results that we did a few years ago, if you’re lucky. I am not sure if you are working a job now, but you can get a piece of “card board” and write Rent-To-Own with your number and place them around for not cost but a marking pen. Just tell the seller it makes potential tenant/buyers think they don’t have to deal with a corporate real estate agent and believe it or not these crapy signs can bring in more calls.

 

LOL! I love the ingenuity of that approach! Yes, I work a J.O.B., around 60 hours per week just to keep the lights on and my Chihuahua fed... I have a Chihuahua too! And she can EAT!! :lol:

 

I realize it's harder to make a buck today than it was, say, prior to November 2008, but I'll keep on. Hopefully sometime around November of this year, it will get a tad easier.

Why do you think it will get easier after November? You think people might exhale and start to make decisions about what they are REALLY going to do about their r.e. challenges? Maybe. I definitely hold no optimism as far as any administration doing anything to help----well----much of anything.

 

Even if a politician did something right it would still take a year or more to start to have a "good" effect. Just my jaded view. Remember, I'm making my money in crei so I can move to Costa Rica and live a lovely life as an expat.

Whoa, got off topic there.

 

David, I'm about 20 yrs older than you and all I can say from my perspective is I wish I would have found a way in crei when I was you age (actually younger---when I first had the idea). Lately I am wondering if there really are any deals to be had on CL but I'm going to keep pressing forward and I won't give up.

 

I am marketing everywhere and facing the challenge of doing ooa deals. Some days because of my j.o.b. I ask myself if I'm crazy. Well, that's beside the point :lol:. Crazy or not, I tell myself, "Let's DO this!!"

 

Thanks all this is a good thread, very helpful.

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David-

 

I just don't want you to give up on something that works.

 

I have stinker properties at times and slow movers, but I will keep marketing for a tenant/buyer while looking for additional deals. It only takes one t/b to show up at the eleventh hour. Just keep it in the pipe line as long as the seller has the patience. If the seller gives you a hard time see if you can squeeze them for a lower rent payment or lower price to make the deal more attractive.

 

Also try:

-Market on For Rent By Owner sites as well as FSBO. Do not include anything about the option consideration, you can mention that when the phone rings.

 

Although it may take some time for things to turn economically, I think many are just uncertain what to expect down the road and are sitting tight this year to see the outcome of November.

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Have you thought about using a real estate agent? Give them a percentage of what you are making just to get the deal closed.

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Steve, thanks for those thoughts. The thing is for newbies like David and me we haven't a c t u a l l y seen this work---you know, like real life, tangible. So there is always that lil voice that we hear in the background that says, "It might not work". Your words are comforting and encouraging.

 

Chad, this is what I am doing for a house I am marketing that is about 7 hrs away. My job today is to get on the phone and call r.e. offices up North to find a new agent that would like to make $1500 to put up some flyers and a handful of signs.

 

One leetle prob; I don't have the $$ for the signs. I've got to figure that out---I could make some. But IF I had some signs here at my location, would I just package them up and ship them to the agent? What do you do when you are arranging signs and flyers for that for an OOA (Out Of Area) prop?

 

Ding! Idea: Maybe it would be good to post on a couple forums to see if anyone is up in that area that wants to work with me. If anyone is lurking here and wants some $$ let's Do this B)

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Why do you think it will get easier after November? You think people might exhale and start to make decisions about what they are REALLY going to do about their r.e. challenges? Maybe. I definitely hold no optimism as far as any administration doing anything to help----well----much of anything.

 

Not to get too deep into politics, but in November 2008, the economy went into a nosedive. It was suffering before that (a new congressional majority assumed office in 2007), but 2008 was the turning point.

 

Anyway, I'll find a way to market this property. The lady contacted me this morning, all but begging me not to back out of the deal. I'll make it work.

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Are you sure the terms are market friendly? Is the homeowner flexible if they need to be adjusted?

As I said above, if the terms are good then it's a matter of ramping up the marketing and getting the word out and eyeballs on the house.

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