All posts by Duncan Wierman

Foreclosure

Using the Post Office to Automate – Faster Easier Marketing more for less!

Many Other investors often ask me what is the best way to do direct mailings, and whom they should use as a service provider.  (This article is geared to those who are not using the provided websites used with our system found at www.Realeflow.com/duncan)

To answer that question, it largely depends on depends on how often you are mailing, how frequently, and to whom. However, when you do larger mass mailings to large groups of people, one of the best, easiest, and most cost-effective methods of direct mail is using the United States Post Office website.  The first time I used it, I was shocked at how simple, easy, and cost-effective it was for direct mailing to a list.

Once you visit the United States Post Office website, you can surf around and view all of their services.  To get directly into the direct mail function, you can visit www.Click2mail.com and register for a username and password.  Once you have done that, it walks you step-by-step through a wizard from the home page.

The first thing you need is your document, which you can either upload or create directly on the website.  I prefer to upload documents that I have already created.  I usually create the document in Microsoft Word or Publisher, and then save it as a PDF file.  From there, I can directly upload the PDF and make any necessary edits to the document directly through the website.

Once I have approved the document, I can then upload my list.  I simply have a list in Microsoft Excel, and it automatically uploads all of the names and addresses.  I can do the whole process in less than fifteen minutes.

Once my list is uploaded, I can select a few more options, and my postcards are printed (two-sided) and mailed within 48 hours!  It’s an amazing tool to use if you like direct mail.  If you’re a real estate investor, you don’t have to just use these for Pre-Foreclosures.  You can also use them for out-of-state owners, vacant properties, or any other types of lists that you can think of.

As I mentioned earlier, the most recent mailing I did was to a large group of Pre-Foreclosure prospects.  Specifically, there were a group of 368 homeowners who were 90 days past due on their mortgage.  That’s right; these homeowners hadn’t even been served with a Notice of Default yet.

I mailed out a 4X6 postcard to each one of them for a total of $111.39.  That included printing and postage, for an average of $0.30 per card, including postage AND printing.  I’ve done a lot of direct mail in my day, and this one is a great deal.

I would encourage you to visit the USPS website www.Click2Mail.com and learn more about their great direct mail service.

**** If you want to find out more about how you can get lists of homeowners who are either 30, 60, 90 or even 120 days late on their mortgage, please contact EZ Data Group Lists. (ask for Dave Hurlbrink to get special pricing for my students.)

Tax Liens

Hot to Get Tax Lien Sale List for Free

I use www.NACO.org to find tax sale property lists online for tax lien and tax deed sales. This only works for counties that have this information online. For counties or states that do not have this information online, you can either call the tax collector and ask how to get the tax sale list or you can buy the tax sale list from a tax sale list provider.

To go to the county’s web site, first go to naco.org and click on the link to find a county. This will bring you to a page with a map of the United States. Click on the state that you are interested in and you’ll be taken to that state’s web page with a list of all of the counties in the state. Find the county that you are interested in and click on that link. You will be taken to the NACO page for that county. Click on the link to the county on the top of the page and you will go to the county’s web site. Note that this will only work if the county has a web site.

Once you’re on the county’s web site, look for a link to the department or county office that is responsible for conducting the tax sale. For most states, this will be the county treasurer or county tax collector. Once you get to the web site of the person or department that conducts the tax sale, look for a link to a list of tax sale properties. For larger counties, you can usually find this online. The exception to this is the counties in the Northeastern states. A lot of the Northeastern states do not have county tax sales. Instead the tax sales are conducted by the municipality, so instead of looking for the county web site, in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, look for the municipal tax collectors web site – not county web site. New York has both county and municipal sales in some counties.

If you can’t find the tax sale list that you want online, you can always buy a list from a tax sale list provider. Even if you can find the tax sale list online for free, you still may want to purchase the list from a tax sale list provider. That’s because the list that you get from the tax collector does not always have the information that you need. Frequently it will only have a parcel ID number, owner name, and amount due. What you want to know is what is the address of the property, what is the assessment and value of the property, what type or class property is it, and how big is the property. All of this (and sometimes even more information) is included in the detailed list that you can get from tax sale list providers.

Lead Generation, List Building

How to get Realtors to send you leads

I have spoken in front of many real estate investor groups over the years. As I talked to  investors I was often asked, “how do you get real estate agents to give you the really good deals?”   Another nuance on this same question is, “why would a real estate agent pass a truly great deal on to you? Wouldn’t they take it for themselves?”

To respond to this question, I must first let you how real estate agents and brokers think. They think in terms of commissions. They are not thinking with the attitude of profit by investing themselves.

Now, there are always exceptions to this rule, but the  majority of real estate agents and brokers that you will find are looking for houses to list or buyers that are looking to buy right now so they can earn a commission from selling a house. They are rarely interested in buying an investment property for themselves and there are more deals than they could take themselves.

So, once we know that, we can focus on helping real estate agents get what they want so that we can get what we want. How do we get them to think of us when they have really great deals? We need to think of them first. Here’s how.

I don’t know how many times I’ve been sitting with some motivated sellers where the offer I was making to them did not quite fit… maybe my price was too low, maybe my terms were too long, maybe I was not offering them enough cash, maybe they thought the house was worth more than what it could be sold for quickly. It really does not matter; here’s how I handle it the overwhelming majority of the time.

Once they express to me that there is something about my offer that will not work for them and after I try to overcome their objection, if they still are not ready to accept my offer I tell them that the next best thing is to have the best real estate agent I know sell their house for them.

And here’s the part where you will have your real estate agent sending you (and only you) all the best deals… I then tell the seller that I’d like to have the best real estate agent I know work up a free sales comps for them and let them know what he could sell their house for. Then, I pick up my cell phone and call my real estate agent. Here’s about what I say (and right in front of the seller)…

Mr. Agent, I am sitting here with Mr. and Mrs. Seller and unfortunately what I can do for them just won’t work for their situation, but I just told them that you are the best agent I know locally that could actually sell their house for them quickly and for the most money. If it is alright with you, would you be kind enough to research what you think you could sell the house for quickly? Would you like to schedule a time to meet with them to show them what you can do?

Then, I pass the phone to the seller so that they can schedule a time to meet.

Do you see the power in doing this? What an amazing referral for both the seller and real estate agent!

And what is great about this for me is that I only get about 1 offer in about 10 accepted, so I am doing this 9 times for every deal I do get under contract.

Would an agent run comps for you if you are referring this many people to him? Yes.

Would an agent send you Christmas gifts if you are referring this many people to him? Yes.

Would an agent send you the best deals he could find if you are referring people to him in this way? Absolutely.

Do you know why? Because if he isn’t you’ll stop and he lose a ton of business. That’s how to get real estate agents to send you all their best deals.

 

 

 

 

 

Hungry Buyers, Selling Fast

Finding Hungry Buyer Basics

The primary responsibility for finding buyers for wholesale properties you have under contract rests with YOU, not someone else. The vast majority of the time, the buyer of a particular investment property is going to be a LOCAL buyer.

Even though we do  market the property nationally, such as submitting it to our large and growing buyer’s list, putting up web sites, etc., it should all be considered secondary to the things you do locally to find a buyer.

Keep in mind that wholesaling is a numbers game. The better a deal is, the higher the likelihood of selling it. Also, the more marketing you do, the more likely it is to sell. However, bear in mind that you’re NOT going to sell every house you put under contract. You might sell 1 out of 3, maybe 1 out of 10, maybe even only 1 out of 20. A lot of it depends on your market conditions, how good the deals you get really are, your personal sales skills, and how much effort you put into it.

Nobody should come into real estate investing, especially wholesaling, with the misconception that this is a business that requires very little effort, and that you can get rich working 30 minutes per week. It simply doesn’t work that way. You really should treat this like a part-time job at the very least, and expect to put in 5 hours per week, and make offers on 100 potential properties per month if you really want to wholesale a house every month or two.

With that said, what do we expect of you in terms of finding buyers for the properties that you find and put under contract? Well, at a minimum, here are the things I think you, the wholesaler, should be doing for each and every property you have under contract:

  1. Put a large, ugly sign in the yard with your phone number or recorded info line (large Magic Marker on yellow coroplast signs work great!)
  2. Put up directional signs leading to the house (arrows pointing to the house from major arterial streets within 1 mile. Can buy these online or at hardware/home improvement stores).
  3. Plaster the house for sale on Craigslist.com in your city, every 48-72 hours.
  4. List the house for sale on Zillow.com. Search for the house, then follow their steps for saying it’s for sale.
  5. Visit your local real estate investor group and pitch the property to them.
  6. Let your local Dream Team members know about the property.
  7. If you have LOCAL web sites where it is popular for people to look for houses for sale, post the property there.
  8. Consider distributing flyer’s door to door in the neighborhood surrounding the house announcing that it is for sale. People know people that are like them, have similar tastes, and might want to live in a similar type of neighborhood as they do. Check local laws about flyer delivery.
  9. Consider putting the house in your local “throw away” paper. Something similar to Thrifty Nickel or Penny Saver. It costs me $9 per week to put a small classified ad in the local American Classifieds around here. Say something to the effect of “highly motivated seller”, “must sell”, “handyman special”, “$20k instant equity” – whatever the situation on the property warrants. These type of headlines get fair response for this type of media.

I’m sure that I’ll think of additional things that everybody should do on this “minimum” list, but this is off the top of my head for right now. Also, keep in mind that everybody that contacts you off your efforts to sell THIS house should go on your own buyer’s list, because even if this house doesn’t fit their needs, a future property might. And, as many marketing gurus have said, the power truly is in the list.

Selling Fast, Tips and Tricks

When is an FHA loan right to use?

Although FHA loans are available to a large percentage of the population, there are certain individuals for whom FHA loans are ideally suited. Created as a branch of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 1934, FHA was an answer to the financial crises affecting millions of Americans as a result of the Great Depression. Today, FHA loans are predominantly for low- to moderate-income borrowers in need of a low risk loan.

What sets the FHA program apart from conventional loans is that there is no minimum credit score required to qualify for a loan. Instead, the following factors are considered:

Reasonable explanation for less-than-perfect credit

  • On time utility payments
  • No bankruptcies in the past 2 years
  • No foreclosures in the past 3 years

These unique criteria make individuals with some credit slip-ups in the past able to realize their dreams of becoming homeowners.

Another thing to consider when deciding if an FHA loan is right for you is the cost of the home you want to buy. Although there is legislation in Congress right now to reform the FHA loan limits, they are much lower than those of conventional loans. Currently, an FHA loan will only cover 48% of the cost a median priced home in a low cost area and 87% in a high cost area. If the reforms are implemented, FHA loans could cover up to 100% of the cost of a median priced home in some areas in the near future.

When deciding if an FHA loan is a right choice, it is also important to consider the ability to make a down payment. Borrowers taking out an FHA loan must put down a payment that is a minimum of 3% or a maximum of 5% of the total loan. If the borrower has the cash reserves to put down more than 5%, than you may want to think about another loan that will allow them to do this. On the other hand, if 3% is too much, there are organizations that can arrange for gift down payments by sellers or other parties. Much like the loan limit issue, the down payment requirement is looking to be updated by the FHA reforms. In the future, borrowers may be able to take out an FHA loan with zero down.

To learn more about if an FHA loan is right for you, check out The Complete Guide to FHA Loans at The Mortgage Loan Place. The guide includes all of the requirements and a checklist to keep track of your progress in obtaining your loan.

Lead Generation

More Tips to find Real Estate Deals Fast

You can make lot of money through real estate investment by honing your skills in searching for the good properties through eccentric sources like public records. You need special skills to master the technique of examining public records. Getting trained for real estate attorney may also help. Below given are the three key areas of public records you could use for real estate investing.

1. The tax evaluator’s office. The records available in tax evaluator’s office give you information about who is paying the taxes on real estate you are interested in. You could also get information on the property whether it is on rent or is owner occupied. Real estate investment property rentals would also have the tax bill going to the particular address. Since it is landlord who would like to receive the tax information and not the tenant, the tax bill is normally mailed to the landlord’s address. Rental investment property will not qualify for homestead exemptions; thus, if there is none, then the property is rental.

Once you have identified the property for real estate investment, you need to check the mailing address for the tax bill and use the exemption column to identify the real estate property owner and his name. After getting the owner’s name and his mailing address, send out your own proposal or deal on your letterhead to the tax bill mailing address. If he is a real motivated seller, the deal would work out in your favor.

2. The record room. A real estate investor would find a helpful trip to the real investment property record room, or recorder’s office in some other states, or the clerk of the court. This is the place of the courthouse where the deeds are finally filed. Check the most recent deed filed for the real estate property you have identified for your investment purposes, and see who holds the title for it. Look at the latest three most recent deeds in the chain of title of the same real estate property to create and establish ownership of a given piece of investment property. The following example would clear the concept. Mr. A sold the property to Mr. B in March 1991. Mr. B sells it to Ms. C in April 1996. Ms. C further sells it to Mr. D in October 1999. You would find Mr. D’s name on the title sheet, establishing him as the existing investment property owner. Note their names and go on to the next destination for final knowledge on the real estate investment property.

3. The probate court. Go to the local county probate court and look into the real estate indices. Find the records concerning the names of the property holders. The court records would have complete addresses for each person, as they must have been given very legal notice of the proceedings for change of title deed on real estate property transfer. Sometimes the tax records may not reflect the latest updated and hence might not reflect the true, present owner. The tax records might reflect an order of the probate court, but the deed might not have been finally filed in the record room. So get the real mailing address by inspecting the probate court estate record. Send your business proposal to the right owner of the real estate property.

Real estate investing could be made very easier if a real estate investor uses unconventional sources to identify properties for buying. However, it is not necessary that one should make every deal based on public records. The use of public records gives you a head start while dealing with any abandoned property, rental property with truant landlords, and few other special types of properties with no known owner.

Sign up for my course and I will show you step by step how to use the records office online to get deals.

Direct Mail, Email Marketing

How to Market to Motivated Sellers and Hungry Buyers

Solid communication is very essentially a key to the door of success in all aspects of your life. It’s accepted that in order to reach as many good clients as possible, every business, large or small requires establishing a well thought out marketing plan. There are as many ways for marketing your products. Just to mention the most general categories are Internet/web, radio/TV, print ads (magazines, newspapers, industry journals, etc), and other direct mail (postcards, flyers, etc). There are few specific techniques and methods, which applies to each of these methods, with different “tweaks” that would be employed for each type of business or any product. Still, there are few basic concepts behind marketing, which always apply, regardless of the company type or marketing method. Take a wise look at these established “do’s and don’ts” list. There are perhaps at least a few tips given below that you could incorporate into your business practice immediately to increase your real estate marketing. Continue reading How to Market to Motivated Sellers and Hungry Buyers →

Tips and Tricks

If you must do bandit signs, here are my tips

I’ve never liked putting up signs—parking the car on the side of a road, dashing across a street without getting run over, trying to find a piece ground with rocks to sink the sign in.  My girlfriend would watch me  do it, and then she worried the entire time I was out there. BUT… at that time, we still believed in putting out signs. Why—because in terms of  marketing dollars spent per call, they the most effective way to advertise your home for sale. ( 40% of people buy houses from a sign they see while driving an area they want to live in)  Almost every investor we know uses at least some signs. (And since putting out signs is a pain—hire someone else to do it!)

There are some tricks to using signs

Hand-lettered is Best

 First of all, you want to distinguish your signs from that of the competition (e.g., every realtor in your city). And the best way to do this is with hand-lettered signs. I’m not kidding—put a hand-lettered sign on a busy street corner and you’ll probably start getting calls before you get back to your home or office. If you’re doing a lot of signs, printing them up with a hand-lettered font works almost as well 

The sign police

Quite a few counties and muncipalities have regulations against putting up signs. And those regs are usually accompanied by scary fines. I’m not recommending you break the law. And in our experience, for sale or for rent signs rarely draw the wrath of the authorities. Actually it’s not the authorities who collar the violators. It’s the self-appointed sign police in your local area. There are just some people who have no better cause than to rid the neighborhood of these terrible defacing signs. They either take action by slashing or spray painting the phone #, or by calling the authorities. If your called by either one of these groups, apologize profusely, find out where the offending sign is, tell them it was put there by mistake and offer to immediately take it down—and then do it. The sign police will be watching. Other Tips You’ll probably also want to know where the best place to put your signs, what they should say, how often to put them up, color, type of stake to use, etc.

Tax Liens

Left Over Tax Liens

I get a lot of questions from people  that want to know how they can purchase tax liens or tax deeds through the mail and internet. They specifically want to know about left over tax liens and tax deeds. These are tax lien certificates or tax deeds that are ‘left-over’ from the tax sale. In other words no one bid at them at the sale and they were struck of to the county, state, or municipality. In most states if the delinquent tax property is not sold at the tax sale, it is struck of to the county or municipality. A few states allow the assignment of tax lien certificates or tax deeds to investors. There are pros and cons to purchasing leftover or assignment liens or deeds from the county.

 

On the positive side, there is no competition; you don’t have to bid against other investors. For liens and redeemable deeds, you may be able to purchase a lien or deed in which the redemption period has already ended, or is close to being over, in which case you may wind up with the property. For some deed states, since the county, state, or municipality has already taken title to the property, you may not have to go through a title clearing process (quiet title or title certification process). You’ll have to check with the county to find this out.

 

On the negative side, leftovers are usually not worth bidding on in the first place and that’s why they were not sold at the sale. In smaller counties, and in states where the tax sales are conducted by the municipality (New Jersey, and the New England states) there is usually nothing worthwhile that is left over. To find leftover tax liens or deeds, you have to go to counties that have very large lists (a few thousand properties) to begin with. And you’ll have to sift through a lot of junk to find good properties.

 

Sometimes you can find a diamond in the leftover tax sale list. I know a couple of tax lien investors in Arizona who do this regularly as well as a couple of tax deed investors (in Texas and Pennsylvania) who have done this. With more and more people becoming interested in tax lien and tax deed investing and going to the auctions, there are less leftovers available than there used to be. My advice is to use extreme caution and be extremely rigorous with your due diligence when purchasing leftover liens or deeds. I also believe that investing long distance in leftover liens or deeds is a mistake if you do not have someone that can physically look at the property for you.