Let Me – Man Vs Savage

SCENARIO: I am to be airlifted from my hometown and dropped in the middle of undisclosed hostile territory.

MISSION: Secure at least 1 parcel (aka: a real estate deal), that has a profit of at least $5K for a wholesale investment, or a profit of at least $20K after a large-scale renovation.

EQUIPMENT: From only:

my credit and cash
A PC with an Internet connection J
My knowledge of Real Estate Investment Strategies

TERM: 30 days, or I self-destruct

Strategy: This is exactly what I would do, step by step, if I was presented with the above scenario. Understand: There are 3 key elements that would need to be in place for this to happen.

1) Market – Learn and study the terrain, know where the hills and valleys are, and study/decide the best topography from which to launch my assault.
2) Marketing: Implement an Action Plan in accordance with my SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), which would provide maximum overlapping coverage of my lines of fire. We need to change a plan to pick up the package.
3) Make offers: try to recover a package. If unsuccessful, please try again. Remember: Lives are at stake.

Objective #1: Know the market

To provide an all-out assault, you must study your enemy carefully. Determine when they move and why. You will need to:

– Buy a map of your area at a local gas station/bookstore, or print one from your PC. This will help you as you learn your market and conveniently mark various sections of your map to explore.
– Check to see if the county has a “good” online Tax Assessor site. Well could be defined as one that has images, or possibly one with an exact property value. Please note that the appraised value in many parts of the country is not reasonable. It’s right. MANY county assessors are online and many provide a good zero point for establishing home values. If all homes are selling at 200% of appraised value, multiply by 2. If homes are selling at 75% of appraised value, multiply 0.75 times the appraised value of the home you are appraising.
– Zillow.com: Although the values ​​are often completely off the mark, I can quickly look through photos of houses, view street layouts, and analyze SOLD listings. You may or may not have access to the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, or amenities, but you can at least get a rough idea of ​​what a home might be worth.
– Locate 2 or 3 real estate agents to work with.
– Once neighborhoods and areas that appear to be strategic viewpoints are determined, then it’s time to take a closer look. You’re looking for neighborhoods that are “families who want to live there” areas that are reasonably neat, clean, have well-maintained lawns, but don’t exceed the median price range of the area you’re looking for. In my hometown, a typical bread and butter neighborhood has 2 story, brick ranches and split levels in the $70-$135K range. I don’t do war zones, or areas where “owners” generally don’t want to live. You need to think: is this an area that a first time homebuyer, or family, would consider living in? Is it pretty, well cared for and desirable? Or, is it somewhere someone lives or shops, simply because they are forced (more or less) due to their financial difficulties?

Objective #2 – Marketing Assault
1) Immediately set up a tactical headquarters to conduct your investigation/make phone calls.
2) Set up a website that says “We Buy Houses.” Set up a Google AdWords campaign to target anyone who types in keywords like: “sell my house”, “homebuyers”, “foreclosed”, etc., all centered within a 20 mile radius of the zip code from which I am operating. The AdWords campaign would be similar to this:

We buy houses
Easy money. close quickly
FREE report. Help 1ClickAway
Address of your website

On my site, they get my phone number, email, form submission tools, etc.

I understand, normally I have to talk to around 40 owners for sale to get 1 deal. I also have to bid on 10 Bank REO to get 1 accepted. We’re going to follow the “Shock and Awe” strategy and tackle a lot of important but different angles all at once, as timing is my biggest responsibility on this mission.

3) Have agents put you on a “hot list.” This is an email that is sent to you with property listings. I want to see every new listing, price reduction, or home that has been in 180 days in the areas I’m targeting.

These agents are going to do a lot for you. They will give you comparable sales information. They will show you properties and write your purchase offers. Choosing the “right” properties wisely will save time. If the neighborhood normally supports $115-$122K split-level homes, and a bank foreclosure comes on the market at $105K, I’m not too quick to offer it. Could it be a deal? Yes, you never know what someone will agree to until an offer is made, however I know the odds are less likely that I will get a “deal” on that property. If that same house comes in at $80K, yeah, I’m going to pass or look at it right away. That house may already be a surprising distance away.

4) Find local wholesalers:

Ask Bank REO agents who are the big investment property buyers in the area. Call any ad in the papers (both large and small) that advertises “We Buy Houses.” Know that probably 80% of ads are placed by “investors” who are just starting out and really have no idea what they are doing. Most would not be able to buy a house if necessary. That’s fine. It will sort them quickly. Look at their websites, if any are listed. Call people and find out what inventory they have. You can also have the agents pull all the properties sold in the area that were in the bottom 20% of sales prices. See whose names appear continuously and locate them. You may need to visit the Registrar of Deeds office. These investors buy houses, sell houses, network and make deals.

5) Local Real Estate Investor Groups

See if there is a local REIA online. Check with the investors you contacted in #4. Ask every person you interact with. We are collecting intelligence along the way, which will be used to acquire the package.

6) Order 200 Bandit Signs and saturate the area.

Get the 18″X24″ signs with blue letters. Don’t put your website on them, just your 1-800 phone number. Bandit cartels may make the local bosses unhappy, but hopefully your mission is complete before they send their “special agents” after you. j

7) Call everyone For Sale By Owners and For Rent By Owners.

Call both the ones on the yard signs you saw while driving and the ones on the classified ads.

8) As you drive through the neighborhoods, any house that appears to be unoccupied, put a knocker on the doorknob that says “We Buy Houses” with your phone number.

AAR – After Action Review
At this point, you have the following marketing methods to attract potential customers:

– Internet/website advertising
– Real estate agents working in your corner
– Call FSBO, FRBO
– Vacant houses
– Bandit Signs
– Wholesalers/Investors

Last but not least:

Objective #3 – Make offers

This last objective completes the “3M’s” of Real Estate Investment: Market, Marketing, Make Offers. It doesn’t do you any good to know your real estate market and how to find deals, and then make NO offers at all. Make offers that don’t make you lose money. Make offers that make sense. If they are good deals, you will be able to move the property for a cash profit.

Simply put, if you strategically deploy several different types of drones to search for your target and then start firing missiles, you WILL SURVIVE your mission and successfully return home with a pack.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
happy investment,
Brandon Yeager