Startup Costs

Before spending another dime on this venture, I wanted to get a create a plan on what it is I am wanting to do. I don't want to buy every book, every course, and/or every gizmo on the market today that pertains to REI as I would be broke before even getting started. Here is what I have planned and researched thus far:

Bandit Signs
There are a lot of good sign makers on the internet, however, most of them charge the same price and require shipping costs. The shipping cost alone in most cases is almost a quarter of the overall cost! My father-in-law told me he got his signs locally from Super Cheap Signs. They also have a web site (although, they still charge shipping). Price: I can get 100 signs made for $99.00 + tax, and not have to pay shipping.

Voicemail Service
Everyone I talk to seems to recommend Kall8 for their voicemail service. Price: Their basic toll free service costs only $2.00 to setup, $2.00 per month, and 6.9¢/minute.

Magnetic Car Signs
Super Cheap Signs also makes these signs, too. Again, they are about the same in price as most competitors, but the bonus is they are local. Price: For about $50.00, I can get a nice pair.

Comparable Sales
I signed up with RealQuest's free trial offer. From what I've seen, it looks very nice. My only problem with their system is I have not been able to produce any matching comps. Everytime I enter a subject property, I get back -0- comparable properties. I sent an email to their customer service asking if this was a limitation of the Free Trial offer, or if there were indeed no matches. I have yet to get a response. Kind of deflates my enthusiasm toward their customer service. I've heard about a few other sites, and I may try them also. I just want something that will give me 5-10 comps for every search at a reasonable price. Price: RealQuest charges $3.50 for every comp search (whether or not they charge if no data is returned remains to be seen).

Cell Phone (optional)
I don't really need a cell phone yet, but I have already started investigating which phones and services are the most economical. All of the larger carriers give employees of my company a discount, but I have to really research to determine the best price model for my venture. Price: TBD.

Preforeclosure List (optional)
I have a links to a couple pre-foreclosure mailing lists. I'm not sure how good or reliable they are, but I'll need to do some investigating to find out later (probably after I get a deal or two?). Price: One site has the list for $35.00/month, but its the only price I'cve gotten so far. Not sure if that is good, bad, or average.

Business Cards
I need to get some business cards made. I've already been asked by a couple people if I had any (after giving my sales pitch). This should be a top-3 priority on my list right now. I haven't investigated prices yet.

Postcards (optional)
I will start getting these made when I start marketing to prople in default. Therefore, getting the postcards will coincide with me getting one or more preforeclosure lists. I've heard some people to it themselves, but the ink cost alone must be eating into their profits. I think I'd opt to get a bulk rate at a local ma-n-pa print operation (as opposed to some big name printing company). Price: TBD

Newspaper / Greensheet
I probably won't spend much money on marketing to newspaper and greensheet readers initially. I'll wait until I get a couple or few deals done before spending money on these avenues. Price: TBD

Additional Courses
I want to get some additional courses, so I can avoid any newbie mistakes. I heard Steve Cook and William Tingle both have a couple of excellent courses. I also heard Jeff Beaubien has a good Lease/Option course. Here are the prices currently:

Wholesaling for Quick Cash & Rehabbing for Quick Cash, by S. Cook, $249.00
The "Ultimate" Sub2 Guidebook, by W. Tingle, $227.00
The "Ultimate" Marketing Guidebook, by W. Tingle, $424.00
The Lease Purchase Handbook, by Jeff Beaubien, $147.00

Total: $1,047 + tax

Kind of steep for my blood right now. Maybe if I was signle and didn't have to worry about living on rice and water for a week or two, but I have a family to consider. I figure I'll get Steve Cook's $249 package first, and go from there. All I need to do is get one decent deal under my belt, and I'll buy the whole lot of them. :-)

TOTAL
Initially, I just want to put up bandit signs and have response system in place so sellers can leave a message. Therefore, my initial costs will only be:

Bandit Signs: $99.00 (+ tax)
Voicemail: $4.00 (+ 6.9¢/min)
Total = About $115

If this generates just one deal, then I'll pick up the marketing immediately.