Ramping Up

I had a very busy three days (Friday-Sunday) in regards to REI, and today should be no different ...

Bandit Signs
Even though I got a warning from the city code officer about my signs a couple of weeks ago, I decided to put them out once again. I have a feeling the city called me because I hung the signs on telephone poles and left them up through the week. This time, I decided to go back to putting the signs on stakes only, and pick them up on Sunday evening.

The good news is I put out 15 signs. The bad news is two-fold ... First, I didn't get a single call - not ONE. Second, when I went out Sunday to pick the signs up, I understood why. Of the 15 I put out, only 5 were left standing. However, those 5 were in good spots, so I'm a little unsure as to why I didn't get any calls. We'll see if I get any the next couple of days from people who may have written my number down, but didn't have a chance to call yet.

Lenders
After procrastinating for too long, I finally decided to start calling some local banks. I managed to call two on Friday after I got home, and both calls went very well. I talked to the head of lending at both branches, and told them who I was, what my intentions were, and what they could do for me. It was around 4:00-4:30pm when I called them, and both said they probably wouldn't have an answer until Monday. Interestingly, one of the people I talked to used to work at the credit union I bank at (my credit union caters to employees where I work, and he had asked me where I work - that's how we got on the subject). We'll see how these two pan out.

I also contacted another local investor, Martin, about his broker. I still need to call the broker and find out how he can help. As a 4th option, I interviewed a RE broker/agent for my team, and she has access to lenders that can help me.

So all-in-all, I'm hoping one or more of these contacts can get me financed on some future deals. My credit is good, but my debt ratio is kinda high. I just hope it isn't so high I can't get financing.

Interview with RE Broker/Agent
Along with calling lenders, I decided to also start calling some RE agents. While my main focus will still be motivated sellers calling me, I'm finding this single route has reduced my leads to a standstill. I need to have a good RE agent on my side to not only help me with other leads, but to give advice on market conditions, give me comparitive market analysis (CMA's) when I need to solidify comps, and, mainly, to have someone that can submit government-owned offers (ie, HUD) for me. So, I went to the HUD processor for my region (Southwest Alliance), and did a lookup of brokers/agents that are registered with HUD. I found two that were within close proximity of me, and started calling. After talking with the first person on the phone, I decided to interview the person face-to-face to get a good understanding of their personality before committing to them. They were out of town at the time, but we met on Sunday.

My wife went along with me in order to get a feel for the agent as well. One of the reasons this agent stuck out on the list is becuase she is also a broker. Therefore, I figure I may get some reduction in fees later on as our business relationship grows. It's kind of hard to do it with an agent who works for a broker (not impossible, though). My wife and I explained our position, what we expected from an agent, what our intentions were for using an agent, and so on. From the agent's answers, I got a feeling she will be easy to work with. She isn't pushy, demanding, or arrogant, which are definate pluses in my book. And she also has some connections in the uindustry as she and her husband used to be new home builders. The ONLY downside about her was the fact she admitted she never closed on a HUD property before. She said she has submitted HUD offers, but had never actually had any that won. This isn't too big a deal as the toughest part is getting the package sent to HUD in the first place.

She also has an automated system in place and can feed me daily MLS listings that meet my criteria. I still need to email her my criteria, though. She said she would also call some of the lenders she knows to see if any (or all) would want to work with me. My wife and I explained to her that we would be buying properties on a continuous basis, and she said most lenders are positive to repeat business like this, so I shouldn't have any problem in that regard.