MAREI April Newsletter

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MAREI

MID-AMERICA ASSOCIATION OF REAL ESTATE INVESTORS

This month learn how to start your Short Term Rental Business Even if you have no house and no money with Elizabeth Sickels.

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Kim Tucker REI BlackBook is the platform I use to manage my business.

II only wish I would have switched over sooner. I could have saved countless hours and $1000s on other systems that didn't work or work together. I wonder how much money I wasted and how many deals I lost?

Start your trial today and get immediate access to REI BlackBook plus our two most popular courses absolutely FREE! Visit MAREI.org/REIBBFree to get started TODAY!

what's coming up 13

April 13th, MAREI Monthly Meeting Get the low down on what the real numbers of short term rentals look like with Super Host Elizabeth Sickels Networking at 6, Legal Market Update at 6:30 and Presentation at 7:00pm.

01

May 1, MAREI Workshop with Elizabeth Sickels, Start Your Vacation Rental Business from Zero - Properties or Capital - Virtual 9 to 1.

11

May 11th MAREI Meeting What it takes to Wholesale Houses in Kansas City in Today's Market, featuring a Guest Panel of Local Investors.

Networking at 6, Legal Market Update at 6:30 and Presentation at 7:00pm.

1/2 Day Workshop May 1st 9 am to 1pm

All Above Events are VIRTUAL See MAREI.org/Calendar for more events across the Kansas City Metro from the local landlord groups and events hosted

by MAREI Members.

MAREI Staff Chapter

Executive Director

Kim Tucker: Kim@MAREI.org - 913-815-0111

Newsletter

Staff: Newsletter@MAREI.org - 913-815-0111

PartnerCast Legal

John Wires: JohnWires@gmail.com Julie Anderson-Clark: Julie@MOKSLaw.com Rick Davis: RDavis@LevyCraig.com

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Mission Statement

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Legal Disclaimer

Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors is a trade association dedicated to promoting ethical real estate investing and to protect and promote the best interest of our membership through educational and networking opportunities as well as community, legislative and public relations.

MAREI does not exist to renter and does not give legal, tax, economic or investment advice and disclaims all liability for the actions or inactions taken or not as a result of communications from or to its members, directors, contractors and volunteers. Each individual should consult his/her own counsel, accountant and other advisors as to legal, tax, economic, investment and related matters concerting their business.

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E L I Z A B E T H M A O R A L L C . C O M

S H O R T

T E R M

R E N T A L S

Earn Superhost Status

ARTICLS FROM ELIZABETHMAORALLC.COM

Most Airbnb travelers know that many

Reviews are EVERYTHING when it

requirement important? Guests like to

Airbnb hosts are everyday people

comes to an Airbnb listing. Even if you

feel confident in the fact that they are

listing their own homes for extra

may think that you have provided a 5-

staying with an experienced host. For a

income, either while they are traveling,

star service, it may not reflect a 5-star

vacation rental company, this sounds

or just have an extra space. But there

review. Why? In this day and age,

simple because they most likely host

are professional property management

people’s standards are much higher,

multiple listings. But for others who

companies hosting on Airbnb as their

and people are also less understanding

may only have one listing, take the

primary source of revenue. These

when issues arise – even if they are out

extra steps to make your listing stand

companies, like Elizabeth Maora LLC,

of your control. The good news is that

out with professional pictures and well-

hold Superhost status very dearly.

you do not have to have every guest

thought-out captions.

Why? Well, Superhost listings have

review you and your listing as five stars,

priority in an Airbnb search, which in

only 80%. If you receive a not so great

turn yields more guests, and most

review, take the opportunity to learn

importantly – higher revenue.

from it. These reviews should not be

Superhosts cancel less than 1% of the

Third: <1% Cancellation Rate

ignored because many potential guests

time, not including extenuating

Superhost status is one of the most

will reference the listing reviews before

circumstances. This means 0

prestigious titles that a host can

booking. Don’t beat yourself up if you

cancellations for hosts with fewer than

achieve on Airbnb – but how does one

don’t get that five-star review!

100 reservations in a year. Once a guest

do so? Well, with our two years of experience, we have this down to a

has booked your listing, you have Second: 10+ Stays

science. The following steps are the

committed to hosting them. Canceling on a guest will not only inconvenience

requirements that a host has to meet to

Superhosts have hosted at least ten

them, it will also hinder your Superhost

become an Airbnb Superhost.

stays in the past year or, if they host

title. If an issue arises that isn’t outlined

longer-term reservations, 100 nights

under the extenuating circumstances in

over at least three stays. Why is this

the Airbnb policies, perhaps try

First: 8+ Overall Rating

E L I Z A B E T H M A O R A L L C . C O M

moving the guest to a different listing, if

known for great reviews and attention

your space? Airbnb Plus has a Pinterest

applicable of course.

to detail. An Airbnb representative

page where you can gather ideas from

verifies each home through an in-

EXACTLY what they look for in a

person inspection to ensure quality and

potential Airbnb Plus listing.

Fourth: 90% Response Rate

design. So, what must you do to be Superhosts respond to 90% of new

invited into this prestigious program?

Second: The home has essential

messages within 24 hours. This may be

We’ve outlined the steps below for you!

amenities that will make the guests’

the most challenging and time-

stay that much more enjoyable.

consuming aspects of being a host.

First: The home must have a

You will receive messages and

thoughtful and unique design.

inquiries at all hours of the day. We

Airbnb Plus provides an exhaustive list of the amenities that each room must

highly recommend having the Airbnb

Whether the listing is a private room or

have; all of these items are outlined in

app on your mobile device so that you

an entire home, every Airbnb Plus home

the link we provided above. Here’s our

get a notification as soon as someone

has a one-of-a-kind design and is

inside info on amenities for the main

sends a message. You may receive

equipped with a standard set of

areas.

inquiries where your listing and/or

amenities.

Bedrooms – You must have a high-

services may not meet what the guest is inquiring about, and while it may

We recommend picking a theme for

quality mattress that doesn’t sag or

seem as if it is a waste of your time to

your listing when you are designing

squeak. We believe that this is the most

respond, you must do so. In our two

and furnishing. Do you have a unique

critical part of the bedroom, because

years of experience, the quicker you

piece of artwork, rug, or a feature of the

this is where guests lay their head every

respond, the more likely the guest will

home? If so, capitalize on it! Having a

night. We have a partnership with a

book your listing rather than a

specific theme and a color palette will

local mattress company, and our guests

competitor. Why? That potential guest

unify each space in the home. Not only

rave about our mattresses! It is also

will value your attentiveness, and they

will this make your listing stand out

essential to have high-quality bedding

will have the peace of mind that if they

from the millions of others on Airbnb,

(bed pillows, sheets, and

have any questions during their stay, a

but it may catch the eyes of those at the

duvets/comforters/quilts). The little bit

quick response is only a message

Airbnb Plus program!

more that you spend on these

away.

amenities, the more appreciative your Is your listing by water, or the

guests will be, and that will reflect in

So, what if you meet all of these

mountains, or a bustling city? Bring

your reviews! Your guest also needs a

requirements? Good news! You do not

some of that character in, to create an

place to hang clothes and somewhere

have to fill out an application. Every

experience for your guest. You want

to store belongings.

three months, Airbnb will check if every

your space to tell a story! Do not get this

host has met the requirements above. If

confused with cramming as much as

Bathrooms – Must have functioning

so, then the host will either keep

you can into the listing. If you have a

features: flushable toilet, dedicated

Superhost status or earn it!

mountain home, bring in elements of

sink, hot and cold water, a large mirror,

nature with different textures and

and a working bathtub or shower.

Now that you have all the steps on how

patterns, not just animal heads and

Linens, shampoo and conditioner

to earn Superhost status, the next step

plaid couches.

(separate bottles), and body wash,

is to make it to Airbnb Plus.

Airbnb Plus

What is an Airbnb Plus listing? It is a

hand soap, and toilet paper must also Overall, you want your guests to see

be provided. The less the guest has to

that the furnishings and decor have

go out and purchase, the better! We

been carefully crafted to create a “one-

also offer a hairdryer, toothbrushes,

of-a-kind experience”.

toothpaste, Q-tips, razors, and feminine

listing that has been selected as one of the highest quality homes, with a host

products in each of our vacation rental Don’t know where to start on designing

homes.

0 7 | S H O R T

Kitchen – The heart of the home, and

the most requirements! While only about 10% of our guests use the kitchen, everyone wants a beautiful kitchen space in the home that they are renting. Some of these requirements are dinnerware, drinkware, flatware, cutlery, cookware, a microwave, or a cooktop, refrigerator, a dedicated sink, trash can with trash bags, paper towels, and dish soap. If your refrigerator does not have filtered water, you must provide bottled water.

Airbnb Plus also requires coffee, a coffee maker, and extra filters. We have a partnership with a local Indy coffee roaster that we use for every single one

Whether it comes to the furniture, decor, appliances, or architectural elements, it needs to be free of dirt, dust, hair, or stains. We recommend creating a cleaning checklist for your cleaning team to ensure that expectations are clear.

The home needs to be functional.

Imagine your guest showing up to the home, and the lights don’t work due to dead lightbulbs, or dysfunctioning electronics. Not only will this inconvenience your guest, but it may cost you your five-star review. If there are special features in your home like surround sound Bluetooth speakers, be sure to provide instructions. This will save the guest from having to send a message or call you in the middle of the night.

of our listings. Instead of having a traditional coffee maker, we provide a French press with a hot water kettle.

Remember when we said that you need to provide a unique experience?

This is one way to do so! Most people have never used a French press before, so this elevates their experience. (Be sure to provide instructions on how to operate the French press.)

Some of the other requirements are a working television, WIFI, air conditioning (additional fans if no ceiling fans are installed), a heating system (additional space heaters for drafty or older homes), smoke alarms, and a CO alarm. We take safety very seriously in all of our listings.

If you spend a little time thinking of all the things that you like having when you are on vacation, and implement those in your listing – your guests will appreciate it.

Third: The home is well-maintained.

Your listing needs to be impeccably clean. We cannot stress this enough.

Fourth: Overall, your listing needs to be of high-quality and condition.

T E R M

R E N T A L S

So, you meet all of the requirements and Airbnb sends you a message inviting you to the program, what’s next?

Well now it's time to stop reading and start doing. If you already have your rental set up, start implementing these tips. But if you are not quite set up, be sure to join Elizabeth from ElizabethMaoraLLC.com at MAREI in April.

Get an introduction to Airbnb Investing and the true numbers at the Meeting on April 13th and then find out how to start your own Airbnb Rental Business from scratch, even if you have no house and no capital.

M A R E I . O R G / E V I C T I O N

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R E N T A L

A S S I S T A N C E

RENTAL ASSISTANCE KS HOUSING CORP

MISSOURI HOUSING ERAP

Coming in March- The Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance Program will provide rental assistance to households behind on payments due to COVID. Serving the entire state except for Wichita which will have its own program.

More Info at KSHousingCorp.org

Open Now, the State Assistance for Housing Relief (SAFHR) provides financial support for renters who are struggling due to COVID in the State of Missouri, Information and applications can be found online at MOHousingResources.com/SAFHR

CATHOLIC CHARITIES

KANSAS CITY MISSOURI

Catholic Charities help with basic utility and rent payments; vital prescriptions; and medical supply expenses. Offering many services, start your search by calling 913.433.2100 or go to their website.

The City of KCMO has funding for emergency rental and utilities assistance which is being distributed through existing community agencies. ,

CatholicCharitiesKS.org

KCMO.gov/RentHelp

SAVE INC

VETERANS COMMUNITY PROJECT

Through the Rental Assistance Due to Medical Crisis program, SAVE, Inc. provides assistance to help temporarily pick up the bills for families facing health crises.

VCP's Veterans Outreach Center provides a variety of support services to Veterans in the Kansas City metro-area including Rent and Utility Assistance by appointment.

To learn more call 816.531.8340 SaveIncKC.org

Please call 816.599.6503 VeteransCommunityProject.org

PLUS 211KC.ORG

M A R K

G A N N A W A Y

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M A R K

1 0 | I N S U R A N C E

G A N N A W A Y

Preparing your Rental for Disaster

PROVIDED BY MARK GANNAWA If you have ever visited Texas or

entire year of 2020 in Texas. The first

listened to someone from Texas, it

week after temperatures rose above

doesn’t take long to hear the phrase,

freezing in Texas, they reported over

“Everything is Bigger in Texas!”

29,000 similar claims.

Unfortunately, sometimes it’s not a good thing! The latest being the

So, how does all this Texas woe and

Valentine’s Day Snowstorm of 2021,

gained insight impact you the landlord

which now appears to be the largest

investor? By learning from Texas’

single insurance catastrophe event

mistakes, hopefully you will be

that the State of Texas has ever

prepared when it happens to you. First,

experienced, including Hurricane

make sure you have a plan for such an

Harvey in 2017 which exceeded $125

event. The people in charge of the

billion.

Texas power grid knew this storm was coming and assured the public they

The major cause, bursting water pipes

were ready, obviously they weren’t.

and the resulting damage due to

When purchasing a used building do

record breaking cold for the entire

you ask the inspection company to

state, and a state agency who was ill-

define where all the water lines are

prepared to manage the State’s power

located? How about knowing how to

grid for such an event. Millions of

drain the water lines in your building,

people had no power, no heat, and no

including the water heaters?You need

water for several days. State Farm

to make sure if the building you own

reported they had approximately 75

loses power that the water in the

water claims due to frozen pipes for the

building has been turned off and

drained from its lowest point. That includes opening all faucets including showers and baths. Many of the water losses in Texas were from old uninsulated water lines running through the attic, outside walls or between floors in multi-level buildings.

These are fairly easy steps if the property is vacant, but with tenants it can be difficult and how you work with them to mitigate such losses is NOT my expertise but adding a couple of insurance coverages to ease the stress is something I do know about.

One insurance coverage we highly recommend is “Loss of Rents” coverage on your Landlord Investor policy. Just like it sounds, in the event you have a covered insurance loss, “Loss of Rents” coverage indemnifies you for the loss of rental income up to a specific dollar amount and time limit while the property is being repaired.

M A R K

1 1 | I N S U R A N C E

G A N N A W A Y

gain, read your insurance policy and

Again, read your policy to determine

consult an insurance expert before

discuss this with your agent and make

what the coverage provides. Other

buying or changing your insurance

sure you have this coverage. It is very

steps to mitigate financial losses are to

coverages. Take care and hopefully this

inexpensive and worth the premium.

make sure you have the proper insurance coverages in place for such

If you have rental property, Best

an event. Always read your insurance

Practices requires your tenants to

policy and make sure you know what

provide you the Landlord with a copy

coverage is in place and to be aware of

of their Renter’s Insurance Policy (HO-

any “special” deductibles that may

4), maintain coverage throughout the

apply for such losses. Also, understand

lease of your property, and name your

what the vacant definition means in

company as an

your policy. If the property is vacant,

will help you when winter arrives again Acana offers members of National REIA multiple insurance products specifically designed for Investors and their tenants.Features include no underwriting or inspections, 24/7 desktop & smartphone certificate delivery system, outstanding claims management service, and a very knowledgeable & courteous

where no one is residing in the building

staff to handle your insurance needs.

Additional Insured. We also suggest

being insured, and does not maintain

Learn more by visiting

you have your tenant purchase an

heat, many companies, including

www.nreia.arcanainsurancehub.com.

optional insurance coverage known as

Arcana’s, require the water lines to be

“Additional Living Expense.” While the

turned off and drained.

Mark A. Gannaway, CPCU, is the Chief

covered insurance loss, “Additional

And as always, my General Counsel and

Arcana Insurance Services, an all-lines

Living Expense” will indemnify the

Claims Manager insist I conclude with

tenant certain “living expenses” while

this information provided to you above

they are residing offsite until the

is for informational purposes only,

damage of the building is repaired.

please read your insurance policy and

property is uninhabitable due to a

Executive Officer and Founding Partner of property and casualty managing agency that’s been working with real estate investors since it began in 2005.

C H A R L E S

T A S S E L ,

N A T I O N A L

R E I A

1 3 | A D V O C A C Y

Legislative Update

BY CHARLES TASSEL

Federal Funds

As of this writing over $800 Billion from the C.A.R.E.S. Act has yet to be spent, funds from the bipartisan December Stimulus package have recently arrived in state and municipal coffers as part of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program – with at least a dozen states still not prepared programmatically to even handle those funds.

With the final votes sending the Biden Stimulus plan to the President’s desk, his initial bill for $1.9 Trillion of Covid Relief, has passed along party lines, in part due to over $800 Billion in support (or bailout, depending on your perspective) for states and municipalities. Meanwhile for those seeking to pay rent, extending Unemployment Insurance, Supplemental Unemployment Insurance, and $1,400 direct stimulus checks will be critical.

Emergency Rental Assistance

As mentioned in the preceding section, states and municipalities that previously did not have rental assistance are in the

final stages of preparing for an unexpectedly high volume of funds from the federal government to be passed out, up to $5k per person, to pay rent and utility arrearages. As each state and locality with a population exceeding 200,000 residents, will receive funding, that is a total of 690 different locations AND programs. While there are federal guidelines for the how the funds should be expended each one of the 690 programs can be different in application, qualifications and release of funds. Please do not assume the application for region will be sufficient for another!

On our news site, www.RealEastateInvestingtoday.com there is post about what each state is doing with their programs (as of this writing some states have not made information available). This will be an ongoing and dynamic process. There is also an interactive map on the page with direct links to those states with established programs.

with mortgages can apply as well. While that that may vary by state, it is an option.

FHA Foreclosures

If your business niche is REOs, it’s been quite a dry spell. The FHA has a new extension of its Foreclosure Moratorium (and eviction moratorium from those foreclosures), from the time of this printing until June 30, 2021.Similar to the CDC’s Eviction Moratorium this is expected to be extended until at least September 30, 2021. The growing backlog however, could create enough pressure that a legislative alternative may be created. One solution being bandied about is to allow for a capitalization of the late payments and reset the mortgages. Banks holding mortgages without FHA insurance are free to do as they like…however, if you believe that, you are not paying attention.

Federal Checkbook and the Executive Pen Plans are underway for an Infrastructure

It is also worth noting that the Feds have set up the program so that homeowners

Bill – something that hasn’t happened in almost a decade. With State budget woes continuing to varying degrees the need for

1 4 | A D V O C A C Y (expensive) infrastructure has been growing steadily. Roads, bridges and highway systems have been reaching engineering and age obsolescence and, in some cases, critical need for repair and/or replacement. Republicans and Democrats are working together and with their state counterparts, albeit not publicly, on developing the list of needs and their commensurate costs.

In the meantime, over at the Whitehouse more executive orders have been forthcoming since the Inauguration than in any other Presidential term. The one of most interest to property owners has been the expected extension of the CDC’s Eviction Moratorium. In January, incoming President Joe Biden asked the CDC to extend the Trump-era Moratorium and they did so until March 30th.There has been substantial speculation that a new and different Eviction Moratorium might be in the works, with the Housing Coalition sending a counter letter to offset the 50+ page document authored by low-income housing advocates. The advocate’s extensive document suggested numerous changes with one of the most drastic being a universal declaration that ALL renters were excluded from eviction for non-payment. Late March will likely unveil the next step for the Eviction Moratorium, in part due to the next story.

In the near future, changes in programs are expected at the Treasury, Commerce, HUD and Labor Departments that will have impacts on how business is run, especially for real estate investors leaning on LLC pass-through companies and working with employees and contractors.

Texas Judge strikes Eviction Moratorium

down

Moratorium due to its likeliness to “broaden federal police powers”, especially as they override state authority and local control. This has been appealed to the 5th District Court of Appeals. Due to the timing, and the possibility of a new eviction moratorium, this issue may end up being set aside if a new Executive Order is forthcoming. It is highly unlikely the Administration wants the Supreme Court to rule on the case and would rather let the current moratorium expire and implement a new order which would force (all) the case(s) to restart. Even with the DOJ’s appeal, look for delays and postponement of the current case.

There are several other cases currently pending in different District Courts.

Additionally, there are courts refusing to comply with the CDC edict – 2 counties in Georgia have made headlines and will be an interesting test of the new administration’s approach to the noncompliant, and may become reminiscent of Virginia’s Second Amendment issues a couple years ago.

Additional Bills

States are very active, as are local municipalities, at this time of year. New blood and ideas are moving issues forward, after what has been a hiatus for many legislative bodies during the last year. From Colorado to Maryland, local REIA’s have been active in their Legislatures with no region excluded from the pain. National REIA’s state bill tracking has exploded this year with the 2021-22 legislative session.

The Property Management category alone is tracking over 3,000 bills across the country that could impact rental property management and ownership.

CDC

In late February, U.S. Federal Judge John Barker of the Eastern District of Texas struck down the CDC’s Eviction

While congress is known for initiating bills that are often DOA, the new partisan push may change the dynamic of what has life.

Of the numerous bills being watched, two

in particular stand out. They are: H.R. 1451 - “To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for prohibitions on eviction, and for other purposes.”

H.R. 1594 - “To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to exclude certain evictions and information relating to such evictions from consumer reports, and for other purposes.”

Both of these bills will need to be reviewed and monitored closely as their impact could be very damaging to the viability of the rental markets.

Cyber-Aware

Computer fraud skyrocketed in 2020.

From Phishing scams, hostage-taking malware, to outright hacking of data and private material, Internet fraud has reached epic proportions. Some of this is due in no small part to state-sponsored cyber-terrorism. China, Iran, Russia and North Korea are some of the leading sources of state-sponsored hacking.

However, with the government doling out billions in relief, it is not surprising that many people are finding unexpected letters of acceptance for unemployment insurance or even 1099s winding the way through the snail mail process. Now more than ever, it is critical that your personal and business information is protected and backed up. Check the health of your credit score as well! If you receive a strange letter from a government entity – check on it. If, however they call with threats, especially from Social Security with warrants for your arrest and the suspension of your Social Security number…just hang up. The real department of Social Security will not call you.

After all, your next call will likely be an opportunity to extend the warranty on the car you already sold!

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K C I N V E S T

M A R K E T I N G

Motivated Sellers Part 3- Follow Up

PROVIDED BY KIM TUCKER In part one we took a look at building our lists, in part two we looked at direct mail, and in future parts we will look at other ways to generate the leads. In this, part 3, we are going to take a look at capturing the leads and following up.

When targeting motivated sellers, for the most part the real estate investor is spending time and money to generate a lead. All of that is a total waste if there is system in place to capture the lead, determine where it came from and then follow up.

You are Not The Only Option Out There

When targeting motivated sellers you are going to be using some form of marketing to get a motivated seller to let you know they would potentially sell you their house. Because right now almost every type of seller that is on an easily obtained list is getting letters, texts, voice mails and cold called, if you don’t respond to them almost immediately, they have a bunch of other investors that

have marketed to them that would be happy to take your place at the top of their buyer list.

expectations or who connect with that seller when he or she lowers her expectations will get the deal.

To the seller on a list, they will probably get several if not a whole pile of letters and postcards.All that look very similar. If they have any interest at all, they might go to your website and your competitors to learn more about all of these potential buyers. You will want to capture them, even if they don’t fill out a form. They might also do a little online research and find a few more potential buyers. They might pick 3 or 4 and start calling or filling out forms. And then again, yet another investor might cold call them, or contact them via phone in some way. The investor(s) that connects with them with the right message will get the opportunity to make an offer.

I don’t know how many deals we have lost

If one of those offers works, the house gets sold. If the seller is not quite ready for an investor priced offer, those that continue to follow up and either better their offer terms to meet the seller’s

over the years because my offer didn’t work the first time and some other investor followed up better than I did and ended up buying the house 3 or 4 weeks later for less than what I had offered. Conversely, because of follow up, we have bought houses months and even years later.

Capturing the Lead

This goes with out saying, but answer your phone . . . ok scratch that, it’s not just a phone number, it’s all about technology.

The smart, digital marketer, will have a website or landing page that will capture that motivated seller lead, even if they don’t fill out a form. Using “cookies” and pixels your website will leave a bit of code on their digital device so that when they next go online, their ads will follow

1 6 |

K C I N V E S T

them. You have probably experienced this yourself when you did a bit of research on a product or service online and then everywhere you went on the internet, you saw ads for that product or service. Smart digital marketers in the house buying business will do the same in hopes of having their ad in front of that person when they are finally ready to reach out and ask someone to buy their house.

Most motivated sellers are going to go online and do a bit of research on all the marketing the have coming in. Some, who don’t end up on any list, will also do research as well. And often the digital marketer will steal your leads after you send them a postcard and they go online.

The next two ways you will want to have for capturing leads will be by either phone or some sort of webform online.

around Google Voice and the computer systems around Answering Services just don’t talk to each other very well.

Ideally you will have a dedicated partner, staff or answering service that will answer all calls on the first or second ring. You will have to weigh the options between answering in house with yourself or staff who do a better job of talking to the caller vs making sure each and every call gets answered, which you would have with a call service. But the call service may not be quite as effective as you. Then again, they might be better than you.

Capturing Via Web Form This is where a good website and landing pages come in. There are many different options out there for websites that will provide information about you and your services and prompt the seller to leave their information through a web form.

Capturing via Phone

Starting with a phone, you will want a dedicated phone number that is just for your motivated seller leads. Cell phones, unless just used for the motivated seller are not necessarily the best, because you many not always answer or answer correctly if you have a all calls going to your every day cell phone.

If you are just setting up your marketing system, I would research a good phone provider, that you can forward to your cell, to an office phone, to a call service, or to a dedicated assistant phone, or just answered virtually on the internet. That way you have a number that can be answered by anyone, anywhere.

Google Voice is often a first option for the new investor because it does all of these things and it’s free. The only problem really with a Google Voice Number is that it does not forward very well to an answering service. The computer system

The most cost effective sites that do this out there right now that do that are going to be Carrot, REI BlackBook and Realeflow. Yes, they all look very similar, but they are more cost effective than building one from scratch. Here at MAREI, we have trials and/or discounts for all 3.

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area and call them back as quickly as possible. You never know if they might be contacting a bunch of other people and the first one to call back and connect wins.

If your seller is truly motivated, you will probably be able to connect back with them via phone fairly easily. You can then determine if it’s a good fit, go look at the house, and make an offer. But then so will all your competitors. This is the seller you really want to connect with quickly, the really motivated seller, who wants to sell their house, right now today. They don’t want to play games, they want to sell their house, at any reasonable price. So capturing their information and getting back with them quickly is vital.

First Couple of Months & Long Term

Other sellers are not quite ready to sell.

They may be motivated, but have the luxury of time. They might be working their way through a probate process and want to sell in 3 to 5 months. Or they maybe facing a tax or foreclosure sale in 3 or 4 months. Or they might be buying a new house in a few months. They do their initial research and reach out to you when they have time, but don’t seem to be available when you contact them back.

Follow Up

Now your follow up is going to come in 3 stages: Immediate. First Couple Months.

Long Term.

Immediate Follow Up Unless the seller calls and you happen to be the one answering, the seller is either going to talk to a staff person who initially and collects their information or the seller is going to fill out a form with their information. Then it is up to you to CALL THEM BACK.

You will want to review their information quickly, maybe do a bit of research on the

Or they might have a motivating factor, but because their factor will not force them to sell immediately, they might hold out initially for a better offer, but over time be more willing to consider your lower offer or terms. For these you need a system to follow up, both in the short term, or even in the long term . . . we are talking years.

These follow up systems will contact them in various ways every few day,. then every few weeks for the next few months.

And then every month to a month and a half, until they either sell the house to someone or ask to be removed.

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K C I N V E S T

Mixed Media

What should your follow up system look like? Short messages in several different forms: Phone Calls, Texts, and emails.

You can do this manually by using a spreadsheet or calendar system, but will you do it? The better method is to use something that has a series of sort of generic messages that can be personalized a bit here and there that use all 3 methods of contacts and that can be 100% automated.

Some options for tools that will automate this you could use the contact management and workflow systems in many different sales marketing tools. For those tools built for real estate investors, that come with other tools, you might want to check out Realeflow, REI BlackBook, or potentially Podio. For my money, I have used Realeflow and REI Blackbook and for the same money, Blackbook does so much more. And Podio, while it can be very customized, it is a bit tough to figure out and you have to make it work with so many other tools, so not very cost effective.

Determine Source of Lead

Now this does not always get done and I think that some of the guru’s selling you tools will stress source of lead a bit more than is overly necessary. But knowing in general where a lead comes from can be helpful.

If you are just starting out and only using one way of lead generation, then it’s not all that important. But if you are spending time and money on say bandit signs, driving for dollars, google ads, and direct mail and you get 30 leads in a 30 day period, knowing which marketing is working better would help you decide which marketing to is producing better.

Likewise if you are spending several $1000 a month on google ads, being

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able to determine which one is generating leads and which is not, could save you some green.

he tools to do all three – different pages within my website, different landing pages, and campaign tracking links.

Phone Leads

So there you have it up to now.

There are services out there that will sell you tracking phone numbers. These are phone numbers that are 100% digital that will let you talk via internet, take voice mails and forward to the final destination number where someone can answer the phone. Then you can use one number on your website, one on your bandit signs, and a different number for each of your forms of marketing. Or you could use one number on one google ad and another on the other.

You find your target list that you want to market to. You determine how you want to market to them, one option is direct mail and we will look at other options in coming months. Then when they contact you, you find a way to capture their information either over the phone or on the internet in such a way that you know where how they found you. And never forget the simple act of asking. That was our 3rd question every time a person would call - what is your name, what is your phone number in case we get disconnected and how did you learn about us? Then tell me about your situation.

One service is CallRail that for the most part just does phone. REI Blackbook is another and it comes with a bunch of other tools like websites, landing pages, and campaign links.

Landing Pages

These are pages created specifically for each type of marketing, that through the use of different webforms, you can know where the lead came from. So my main web page is www.kcmoHomeBuyer.com, but I could create specific landing pages like www.ProbateHomeBuyer.com or www.GoogleHomeBuyer.com for different kinds of offline marketing to direct my sellers to. Then based on which landing page they go to and form they fill out, I can know where they came from.

With online marketing I can do the same thing by either creating different landing pages as above, different pages within my website (that have different links) or campaign tracking links so that for each online ad, I have a different link so I can see what online marketing is driving traffic. Carrot is great for different webpages and campaign tracking links and REI Blackbook can provide you with

Always call back as soon as possible and if you can't connect or if you can make a deal, right now today, follow up - for ever until they sell or ask you to stop.

The last thing you want to do in every stage is to test and retest to make sure things are working. This hit home for us just this last month when all of a sudden we totally stopped getting calls. Because we were using tracking phone numbers we were being told we received calls through our call service, but we were not getting any information from our call service, our system was broken.

Then as we were running other marketing we kept getting weird notifications, again because our calls were being tracked and we knew something was wrong somewhere, we went all the way back through the system and found a nissue.

So test everything.

Want to learn more about follow up?

Check out www.MAREI.org/15x3.

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