2 0 2 1 A P R I L
MAREI
MID-AMERICA ASSOCIATION OF REAL ESTATE INVESTORS
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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.
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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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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
0 9 | I N S U R A N C E
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!
1 5 |
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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