Business Cards
My business cards came yesterday and overall I'm fairly happy with them. Actually having them in my hand apparently turned on the "smart switch" in my head and I realized a few things I should have done differently. Instead of putting "Company Manager" I should have put "Wholesaler". Also I should have been consistent with the word "Home" and "House", use one or the other not both. The quality of the cards are ok, nothing spectacular but should do the trick for now.
Demographic Research
Reading the book "Ultimate Marketing Plan" spurred me to do a little research on my local Demographics. I used this site
Morris County Demographics
and i found out that the median age for Hanover and Morris Plains is 40, while for Morristown it is 36. Which makes sense if you know the two areas. Also I found that roughly only 1% of the houses in Hanover and Morris Plains are rentals, while in Morristown it is about 60%. One problem about rentals in Morristown is that they are all Rent Controlled. Not sure if that is a huge hindrance for an investor, but I will find out. If anyone has any input/experience with rent control please let me know.
Local Investor Hunt
I'm trying to locate other Investors who invest in Hanover, Morris Plains, Morristown and any of the surrounding areas. I want to get an idea of how they are doing it. I've posted a message on the forums I frequent and have found some helpful people who invest in Sussex, Essex, Union and Summerset counties. I thank these people for extending their help and support and I will be using there expertise in the future.
Outside of that one Builder i met on my open house tour, I haven't had any luck. So i'm going to post an add on craigslist to see if I can lore some of these people out. Wish me luck.
Till next time...
What is “Inbound Arbitrage” by Rob Swanson?
5 weeks ago
http://sjcostello.blogspot.com/2008/10/random-happenings.html?showComment=1223654760000#c1764513458811630257'> October 10, 2008 at 9:06 AM
Hey Scott! I saw you on the Flipping Homes forum and thought I'd stop by your blog. It strikes me that you started this blog in July and I haven't read about any offers that you've made on properties (forgive me if I'm wrong about this). Go out there and do it! My husband and I are newbies too...we just locked in our first two contracts for REO properties at 55% of after retail value and this weekend will begin calling up folks to get buyers lined up. We only started making offers a month ago and it took 24 offers to get these 2 great deals. There's nothin' to it but to do it, Scott. Don't get hung up on months of preparation and start making some offers. I don't have a lot of cash reserves sitting around either but enough to do $1K earnest deposits once offers are accepted. I hope I'm not coming off the wrong way...I just really wanted to encourage you. You can do it! Start making really lowball offers and watch things happen :-) Banks are desperate to get rid of these REO properties. Best of luck to you and Happy Wholesaling Scott!
Shannon
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
goodfaithinvesting.blogspot.com
http://sjcostello.blogspot.com/2008/10/random-happenings.html?showComment=1223660760000#c5504484575564537124'> October 10, 2008 at 10:46 AM
I appreciate the push Shannon and don't worry you didn't come across any way but caring.
You are right, I haven't made any offers yet. I don't have any excuses outside of that I work slow. I always accomplish my goals, so make no mistake I will be making offers and soon. Actually I'll put a date on that, I'll have made offers by Oct 31st. Hold me to it!
http://sjcostello.blogspot.com/2008/10/random-happenings.html?showComment=1223664120000#c2275589551940258626'> October 10, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Awesome! I've subscribed to your blog now so I'll be looking out for the message saying that you've put those offers out there before the end of the month! Now you can add that goal to your "My goals" on the front of your blog ;-) I'm looking forward to hearing about your successes and sharing ours as well! I have a feeling that your blog won't be titled "Struggling to Get Started" for very long!
Take care and have a wonderful weekend!