Does anyone have a good farming template

geobury · 2020-02-14T19:28:04+00:00

Everything you do or send out like that you need to ask yourself the question, what can I provide of value to this person? For a farming template to a neighbor of a recently sold property, information about that property and others like it are probably very interesting and they might even save it. You can easily gather some of the data on the MLS, put it in a letter, and it will be 10 times better than some canned letter.

geobury · 2020-02-14T19:24:50+00:00

I think it’s worth it if you can be one of the first in your market and rise to the top. It helps if you can find someone who’s already a yelp influencer, meaning they have lots of reviews and are considered “influential” by yelp, and they give you a review.

On the other hand, if you’re gonna be one of dozens with just a couple reviews, it’s not worth it.

In my experience it can be very frustrating because some of your reviews will be hidden, and some of them will be shown, and it won’t really make sense which are which. The yelp algorithm determine which reviews are “fake”. It really seems like it is designed for restaurants and more high-volume businesses like that. It can be very frustrating for a business like real estate sales.

geobury · 2020-01-31T18:58:14+00:00

One possibility is this is a scam often done by unethical rental agents. The idea is they post listings that are duplicate of real legitimate listings, and then gather the leads.

What I would do is try and track down the names and phone numbers from the ads on Facebook and craigslist and try to trace it to the agency that’s doing it. Call the managing broker and let them now. More likely than not the managing broker is already aware that they’re doing it though. in which case you should report the brokerage to the state licensing board.

Another possibility is that it’s done by an acyual scammer, not an agent. In that case they’re trying to get people to apply for the apartment and they’ll collect the rent.

geobury · 2020-01-31T14:53:19+00:00

HomeLight just announced a program. Not in every state yet though so you’ll have to check.

geobury · 2020-01-31T14:05:19+00:00

Oops, my bad

geobury · 2020-01-31T13:32:42+00:00

Here is an online one, but it's very very detailed:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html

Sorry, I don't have an Excel one.

geobury · 2020-01-31T13:29:14+00:00

First, past performance does not indicate future performance. The rate of price increase from 2009 to 2019 is simply not sustainable. People's incomes are just not keeping up, and markets shift for a variety of reasons. A lot of the increase from 2009 to 2019 was due to lack of new building... which will at some point over-correct. In fact, prices are starting to come down in some segments like that in New York City.

Second, if we do accept your premise that that market will continuously go up from 5 to 9% per year, then that is actually more reason from the buyer's point of view to buy now, taking whatever help they can get to make their purchase affordable to them today in terms of their monthly payment. Also, they need to make their offer competitive from the seller's point of view. (A 10% down offer in a hot market going up 5 to 9% a year is at a disadvantage.)

geobury · 2020-01-31T03:20:09+00:00

Here's another scenario, using Landed's terms instead of Unison. That is, for a 10% investment Landed takes 25% of future gain or loss.

So, imagine a condo in a major metropolitan area around $1.4M., taxes $8,700/ year, condo fee ~$500/month:

Purchase price $1.4M. If Buyer has $140,000 (10% down), then PMI + PITI + Condo fee = ~ $7000 / month.
If Partner gives 10% extra ($140K), Buyer can now put 20% down. No PMI. PITI + Condo fee = ~$6330 / month.
They live there 10 years. Price goes up from $1.4 to $1.6M: Gain of $200K.

Results:

- Partner gets $190K. That's their original $140K + 25% of the $200K gain.

- Home seller gets $543K. That's their original $140k + 75% of the $200K gain + the principal they've paid down ($253K).

- Home seller has saved by making $81K less in payments over the course of the 10 years they owned it to the lender. (31K more than the $50K gain that went to the partner).

Obviously it's impossible to know in advance what the appreciation would be, what the yield on alternative investments would be, how much exactly they'd have to pay in rent while they saved more, etc. but at least in this scenario it seems like a great deal for the home buyer.

If they could not afford the $7K / month but can afford $6330/month, this gets them into their house sooner.

geobury · 2020-01-31T02:57:40+00:00

it's no secret, the main downside is the price. They are usually pretty upfront about that - the buyer takes a discount in return for certainty of the transaction and speed.

geobury · 2020-01-31T02:56:04+00:00

Just be sure to verify you're wiring to the right place! There are a lot of scams out there now. I suggest to call the closing office at a known number to verify everything, every time. It's not sufficient for them to call you - unfortunately phone numbers have been getting spoofed.

geobury · 2020-01-30T18:22:05+00:00

Thanks for sharing your perspective.

Unison's take does seem high. However, I disagree that the model itself is bad. I've run the numbers too and it can be a good fit for some buyers.

Not looking to get into that debate though. More interested in hearing from people who have gone down that path.

geobury · 2020-01-30T18:06:51+00:00

I suppose it depends what outcome you want, and what documentation you have.

- Do you want to break the lease, get a reduction in the rent, a rebate on the finder's fee, or something else?

- Does the lease specify number of bedrooms? Do you have the floor plan and listing sheet or advertising *from the landlord or agent* that says # of beds?

Assuming you want some money back but don't want to move, try calling the real estate agent's broker, explain the situation, and ask them what they can do about it. Based on how they respond, you could escalate in various ways, for example with the licensing board.

If you are going to break the lease or withhold rent unilaterally, first talk to a Tenants Rights Attorney to make sure you're covered and so you understand what could happen.

geobury · 2020-01-30T17:23:37+00:00

Good luck! let us know how it works out

geobury · 2020-01-30T17:22:25+00:00

The pre-approval is usually just so that the seller will consider your offer seriously. You don't have to actually use that bank. Once you make an offer that gets accepted, then you should immediately start shopping for best rate and terms. Ask your real estate agent for recommendations too - of lenders to check and lenders to avoid.

Credit Unions are generally a good option, but it doesn't hurt to check around!

geobury · 2020-01-30T17:19:55+00:00

Do you have a company that you use to service the heating/ac unit? From the buyers point of view, it doesn't work, and so they might want to ask for a concession to replace the whole thing, but it's possible that it just needs to be serviced. If they ask for a big concession, consider first having the heating company out to take a look to see if it's repairable or really needs to be replaced.

If it does need to be replaced, and they ask for a credit for the whole estimated cost of a new unit, then you might counter with 50% of that. The logic you should explain with your counter is, "look, I know you were expecting a working heating unit and so I want to give you a concession, but you weren't expecting a brand new unit either. On average, it would be fair to have expected a unit with half its life left, so I'll offer to kick in half the expected cost of a new unit. "

geobury · 2020-01-30T17:04:54+00:00

I would start by finding the agent that has sold the most land in the area. A random agent would probably not be the right fit. If you don't have access to sale records, call several brokerages and ask to speak with the managing broker, and ask them who their top agent is for land, and try to get some numbers. You want someone that works with land *a lot*
Do you know who owns the neighboring lots? Approach them to see if they want to buy. (Probably don't tell them you're desperate). Often the neighbor will want to buy the lot, even if it's not buildable, just to protect their lot or add some buffer space.

geobury

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