In today’s day and age, the chances of reaching the person you want to speak to the first time you call are very slim. It seems that everyone has a receptionist, a secretary, or voicemail that you will have to talk to before you ever get to speak to the person you really want! Being able to leave a professional, informative message, as well as knowing how to set up your voicemail greeting to ensure you get the information you want from a party that calls the first time, will increase your productivity and make your phone calls that much easier.
Archive for November, 2008
21
Nov
Voicemail Ettiquette
As an investor’s real estate holdings grow, more and more tenants will call with maintenance requests. These requests can range from emergencies to frivolous, but will require attention at some point. How should maintenance calls be processed? What about taking calls in so they can be logged and prioritized? Don’t get bogged down, it isn’t as bad as it seems. With a good system in place, managing maintenance tasks can be easy!
There are a lot of programs out there currently that will allow investors to log, track expenses, and run fairly sophisticated reports on maintenance tasks, but in the early stages, it may be possible to get by with a simple spreadsheet. Most spreadsheet software has the ability to add multiple sheets to one file (normally they look like tabs). Prioritize using 4 different sheets, Emergency, General, Cosmetic, and Tenant Caused. Each spreadsheet should have columns for address of property, tenant name, phone number, work requested, and work completed. This allows the quick scheduling of work at a glance, the ability to track when it is completed, and have access to tenant information as necessary. Now, when calls come in, they can logged and prioritized as necessary.
Bird dogging and wholesaling are two activities in real estate that while similar, have one very fundamental difference.
Bird dogging can be seen as a way to get into real estate, without having to put a lot of money down to do so. Bird doggers will investigate a market to find the best deals available, using resources such as foreclosure lists, auction lists, distressed property lists, and the MLS where available. Using a variety of formulas, they will determine what properties would make a good investment based on their current value, cost of repairs, and estimated value after the repairs are completed. They then forward these deals to real estate investors, and are paid. Their pay may be based on the referral to the deal, or at the closing of a deal. Normally they are paid more for “closed” deals than for referrals, but the pay day is usually a few hundred dollars on a closed deal.
18
Nov
Firehouse Chili Recipe
Yesterday, my roommate David and I made some Firehouse Chili, which turned out pretty fantastic. I’m warning you ahead of time, this is a SPICY chili. Plan accordingly. i went through 2 tall glasses of milk while eating my bowls. You’ll want to do this recipe in a crock pot, for that full day simmering spice of death effect.
