I’m new here and new to land investing. I am getting overwhelmed with the available software I could use to get started. Websites, Google Earth tools, phone services, mailbox services all make sense and I am fine making choices on that when its time. What I struggle with is all the acquisition, CRM, due diligence and direct mail software. With monthly and yearly subscriptions I feel like I want to spend some extra time on this. I guess the best way to ask is this. When you first started in the land business what paid service was worth every penny? Thanks in advance on any responses.
@johnsonsteven77 when I was getting started, most of the current-day software options either didn’t exist or I didn’t know about them.
I had Microsoft Excel (which I ended up using for A LOT of stuff, tracking deals, due diligence, seller financing calculations, my buyers list, etc). Google Earth was also very helpful, although it wasn’t nearly as advanced as it is today (no 3D topo, no parcel lines with parlay, the satellite images were low-res, etc). Click2Mail was the only mailing service I knew of. USLegal was the only legal template website I could find.
All these things can still work, but there are plenty of other options and add-ons available now. Some of them are designed specifically for the land business and many of them will certainly do a better job. You can see a lot of these newer, better options on the Resources page of our site.
Since you’re getting started, one thing to keep in mind is that you don’t need to commit and spend a bunch of money on special software just because it’s there. In fact, it might even be wise to hold out for a bit, just so you can understand first-hand what the biggest time-wasters and friction points are in your business. Once you’ve seen it for yourself, THEN you’ll have the knowledge to prioritize and figure out where your money is best spent.
For example, some people thrive on the phone and they’re happy to talk with every prospect, whereas other people hate it. Depending on how you feel about it, this could determine what type of mail to send out and whether you answer the phone yourself, send them to a voicemail system or send them to a service like PATLive.
Until you’ve bought and sold a few properties, it’s hard to know which things you actually need the most help with, so I wouldn’t feel bad about getting through a few cycles using some very basic tools and spending as little money as possible.
Once you can identify which parts were easiest and which were hardest, then you can decide where you want to dedicate your limited resources.
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@retipsterseth . Thanks for the response Seth. I’ll definitely check out the resources. Since this will be part time for me to start my idea was to work smarter and not harder. Realistically I won’t be able to answer phone calls or email throughout the day or spend long hours scrubbing mail lists. I can see where new investors can get caught up in the latest and greatest software solutions. I’m a sucker for the newest technology but need to be careful here. I also don’t want to be afraid to spend money to make money.
When you begin;
- Google sheets/drive
- Wordpress with Bluehost
- Agentpro247
- Phone Number
- Google Earth (free)
Once more money if flowing,
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@rasubet Thanks for the response. I see there are many ways you could over spend starting out so I’ll probably take everyone’s advice and scale up once deals start happening.
I invested in a startup application called Flowlu and I’ve been very happy with it. It’s a CRM and payment system all in one. I have integrations to my website where people populate my forms and my CRM picks it up and begins managing the opportunity pipeline.
Ring Central is the only real subscription I have after that. Starting was ANNOYING because they ask you to fax specific things through…I rate the starting experience with them a 2/10…just about stopped except I found no competing alternatives.
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@johnsonsteven77 I wholeheartedly agree with what folks have been saying about holding off in the beginning to see what your real needs are. I will say that I have gotten rid of a ton of work using Google Spreadsheets/Excel by using TruVest.io and I haven’t looked back
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Hi there,
Sorry I’m a bit late to the party. I completely hear you on feeling overwhelmed with the available technology today.
If I had any suggestion, I’d start small! I’ve found that whenever I try to go all out when starting something new, I get confused and frustrated with all the available tech and how to use it, and that it ultimately sets me back.
My partner and I used Trello to track our properties, leave notes and communicate what work needs to be done. It’s a nice free tool to get started!
We use to use Click2mail for mailers, fairly user friendly, but now I’ve switched to Rei Conversions mailing system, if you’d like to see, I made a quick video on why it’s awesome.
If you have your website set up already that’s great! That’s all the basics you need to get started, and once you get busier Id recommend Rei Pebble to track your properties, send mailers, etc. I hope that helps!
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