Posted by HankFL on July 22, 2011 at 15:00:07:
Welcome to Florida wholesaling. I don’t know about farms or mines, but when in Rome…
So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by HankFL
Posted by HankFL on July 21, 2011 at 19:38:55:
Bandit sign content ahead.
The call started of like most others… “Would you tell me about that house in…”. After he confirmed it was my sign, he announced he was a detective and that I would have to answer some questions. I’ve gotten calls from code enforcement over the years but never anything like this. I didn’t know what to do, so I told the truth. These days I’m working for a big wholesaler in FL and I told him what he wanted to know.
I’m using an anonymous phone number on the street signs, so i could have hung up and he would have had to put effort into tracing me, but he is a detective, and a p-ssed of detective might go ahead and spend the time.
I’ll now have to stop my signing in his AOR for a little bit until this cools down. I’ll then start back up again but I’ll be smarter. When this month is over, the public records will show the calls he took concerning ordinance violations, along with the address of the complainer. I’ll then know where not to put signs. I’ll also have to change my number.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by Frank Chin
Posted by Frank Chin on August 07, 2011 at 06:06:38:
I don’t know about your area, but I am in the NYC area, and generally bandit signs pop up in the ghetto neighborhoods, but the more affluent areas are devoid of them. So my guess is war zone LL’s save money on advertising.
Anway, people in my area get after the bandit sign posters for no other reason that it announces to the world “we have just became another war zone neighborhood”, and what do you think it does to our property values??
A few years ago, NYC passed a pretty tough anti-bandit sign ordinance. The fine is “per sign”, $100 or more, and they can come after you.
I had a business, and actually called up the authorities to complain about someone placing bandit signs all over the neighborhood. Unbeknownst to me though, the poster had a business down the block from me.
So he came in one morning ranting and raving that someone dropped the dime on him. And yes, he got called, but he hung up on them. I kept quiet and didn’t tell him I called.
What happned next was a marshall rang his doorbell at 6:00AM one morning serving him with a notice that he owes a $20,000 fine (based on the number of signs found) with an order to remove them all by a certain date, or he would face more fines.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by sarge
Posted by sarge on July 27, 2011 at 16:10:40:
==> The call … … he announced he was a detective
And I could call you and “announce” that I was the Dali friggin’ Lama.
How have you since confirmed his announcement?
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by Jack
Posted by Jack on July 22, 2011 at 10:06:45:
I take and deface illegal “I buy houses” sleaze ball signs because they reflect negatively upon law abiding investors.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by Kevin
Posted by Kevin on July 21, 2011 at 22:01:27:
You shouldn’t be putting up illegal signs. A lot of people have a problem with these.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by HankFL
Posted by HankFL on July 27, 2011 at 19:02:58:
Yeah, his story checked out from several angles. You are right to be skeptical. One gets calls from some pretty freaky and full-of-sh!t people from street signs, but the calls I received from my giant van signs were worse.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by Chris in FL
Posted by Chris in FL on July 24, 2011 at 22:15:31:
Afraid I have to agree with Hank and Stan on this one. Sleaze ball is defacing bandit signs thinking they somehow reflect negatively on law abiding investors. What they do is work, and work well. In my area, code enforcement generally gets the signs pretty fast, but they are still about the most effective advertising money can buy… You just have to do it in small quantities - if you put out a ton of signs, even after they tell you to stop, they will come after you. In small quantities they just remove your signs when they find them.
-Chris in FL
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by HankFL
Posted by HankFL on July 22, 2011 at 10:22:10:
I don’t use those. The signs are to sell.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by HankFL
Posted by HankFL on July 21, 2011 at 22:06:50:
I think you’ve confused this REI site w/Causs.org.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on July 25, 2011 at 12:58:24:
Well, lots of things that aren’t law-abiding “work”. I’m not into
defacing bandit signs…because I have better things to do with my
time and they’re already ugly enough. But how can you say that bandit
signs don’t reflect negatively on RE investors?
They’re called bandit signs because they take advantage of public and
private land, for free, and most often are violations of local codes. How
is being a bandit in this context anything but negative?
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by Jack
Posted by Jack on July 22, 2011 at 12:40:59:
I don’t use those, nor do I think it is right to use those, but I leave those alone. Mainly because they are so pathetic that I get a laugh out of them. So 2005
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by brandon
Posted by brandon on July 21, 2011 at 22:45:31:
So basically you want all your prospective buyers/sellers to know right up front that you have no respect for honest and legal business practices?
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by Chris in FL
Posted by Chris in FL on July 25, 2011 at 13:33:31:
You have your opinion, and I have mine. Poster said that someone else’s bandit signs reflected poorly on law abiding investors. My opinion - many landlords keep shoddy houses and don’t do repairs. Does that reflect poorly on me? Just the opposite. I keep my houses nice and in good repair. When applicants look at them, they say how nice they look, and how they have looked at other places not nearly so nice. Reflection on me: outstanding! Clearly above average! I am a cut above the rest, and it shows!
When someone says investor X does this bad thing or that, it makes it that much easier for me to shine when I explain/prove that I don’t do those things. I just think the person that says they deface bandit signs should stop griping about what others are doing, and worry more about their own business. It only reflects on you if you let it… Anyone I deal with, in any facet of my business, knows quickly that whatever negative image they have of an investor is not true of me - and it reflects positively on me! Some don’t pay contractors well - I do. Some break the law - I don’t. Some take advantage of people - not me. The worse others do, the easier it is to shine just by being decent at what we do.
Best wishes,
Chris in FL
P.S. - I rarely do bandit signs… Small quanitities once in a great while… I have a bunch in my gargage, but largely quit using them when local codes changed. But, I still agree with the investor that says you should look to work with other investors, over the one that says he defaces sleezeball bandit signs.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by Stan - Ga
Posted by Stan - Ga on July 23, 2011 at 14:54:30:
Curious, why are they so pathetic? I have had great success over the last 20 years using signs. To both buy and sell. So, again, tell me, why are they pathetic. If I am doing something wrong, I would love to correct my practices. Go ahead and enlighten me if you can. Or up to it.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by HankFL
Posted by HankFL on July 22, 2011 at 12:43:48:
So wholesaling 15+ properties a month.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by HankFL
Posted by HankFL on July 21, 2011 at 23:10:13:
Nothing sells like street signs (at least where I am).
Tell me, do you strictly follow the speed limits? Do you completely stop and pause at all stop signs? Do you roll out into the intersection before making a turn? Have you always told your realtors you plan on doing a double or simultaneous close? Do you tell the banks holding the mortgage of your sub2 plans? Do you instill a sense of urgency with your buyers by telling them you’re “getting a ton of calls on this house” when they are the first caller? Tell me of your tax stance? Is it at all aggressive? Do you accept tenants that are scamming the government with bogus Social Security disability claims? Have you ever told a potential buyer what the lock box code is on a (ugly) house you haven’t taken title to? When you started out, did you present yourself as something more than what you actually were? Did you ever call on an ad from the competition presenting yourself as a serious buyer when you just want to see what they are up to? I could go on and on …
Please, no naive lectures.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by HankFL
Posted by HankFL on July 23, 2011 at 19:47:10:
What’s pathetic is someone that takes the time and effort to down or defaces the tools of people he should be networking with to do more business.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by Sailor
Posted by Sailor on July 22, 2011 at 19:58:10:
Yes.
Yes.
No.
Yes.
Yes.
No.
My tax deductions are well planned & legal, but I don’t even deduct a home office.
No.
No.
No.
No.
Re: So I recieved a call from a DETECTIVE. - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on July 22, 2011 at 11:23:36:
Really? You give out lock box codes for properties that aren’t yours?
Seriously?
The thing that gets me about these lists of little infractions is how one-
sided they tend to be. It’s good when you’re the one shading the truth,
because “everyone does it” or because “that’s how it’s done” but it isn’t
so great when you are on the receiving end of this kind bs. If a tenant
or potential buyer or contractor did any of those kinds of things to you,
you’d consider it fraud or deceptive. I’ve seen it my competition over
and over. They hate to be lied to or yanked around by a tenant (you
know, like when a tenant presents themselves as more than they
actually are, or takes an “aggressive” stance on their application
documentation). But they never see the correlation to their own
behavior.
I’m assuming you’re clear on this and will be very understanding when
someone gives out the lockbox code or keys for a property you own. 
Call me naive if it means standing by the belief that truth isn’t relative.