Acquisitions – Hat write up
You are responsible for the first and second qualification tier of possible homes to bid on. Your responsibility is to take notes from calls with Realtors to get further information to determine if the home qualifies for use to purchase or not. These homes will not be inspected before being bid on so you act in the place of an inspector and use your great communication skills to get the necessary information and any other photos we can from the Realtor to make the determining decision. Your second responsibility is to create a weekly list of properties to contact using the scraping software. (Scraping is conditional, depending on the state of the housing market, you may not need to scrape every week, one scraped list may provide contacts for more than a week)
Step #1: Go into Scrapestorm and select a website from the list on the right and start a scrape. This is done by right clicking on a Site task on the left hand side and selecting start, make sure “data duplication” is on, then select “no'' when the second pop up asks you to clear all the collected data. After the initial scrape is finished, you will have to value-ize the properties collected from Scrapestorm. The ARV value-izer is a software that can be found in google drive that collects extra data on the property like local information, tax history and past sales to determine how much the property is worth. You value-ize by taking the first column of the excel sheet from the first initial scrape in Scrapestorm, which will give the addresses, then copying them into the value-izer. It is important to note that when putting properties into the value-izer, they must be formatted in one of two ways. The value-izer requires the Street Address, the City, the State and the Zip Code. It will not accept a property unless 1) each section of the address is separated by a comma with no other punctuation being used, or 2) without using any punctuation at all in entering the full address. Other incorrect data in the value-izer would be extra data. If you try to input a property list with extra data like county or MLS number it will generate a sheet, but there will be a significant amount of data missing, which results in an incorrect value of the property.
Example: Correct Format: 600 Cleveland St, Clearwater, Florida, 33756
Correct Format: 600 Cleveland St Clearwater Florida 33756
Incorrect Format: 600 Cleveland St, Clearwater, Florida 33756
Incorrect Format: 600 Cleveland St., Clearwater, Florida, 33756
Incorrect Format: 600 Cleveland St Clearwater, Florida 33756
Step #2: Once the ARV value-izer is finished, it will ask you to generate a new excel spreadsheet by pressing “ click here”. It may automatically generate a sheet in a pop up, be sure on the right of the property list that the “ pop-up results” box is unchecked. Once you have generated the new spreadsheet briefly look it over and make sure that all the columns are filled with data, if not then your properties may be formatted incorrectly. After you have verified your new spreadsheet and made sure that all columns are filled, you will combine the new spreadsheet with the initial spreadsheet from Scrapestorm. This is done simply by copying the new valueizer spreadsheet and pasting it next to the scrapestorm spreadsheet, be sure to include the first row, containing the city and state etc. Be sure to save the new combined spreadsheet into your downloads.
Step #3: Go to the Acquisitions software and select “import”. Select the first CSV file in your downloads. When the spreadsheet opens in the Odoo software, press the test button to check all columns of any errors. If it is clean then click “Import” again and the properties should appear in the “new” drop down under “New Qualified Properties”. If it denies your import, there will be a red X over some of the columns, be sure to not import those columns by selecting the drop down and pressing “ Don’t Import”.
Step #4: Now, in the “New” drop down under “New Qualified property” Choose the first property and click on the first zillow link. This will take you to the property listing website.
Step #5: Quickly look over the photos and any property report information. If you do not find any information about the home or the realtor's contact information, look up the address on google and see if the property is listed on realtor.com, this website usually has the information needed to contact the realtor.
Step #6: Now, you will call the realtor. Be sure you understand what questions you need answered from the Realtor. For example, if you see a note in the listing that says plumbing did not pass the pressure test, see if the Realtor can tell you if there is any ripped, damaged or missing plumbing. You should know that in our past experience Realtors are defensive and will tell you that they are not inspectors and can not provide you with more data. It is your duty to work around this and get what you can out of them even if you need to use more general or observational questions. Make sure to sound kind and not imposing or bossy and that you get answers. For example if you ask a Realtor if there are roof issues and they say that they are not roofers then you can ask them if there are any obvious areas of damage and if they still wont answer this you can ask them if there are holes in the ceiling or if there is obvious water flowing into the house from the roof/ceiling etc. If for some reason they still won’t answer then you can ask them if there is actively water on the floors inside the house, etc. You get the idea? Go from specific to broad to at least get more information than what you started with and again make sure to be kind and happy in your communication so that they actually answer and not just blow you off. Repeat this action for all the links that you see. Something to be sure of when calling the realtors, be sure to get as much information on the roof, the foundation, the electric, and the plumbing, if any of these are in bad condition, the home is not acceptable.
Step # 7: Start by saying your name and that you are a cash buyer. You don’t need to mention E&H at this time unless specifically asked about it.
Step # 8: Ask them if the property is owned by a bank or a person and then follow your phone script to the end.
Step # 9: Now qualify the home as either
Bad Condition
Bad Other
Too Expensive
Needs Qual Approval
If the property falls under “Needs Qual Approval” be sure to hangouts or email the VP Qual that there is a property approval request to Qual. Prior to sending the property for Qual approval ensure all possible information is entered into the property in the Acq software. Such as verification method, offer amount, update pricing variables, and upload any inspections/forms. These will be used to evaluate whether it will be passed by qual. and not including this information will cause significant delays and wasted time. Ensure the Realtor name and email is entered correctly in Matrix.
Step #10: After the property has been sent to Qual, it will either be approved or disapproved by the VP Qual. If it is disapproved then look at the VP Qual notes and correct what has been noted by the VP Qual. If it is Approved, be sure to let the Acquisitions manager that the home is ready to be bid on.
Step #11: Now that the home has been bid on by and won by the acquisitions manager, we have to get the home inspected. A home may not be purchased unless it has been inspected within the 10 day inspection window. This is usually done two ways. First is by using our “Homes Purchasing Map”. In the Home Purchasing Map, on the left side there will be an option for “Handy Humans” . Simply find a vendor in the area of the property that needs inspecting, and call asking if they're willing to do an inspection on our behalf. We will pay no more than $50 for their services. The second way we get inspections is through Facebook, please see the Instant Hat Inspections IC (in Google Drive as “Messages for getting Facebook inspections”) to learn how to complete Facebook inspections. To review results be sure to send the vendor our link for inspections and tell them to email any pictures they have taken to your email. After an inspection has been completed log on to Formsite.com and click results and review the report.
Step #12: All photos received via email must be put into our Central Properties Folder. The Central Properties Folder can be found in your files. To create a new file in the CPF, copy the file title “0 MASTER” and paste it into the folder, rename the folder titled “0 MASTER COPY” to the full address of the property. Open the new file for the inspected property and open the inspection filed folder. To import inspection photos into the folder you can simply click and drag the photos from your email into the inspection photos folder.
Step #13: After you have fully reviewed the inspection report be sure to back into the acquisitions software and open the property that has been inspected. In the “acquisitions notes” section note that the photos have been imported into the Central Properties Folder and click the ‘Inspected” button.
Written by,
Angelica Gomez
E&H ESTO
11/2/2020
Revised by,
Acquisitions Assistant
4/27/2021