Today’s interview is about a power couple based in USA who have made a living out of investing in real estate and making a name for themselves. They are enlightening us by giving us tips for investing in real estate and sharing their journey of entrepreneurship. They also share strategies on how they grew their audience online using social media channels effectively. So, let’s dive into the interview:
1. Please give us a brief introduction about yourself
I work in real estate finance and my partner works in software development. We realized that land investing could be a lucrative business and set aside some of our savings to purchase our first few properties. We combined our skill-sets and, from there, we grew.
2. How did you decide to get into real estate investing?
A few years ago, we took the time to explore the United States and visited all 50 states. During our travels, we fell in love with the beauty of the US and decided to start a business helping people acquire a portion of this wonderful land for themselves. We combined our two skill-sets in service of this goal and our company Gokce Capital was born.
3. Would you suggest some ‘important tips to save money’ that can help people in real estate investing?
Avoid using a broker when purchasing real estate to the greatest extent possible.
Also keep in mind that most real estate on the market is over-priced. Sellers are often willing to negotiate the price down if you are able to work with them directly.
If you have trouble setting aside sufficient funding to purchase your first few deals, there are certain companies out there that would be willing to front you money in exchange for a portion of the profits.
4. Please tell us more about the Entrepreneurship journey of Gokce Capital.
We understand that many people find themselves paying property taxes on undeveloped land they cannot put to good use. Our goal is to help them sell their land fast and hassle-free.
We remove the headache of the traditional real estate process by sidestepping brokers and middlemen. We help sellers make a quick profit on land that is bogging them down.
Gokce Capital focuses on buying rural vacant land from those who no longer have a use for it. We buy land with cash and pay all closing costs. What we provide is a quick path to disposing of property that is no longer a benefit to its current owner.
5. What are the different factors that help you in identifying if a specific land purchasing would be a good deal for you?
We developed a proprietary algorithm that looks at public data to determine our offer prices. This data includes the assessed value, market value (county), recent comps, historical comps, access, build-ability, macro and micro economic trends, annual property taxes and local real estate market conditions. Generally speaking, the property must be priced right, accessible and free from wetlands.
6. You are doing something very unique with your company ‘Gokce Capital’ in USA, Please tell us about that.
We provide much needed liquidity to a market that is under-capitalized. Most banks will not provide mortgages for smaller parcels of rural vacant land, which leaves only cash buyers. This can make it very difficult for owners of vacant land to find a buyer when they need to sell. By providing liquidity to the market, we give landowners a way out of unwanted land.
For our buyers, we are a source of affordable land. Because we purchase land at a discount to market and we restrict our overhead, we are able to pass on our savings to our buyers. We keep our prices low enough to be affordable without a mortgage, making it easy to purchase a new vacation spot or campground. In certain instances, we also take on the role of the bank ourselves and offer seller financing for those who want to spread out their payments over a few years.
7. How are you using different social media channels to market your company?
Youtube is one of our favorite platforms, although we are also on Facebook and Twitter. On YouTube, we create a video for each of our properties to ensure that our buyers know the property as well as we do before purchasing, and this had been one of the biggest ways that we generate trust. These videos are also a great way to market properties to buyers who are not local to the area and therefore want as much information as possible in a relatively easy-to-digest manner.
One of the biggest breakthroughs came when we started making YouTube videos on each of our properties. These videos generated a lot of interest and really helped us market to out-of-state buyers. Our second breakthrough was our Free Land Giveaway promotion, which has been a tremendous help in getting our name out there. Through our promotion, we randomly pick one applicant and give them a free property located in the United States.
To apply for the promotion, applicants need to do three things:
Subscribe to our mailing list
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Leave a comment on our Free Land Giveaway video telling us how you found us.
8. If we talk about online marketing, Which social media channels are giving you more success?
YouTube is the medium we are most successful in. YouTube works very well for our industry because we are able to pack a lot of information in one video as well as show images of our properties. However, I’m not sure if our approach to YouTube would work well for people in other industries. We focus on providing information, and less on entertainment, humor or mass appeal. I would say that YouTube can be a great way to build trust and a loyal following if you use it to open a truthful dialogue about your products. Gimmicky videos may generate a lot of clicks, but they may not be what your product users value.
9. You have been so successful, would you like to share any secrets that have helped you in your journey?
Here are our Secrets of Success: Don’t ignore social media. These days, social media is one of the best ways to build a strong base of interested purchasers. We use social media to market our parcels, but we also use it to run promotions that help spread the word about what we do. One of our most successful promotions is our Free Land Giveaway promotion. Our current promotion is ending June 1st, but we will start another one as soon as this one ends.
10. Any advice that you would like to give to our readers?
Block out time for your family and don’t look at emails when you are on vacation. Focus on what is in front of you and don’t let yourself be distracted.
Life isn’t only about work, it’s also about family, health, friends and community. Don’t forget to keep yourself healthy and maintain a strong community and family. Take the time to focus on other aspects of life.
Thank you so much for giving us your precious time! We wish you all the best for your journey ahead!
This post was proofread with Grammarly. If you liked this post, please share it with your friends on Social Media.