Benj Lester

Los Angeles Real Estate
Tips, Advice, and random thoughts
Leasing, Acquisitions, Investment Sales & Property Management
IG: @ benjlesterofficial

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

I get these spam texts from flippers/wholesalers (probably a wholesale company) every hour

SOS

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

Appreciation in California is second to none

[think like a real estate appraiser @ThinkAppraiser]

My parents paid $245,000 for their house in LA county in the late 90s

Pretty soon it will be crossing $2 million

They paid their house off many years ago so owning one house in Southern California made them multi millionaires

One house …..

More people should own real estate in California as a hedge for the stock market

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

@DearS_o_n Keep going. Each day is a new day

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

A prospect just signed the lease within 5 minutes of sending it to her. No questions, no concerns. She proceeded to pay the move in fees within 30 minutes of signing the lease.

I’m buying a lotto ticket today to test my luck 😂

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

A couple new lease listings in West Hollywood & Beverly Hills!

525 N Crescent Heights in Weho - 2 bed 2 bath single family home with a huge backyard - asking $5975/month

121 S Canon Dr #203 - 2 bed 2 bath condo in Beverly Hills. Asking $5,250/month

Feel free to reach out for leasing services throughout LA!

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

Putting listing photos in the proper order for the online listing sites is a major skill. It’s all about presentation!

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

Never start a cold call by saying:

“Is this______?”

Instant reject

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

I don’t understand how people can read books while walking on a treadmill

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

Heard one of my biggest competitors just sold their company to a guy thats going full steam ahead with AI leasing

Not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing for me

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

@DearS_o_n Twitter has us thinking 31 is old

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

@DavidPiotrowski @DPrello How do landlords process their own applications without a property management software? Do they just manually type in the applicants info on Experian or something? Do they just use Zelle or Venmo to collect the fees?

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

Something extraordinary just happened

I just received a fully filled out/completed rental application (reference contacts, bank statements, full landlord/employment info, supporting docs, etc)

Very rare instance!

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

@davegordon14 Would be nice

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

Taking some time to reflect before Yom Kippur

A lot went down for me this past year and I am in a much better spot this year than I was last year (thank gd)

Sending blessings to everyone out there!

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

Find ways to stay valuable at the company you work at

Example: let’s say you’re a property manager. Dedicate a few hours a week to try to bring on more PM clients. Or get your license and help out with leasing, etc

Make yourself irreplaceable

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

An underrated skill is looking at random old lease listings on the MLS, and you can tell exactly when the listing is from based on the rent amount and quality of the listing pictures

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

It’s super easy to sniff out “waste of time” prospects for rentals

They call you, have no idea what the address is, no idea what the price is, ask 25 questions, totally all over the place

Not the lead I’m looking for

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

@vendelsystems @FrontierBDesign Best tweet I’ve read today

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

I don’t understand agents who send blind offers without any prior conversation or touring the property

If you receive one of these offers, just know there is a ZERO percent chance the deal crosses the finish line

[Benj Lester @BenjlesterRE]

Lowkey condos are pretty affordable

I just did a BOV for a 1 bed condo in a solid area in Sherman Oaks. The unit is worth about $450k… a 2 bed in that same building sold for about $525k this year.

Not bad to establish home ownership!