We are a real estate investment startup seeking a cloud-based flowchart solution that is both big picture and granular with 'to do' lists.

I've been investing in residential and commercial real estate for over 10yrs and have learned from a lot of decisions along the way. Certainly depends on the type of property, type of investment, and structure of the transaction. For example the answer would be very different between a SFR and a 200 unit apartment complex. I always start with the macro - what is driving people to rent property in that part of the city. Will the reasons people are renting there continue to support future rentals and future rental increases (jobs, development rules, pricing, etc.) If I like what I see for that city and that part of the city from a macro perspective, I look at the economics of the property itself (price per unit in relation to deferred maintenance, does the NOI pencil out to what I need it to be, is there upside in rents or utility bill backs or appreciation, am I buying at a discount due to deferred maintenance or lease risks, etc.) Then I look at the structure of the deal itself - if I am leading the investment and have LPs, what is the rate of return for everyone involved. What is the holding period, plan to sell vs. 1031 exchange, etc. Some of the areas where there can be difficulty is on deferred maintenance that a seller is unwilling to compensate you for (negotiation techniques are your friend here). Issues with the leases (some might be easy to overcome and others may not be). Financing (will a bank want to own that type of property in that city).

1. Make sure you have a great list. By "great" I mean targeted to the specific demographic and psychographic profile of your market. 2. Make sure you have a great message and offer. 3. If you aren't a skilled copywriter - hire one. Consider your cost of client acquisition (and if you haven't calculated your cost of acquisition - you need to before you do ANY marketing) when deciding on how much you can afford. 4. Split test the mailing so you can find your control. 5. Measure everything. Give me a call if I can help with more on the specifics. And good luck!

I ran a web design agency for 6 years, despite of studying PMBOK for advanced project management (for Engineering projects). I used "Web Redesign, Strategies for Success by Kelly Goto" Courser Link: http://www.lynda.com/Web-Design-tutorials/webredesignstrategiesforsuccess/316-6.html as a basis for building our project management model. 1) Breakdown the project into milestones for your team and for your client example (Finish Wireframes, Confirm on Design Palette and colors, Confirm on Content, Functionality Testing) 2) Include all expected tasks/hours from the beginning, should be increasing with your experience, especially you are focusing on specific platforms, let customer see the different dates in which they are required to provide feedback, even schedule calls with clients on these days 2) Use a robust Project Management tool like BaseCamp, where you can give client direct access to the platform preferably with a Skype/Telephony functionality to schedule calls. If you need any more help designing and deploying your PM system, I would be glad to help.

Go to city hall. There will be a desk for development...what name it is, well, that will change depend on the municipality. Talk to the staff and tell them what you want, and they'll send you to the right place. You want to talk to engineering and development staff and ask them who the best developers are. They will recommend who you should meet, and maybe even introduce you. When you are changing land use designations like this, it is very helpful to be familiar with city staff. The staff are the people who write the reports that go to council. Council depends on those reports for information to help them decide which way to vote. Ideally, you want a developer who is well known at city call, is used to working with staff, and is appreciated for their attitude. Density bonusing can be achieved in exchange for amenities, and if your developer has a history of making these kinds of horse trades with the city, all the better. What you don't want is a partner who gets the staff's backs up, and doesn't know how to get the best bang for their buck out of the development. Six years of city hall experience and in the construction field on my end.

Banking Relationships - For this amount of money in emerging economies, a bank loan (or other form of debt) is your best option. There may be some private equity funds with an eastern european outlook. I may also be able to connect you to some investors, send me a message to tell me more.