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

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'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).

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.

2 thoughts (as I've invested in and been part if a few real estate development projects). 1 - ask around and try and find friends who know people in the industry and ask for an intro. Don't go in asking for money, ask for advice - it works way better. 2 - search on Clarity for people who live in your city that have real estate experience, call and ask them for advice. The key is to talk to folks who have done it, ask a lot of really good questions - and if you listen carefully and do what they say, they might actually ask to be involved but it does take a couple meetings - so don't blow it by going in for the ask the first time.

Hello. I'm a real estate broker, investor, I've completed hundreds of real estate transactions and author of 5 books on investing. Based on my cumulative experience, I would never encourage investing in a region that an investor is unfamiliar. The common misconception is that real estate is easy when it is in fact a brutal business due to the use of leverage. Any miscalculation in your assumptions, will lead to losses. You have to understand the geography, the political climate, the neighborhood, understand where you are in the economic cycle, interest rates and determine if you are in the path of progress. I strongly suggest investing in your locality.