BiggerPockets

[b]New to wholesaling REO's. Below I have outlined the process but I have a few questions in between to see if I understand the process correctly. I have a buyer's list and most have all cash. Any responses will be greatly appreciated.

1. Find a deal...I have agents sending me listings, check the Bank sites, and talk to people to screen if they are motiviated.

2. Go with my POF and look at the house. How do I get my investor into the house without cutting myself out of the deal?

How do I get a chance to view the house without the agent there to tell my buyer how much the asking price is?

3. Are there any confidentially contracts [/b]that state my investor can not go behind my back to get the property through my source?

4. I do have a buyer's list as I stated before but, [b]should I make an offer on the house and sign contracts once I have a contract signed by my investor? If not, what should I do?

5. Once the deal is accepted and the contract is signed between me, the bank or REO agent and my investor, [/b]what else should be sign an affadavit? addemun (excuse my spelling error)?

6. Call my lawyer and open up an escrow and have my flash funding source send the money? [b]Or should the investor send the lawyer the money and then I wait until the day before we close to notify my flash funding source to send it? Because it has to be closed the same day.

7. When closing on the same day, I do not want to inform everyone this will be a double closing.[b] Do I have to?

8. When closing on the same day to avoid telling them, [/b]could I schedule the closings hours apart on the same day? Or does the bank or REO agent usually decide the times?

Thanks in advance for all feedback.

You're going to need to find out what your local market is like. Around here, there's no way I would bother showing a REO to someone else until I have a contract. That's because most (90-95%) REO offers don't go anywhere.

If you're going to try this with REOs, you need to find a friendly agent to work with. You'll need that agent to show you properties, and to let you in to show your investors.

You're going to have two separate contracts. One between you and the bank, and a second one between you and your buyer. You'll need the first one accepted before you even bother with the second.

The bank will choose the title company for their transaction. You may have to use a different title company for the second transaction. Be sure to find a title company who's willing to do that.

Well, I do chase REOs. I have one right now I should close on in the next few weeks. And a short sale that looks very promising. But I looked at about 50 houses, and wrote about 25 offers to get to this point. Not at all saying don't chase them. Just saying that it takes work. Like everything about this business.

Hey Mike,

I was thinking of selling it assigning a contract on it twice. Should the investor pull out last minute.

Well I did not mean assign the contract, but I meant set up an agreement with a back up buyer. Basically have them sign something that says just in case the closing falls through and you are interested we can do a deal.

Ryan,

I did not anticipate that. Do you have any suggestions?

Not to discourage a new investor, but this has waste of time for all parties involved written all over it. Let me start by disclosing that I have never wholesaled a property, but I look at several REOs a week and just closed on one a few weeks ago. The first red flag was you said screen seller to see if they are motivated. It is a BANK!!! I would sure hope they are motivated to get the bad paper off their books. Most banks are, but the ones who are not are known in the community and a good agent will tell you to not waste your time until the price is what you want it for. These listings have often been on the market for a year with little to no price reduction.

You NEED an agent to look at REOs if you are not an agent yourself. MOST agents do not like REOs because they are dirty, take a lot more work, sell for less, and have screwed up their retail business. They DO NOT want to show them more then they have to. Your agent will not like you trying to flip on contract on their time. They hold their own open houses on Sundays for their listings and do not want to hang out in a crap hole while you have an open house for investors who are not sure they are going to buy it.

My agent may be a snob, but I go into an REO and I take 10-20 minutes to look around and come up with a number while walking to the car and that is it. REO's are a competitive game. All of my luck has been because of fast reaction. If you see a good deal or a price reduction that puts the property in your ballpark, you need to pull the trigger right away. My market is very competitive for REOs in good areas with good prices. If it is priced right it will have 10 offers over asking price in the first day. This is why I don't think that REO's make for good wholesaling opportunities. Banks do not often give you enough room for a profit on these lower end houses because they only take offers close to asking price. No one is going to pay you for something they could have done themselves. We pay wholesalers to do the hard work for the properties off of the MLS. We pay agents to send us REO listings and show them.

I am sure people are going to disagree with me, but it seems like a bad time to start wholesaling. If you are already established and have the money for marketing and have it down to a science I am sure you can make money in this market. Otherwise, I see you wasting a lot of people's time and making them angry. Get a second job if you can, or stop going out to eat and save money to buy a rental and hold it for a bit. This is hard work, but cant be any more work than trying to flip REO contracts. You also do not have to try to time the market like you do when wholesaling.

Originally posted by Corey Demuth

Putting offers out on REO's is like trying to get your money back from a real estate guru... you make a whole lot of effort but you rarely hear anything back for months; when you finally do, it's not what you want to hear..

Just like everything else in real estate, your experiences may vary. Personally, I have purchased 10 REOs in the past 8 months, so I have a pretty good understanding of the process.

For the 10 REOs I purchased, I put in offers on exactly 28 REO properties (some properties I put multiple offers on). So, in terms of my success rate, it's better than 1 in 3.

There are certainly things you can do to improve your chances of getting an REO under contract. A couple suggestions:

- Go after the properties that have been on the market for more than 6 months. Banks are willing to accept much lower offers on these than those properties that are new on the market;

- If your offer is rejected, resubmit every couple weeks. Many REO asset managers have very short-term memories, and if you catch them on the right day, they may accept the same offer they rejected last week;

- Include as few contingencies as possible in your offer. This includes no financing contingency, no appraisal contingency, and no due diligence contingency;

- Increase up your earnest money deposit. Even a $2000 EM deposit separates you from the rest of the compeition. And if you really want a property, make it even higher (I once offered full-price in earnest money, and my offer was accepted over another offer than was $10K more);

- Build a relationship with the REO listing agents. I have listing agents that will tell my wife (my agent) what the other offers are, what the bank is likely to accept, etc. In addition, we've had a couple agents ask what our highest offer is, and then just beat up the bank to accept it, letting the asset manager know that we're good buyers and we're certain to close the deal.

Just because lots of people are seeing very low success rates with REOs doesn't mean that's how it has to be. Just like with anything else, if you're serious about it, you can figure out ways to make yourself more successful than others.

Btw, I'm sure there are plenty of people who will say that I'm probably just paying too much for the properties, but my average profit on the REOs I've purchased and resold is over $26K each.

B.P. has the very forms you seek.

- Include as few contingencies as possible in your offer. This includes no financing contingency, no appraisal contingency, and no due diligence contingency;

- Increase up your earnest money deposit. Even a $2000 EM deposit separates you from the rest of the compeition. And if you really want a property, make it even higher (I once offered full-price in earnest money, and my offer was accepted over another offer than was $10K more);

- Build a relationship with the REO listing agents. I have listing agents that will tell my wife (my agent) what the other offers are, what the bank is likely to accept, etc. In addition, we've had a couple agents ask what our highest offer is, and then just beat up the bank to accept it, letting the asset manager know that we're good buyers and we're certain to close the deal.

In other words - BE CREDIBLE! That was exactly my point about having a plan if your buyer falls through. If that occurs and you don't close, you will lose all credibility with the bank and the agent. That news will travel fast and you'll be out business (at least with REOs) and as Jon said, you'll be out your earnest money. Furthermore, many banks put a penalty in their contracts if the closing is late. This is typically $100 per day in my area.

Mike