BiggerPockets

Hello everyone, i live in Chicago and would like to become an investor and start doing short sale deals and wholesaling properties. I wouldnt mind spending few thousands to invest for my education, but i want to learn from a good school or from the right person. what would you recommend when it comes to investment class in chicago or around chicago.

p.s. considering nouveau riche ( only on real estate side and i've heard that the educators are pretty good at what they do )
Thanks in advance.

what is BP stand for and where is the location? how can they teach people for free when there are teachers spend their hours teaching people. Do they do it out of their good willingness? or is there something that requires to do that.
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Oh geez mother of all things DO NOT BUY THE NOUVEAU RICHE COURSE!!!!

Now I will save you the $$$$$ if you want to learn short selling and wholesaling read the forums relating to those niches. But I will start you off the basics of wholesaling:

1.Find buyers
2.Find sellers/properties
3.Negotiate and get property under contract
4.Assign property to buyer
5.Get paid

To evaluate a deal you do the MAO formula which is 70%(or less)of the ARV-Repairs-Your assignment fee=Maximum Allowable Offer and the percentage of the ARV is dependent on the market condition. The worse the condition the less percentage of the ARV would be factored in.

Now here is how to find buyers and sellers:

How to find buyers:

1.Market on online sites like craigslist,backpage,etc. You can use a headline like "Looking for investors who buy below market value" and go from there. Also you can look for those ads that say "We Buy Houses" some might be wholesalers but some are rehabbers just contact them and find out.

2.Drive for dollars. Go to low income neighborhoods and look for vacant properties. Properties with huge yard growth,mail box stuffed with mail,newspapers stacked up like crazy stuff like that. Write down the address and take it to the court house to see where the tax bill is going to. Or you can try your local online court house page and see if you can do that there. Than do a direct marketing campaign to get those owners to come to you.

3.Your local REI club is also a good source of buyers. Start networking with the members there.

4.Social forums like this is also a good place to find buyers.

5.Local newspapers. You can either advertise yourself or check those "We Buy Houses Ads"

6.Bandit signs. I'm not a fan of these but it seems to work for some.

7.Attorneys believe it or not some real estate attorneys have a list of clients that they work for and those clients are investors themselves. Get really chummy with some attorneys and see if they are willing to share their client list with you.

8.Lead generating sites. You can build a lead generating site like I have in my sig to attract buyers.

9.Property managers. Some managers might have a nice size list of landlords that buy rental properties.

10.Contractors,sub contractors are also a good source to find buyers.

There are a few more but those are some of the basics.

How to find sellers:

1.Online ads like craigslist,backpage,etc. You can also go to fsbo sites or frbo sites to see what they offer.

2.Bird dogs. Hire a property locator to help find some deals for you. Especially if you are investing out of town. You would want someone local that knows the area to help bring deals to you. You can pay them some nice change and that will motivate them to bring you more good deals.

3.Lead generating sites

4.Local newspapers both online and offline.

5.Your local REI club. Some members might have too much on their plate and might be willing to let you have the deals they can't handle.

6.Bandit signs

7.Drive around and look for "For Sale By Owner" or "For Rent" signs

And again there a few other techniques but those are also the basics.

On top of all of this read the other forums and soak up the info there.

There I have saved you money. Now go and learn and save your dough for something more important.

LOL, yes i do agree with you on that. BP does pour out many infos and opinions. I can use BP for lot of good reasons, but do having much knowledge in the beginning would help to get a good start to become an investor?
for instance when wholesaling a short sale, you will be only getting a bird dogg fee when you give it to some experienced investors. but if you were taught how to do from a to z, you will keep all the profits and make more money.
just asking bunch of questions from forum and not putting any money in for an ecucation doesnt seem right to me. correct me if im totally wrong or support my thought if it makes sense.
Thanks.

Finding buyers and sellers is the hard part of this process. Doing the transaction is easy, compared to that.

You do need to figure out what works in your area. The best way to do that is to go to REIA meetings and talk to other investors. Check our list.

... or at least read some of the threads on Neuveau Rich before you plunk down tens of thousands of dollars. Just watch out for the N.R. wingmen - they not the steadiest of fliers!!! LOL!