BiggerPockets

Ok, the good news is that I FINALLY got off my lazy, excuse making rear end and went to the courthouse today. The bad news is that since the clerk was not a woman, I was unable to use my God given charm and the guy said he had no clue what i was talking about. Is it not a Notice of default list I'm looking for?

Don't ask for a notice of default list. Ask for all foreclosure filings from Monday to Friday of that week. The banks don't let the courthouse know when someone defaults, but they will when they file a foreclosure suit. I got mine this morning, as I do every monday morning.

First off, if you're gonna wholesale, stay away from foreclosures..that's a whole other ball game..you want to go after vacant and damaged properties if you're gonna pursue wholesale as a strategy..good luck Lenny, b/c it's really tough right now

I'm going after pre-forclosures. Should I be tapping into a different market?

In my opinion, starting out as a wholesaler you should drive your farm areas for vacant properties. Its as cheap as and more effective then working foreclosures (pre or auction foreclosures).

"Driving for Dollars" will also start to give you a pulse on your farm areas. It will give you an even better understanding of those areas and their idiosyncrasies.

In my experience, foreclosures require more time and energy than any other strategy for finding deals and, at least in my area, they just don't bring good results. If I'm lucky I might get one deal a year out of hours of researching 60-100 foreclosures each month, trying to contact homeowners before the sale, and then also bidding at the sale.

20-30 hours per month for one deal a year is not good for a wholesaler. Nonetheless, being a glutton for punishment, I still work the foreclosures, but I would not recommend it as a lucrative strategy to a new wholesaler.

Lenny, If your looking for some real advice on how to whole sale, PM me. This is what we do here in Memphis.

Thanks Ryan!

So my Dad just called and said the property next to him, the couple moved to Scottland and just got foreclosed on. They had almost no equity. So even if I knew prior to their flying out of the States, it wouldn't have been much a deal anyway??? The equity helps determine the profit margin yes?

So now it's been foreclosed by WellsFargo, it's freshly foreclosed.

Mr_Investor is right on. Your only option, SS, is working a short sale which is a whole different beast.

Starting out in wholesaling I would recommend that you NOT go after short sales. They are a whole different strategy that requires a whole separate learning curve. Not to say that they aren't a viable option of finding deals that can be easily incorporated into a wholesale business, but I would recommend getting solid with other strategies first and then working into doing short sales down the road a bit.

Outside of short sales, if it doesn't have equity its a no deal. Equity and Motivation are the two keys to finding a real deal to wholesale.

Ya, they play dumb if you dont use their EXACT terminology. I asked for there 'foreclosure' list and they looked at me like I was talking japanese. Finally I figured out they wanted me to say which I think was 'Recent Lis Pens Judgements'.

My business partner (a woman) was a stay at home mom with 2 year old triplets and a husband who was out of town half the time and she got started in wholesaling with very little money. I think she did over 30 houses her first year and was MAYBE working 20 hours a week.

Now let me say that she is a PITBULL. She is a make-it-happen kind of person, which you really need to be to succeed in this business (man or woman). Your sex, race, religion, family, size of your big toe or anything else has quite a bit less to do with the level of your success than does your ambition level and your discipline.

How long have you been "trying" this? Why don't you already have some hard money lenders? Why have you only made 5 offers? Who cares about your mentor or your kids, or if you're a woman, or any other excuse you can think of?

Why aren't you making it happen anyway?

My partner succeeded because she didn't make excuses about being a woman or a mom with TRIPLETS or no support from her spouse. She succeeded because her excuses didn't stop her. They propelled her. She was going to make it happen because she was a woman and because she had 3 babies to take care of with or without a husband to support her.

I know this sounds harsh, but your biggest obstacle right now is your self. Your attitude, your mindset, your perspective on all this is holding you back, and if you don't make some dramatic changes in YOU then you will NOT succeed in life period, forget about real estate.