BiggerPockets

Alright guys, I've been reading and educating myself every day outside of my 9-5 for the last 8 months. Books, ebooks, websites, the works. I feel like I'm as ready as I can be at this stage and need to get off the sidelines. I'm 23 years old and moving back to the town I grew up in and lived in for 22 years (Knoxville, TN - any of you guys in that market?) to begin this journey.

I'm giving myself one month to get in touch with my contacts (couple realtors, friend in the commercial real estate biz) and build a buyer's list. First, I'm going to attend every REI club meeting I can (there should be 5 in April), looking to speak with potential buyers, attorneys, title company guys, realtors, etc…trying to find the big players. Within this first month, I'm going to spend hours each day cruising my area and looking at listings (paper, craigslist, FSBO signs, for rent signs, etc…) to try to get a feel for home values as well as rental rates. I know the area very well, but not necessarily in the terms that I need to for this business. I should also have access to the MLS login, which will be a great perk.

Toward the end of this first month, I expect to start marketing to sellers (won't go into too much detail here - bandit signs, flyers, business cards, craigslist ads, direct mail, etc…)

I would like to set up 2 simple websites: one for buyers and one for sellers, including e-mail address prompts in order to add to my buyer/seller lists.

I have 2 main concerns. The first is that I feel people are very likely to not take me seriously because of my age. The second is my limited knowledge of different types of contracts and the actual closing (or assigning, in my case) process, as I've never been through it first hand. If anyone could provide a sample contract they use when wholesaling, it'd be greatly appreciated.

What do you all think of my plan? Obviously this is the cliff notes version. I'm looking at this as if I'm starting a business, and want to have all my bases covered early on, but at the same time I don't want procrastination to rear its ugly head and keep me out of the game.

Patrick,

You don't market without a product (cart in front of the horse). Deal, then buyer! Marketing your property is how you build a buyers list. Also, use an established wholesaler who already has a good list and split the profit.

John

I like your plan, and it looks like you are ready to make it happen! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

"I have 2 main concerns"

1. Your age: Who cares!!!! As long as you get out, hustle your butt off, and show people you can make business happen, nobody will care if you are 18 or 80!

2. Limited knowledge: You can only learn so much from a book, and you have already put in a great effort to secure that knowledge. The only way to get wet is to jump in the water. If you get stuck, you have a HUGE team right here at BiggerPockets to help you.

Keep us informed, we are here to help, and look forward to hearing your success stories!!!!!!

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I'm ready to hit the ground running in a week or so, and I'm sure I'll have many questions along the way.

I did have one inquiry after speaking with someone who has experience dealing with wholesalers. He communicated to me that he has seen many times where "savvy" sellers aren't very receptive to wholesalers that don't already have a buyer lined up at the time of assigning the contract (opportunity cost with their home). How much of this have you seen in your experience? I'd tend to think that if the seller is turned off, the seller probably isn't as motivated as we need them to be in the first place.