BiggerPockets

I am extremely fortunate to have found this site. I have been reading different topics and blogs on BP since last week, and there is great deal of information that will be extremely helpful as I begin investing/wholesaling.
Like most beginners, I want to begin with wholesaling real estate. I have a goal of buying another rental property or property to re-sale by mid-year. I began "driving for dollars" last week and collected about 60+ addresses of FSBO/For Lease, vacant/abandoned properties in specific Houston neighborhoods. I hope to contact them this weekend by phone and possibly send a simple post card. I also began building a buyers list the ideas I found here in BP.
I plan on posting my results on how I am progressing to have some feedback/critique. I also hope to network with with BP members from the Houston area(or work the Houston area). I look forward to learning more from the BP community,
M.M.

Thanks Corey! I have worked in sales before and I am used to the "no's." I eventually would like to build up my skill set to be able to overcome rebuttals. But in due time.
My goal is to collect 35-40 addresses every week by driving for dollars. With a total monthly goal of at least gathering 150 addresses per month. Is this a manageable number for a rookie?

That's great if you can keep that up. Looking for vacants/uglies is a great way to start wholesaling when you don't have the budget for direct mail. If you can find 'em and call 'em - that's great. We put all the addresses in a spreadsheet, look up the owners, and mail to that list once a month and keep mailing to them until we know it's been sold.

It's my favorite list to work from because it doesn't cost anything to produce (ok, a little gas) and it can yield some great deals. We don't do include FSBOs or For rents in our list - curious to hear how that works out for you.

Good luck

I'm not a wholesaler, but from what I have learned, FSBO means, "I am too cheap to hire a realtor and have not equity in my home to pay the commision."

Gas is also north of $3/gal. It is not cheap to drive around all day. You are better off finding a way to get a list of people who NEED to sell and have equity. A better list to BUY would be NOO, owned more than 7 years, tax bill sent out of state.

I dont think this is a good way to get into real estate for the record, but if you must at least do it right.

A better option if to get another job or even work as a realtor to save money to buy that rental. Wholesaling is very hard to do and only a few make money doing it. It can cost a lot to advertise and you can piss a lot of people off. If you want to own rentals in this area it is better to not burn the brdiges and just go straight to rentals.

@Ben, thanks for the advice. Sure it cost a little gas. I suspect I spent about $30 of gas gathering the 60 or so addresses. I went out this past weekend and gathered another 25 addresses spending $20 of gas. I am not sure how long gas I can get these results, but I will keep an eye out on mileage/gas costs. At this point I am spending less than a dollar a lead(give or take the wear and tear on my car). However, I found that my county's website has a list available of people who owe back taxes for free. I can do a search for a particular zip code and bring back a list of everyone who behind taxes from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. It does take time to sort through all the names and addresses, but it is free.
Jeff, thanks for the suggestions. But I have a full time job, and wholesaling is supposed to be the "second full-time job". At this point the only other option of a second job would be working retail at $8 an hour. I just don't see that as the best use of my time. I am not opposed to work as a realtor. The more I delve into real estate, the more I lean into become licensed with in a few months.
I call on FSBO/For Lease to get an idea of what they think their house is worth, perhaps get an idea of values in that area. Also it might be an opportunity to find a buyer.
Thanks for the feedback.

Let me know about the deals you run across. Im picking up several properties per week to wholesale, or rehab myself. I have a home remodeling company if I can be of any assistance helping you with repair costs.