Three Traits of Successful Real Estate Wholesalers

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I got an email a few days ago from an aspiring real estate wholesaler who was having a tough time getting started. Among other things, she asked me what I thought were the top three characteristics that make up a successful wholesaler.  It was tough to narrow it down to three, but following is the list I came up with:

1) Laser-like Focus

The most successful investors and wholesalers that I know are masters at their niche.  Whether it be wholesaling short sales, wholesaling REOs, or targeting private sellers with direct mail campaigns- they have chosen a niche, focused in on it like a laser, and become an expert at it. Instead of being a jack of all trades, they have become a master of one.  This trait can be particularly hard to cultivate as a beginner, especially with the continual flow of real estate products hitting the market (and your inbox) on a daily basis, but if you are able to put some blinders on and focus in on just one niche at a time, your chances of success will increase dramatically.

2) Hustle

While many of the gurus will have you believe that wholesaling real estate is as easy as sitting around in your underwear all day and hitting a few buttons on your computer, the truth is that you’re actually going to have to get out there and hustle if you plan on making the big bucks in this business.  It’s true that there is a ton of money to be made as a wholesaler, but don’t kid yourself into thinking that you’re not going to have to work your butt off for it, especially in the beginning!

3) Consistency

Whether you’re pursuing motivated sellers on the MLS, or hunting down probate leads at the courthouse- if you want to be successful at your niche, you need to remain consistent with your efforts.  It takes time to build momentum in your business, and once you have that momentum on your side, you need to keep the marketing machine going in order to keep your funnel full.  If you start slacking off with your offer-making or your marketing, it is easy to lose the momentum that you worked so hard to achieve, and you end up back at square one.

So there you have it, folks- those are the three characteristics that I feel are most important to have if you’re looking for success in your wholesaling business.  Feel free to add to my list of you can think of anything I missed!

Happy wholesaling!

Photo: Federico Stevanin

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.