Who else has given up on wholesalers?

Question

I've been buying houses for 3-4 years now. I mostly just buy stuff on mls, or from neighbors of properties i own who are moving. Everytime ive got on a mailing list of wholesaler, i just get junk. Its either in a small town, or no meat left on the bones (they probably wont get an offer on mls). I buy in durham, nc, and the area has appreciated a lot.

Are the good wholesalers just selling directly high volume flippers? Or does a wholesaling business really only function in an area like the midwest where people are more willing to give away their houses?

I mostly just wonder if the only people who actually buy from wholesalers are newbies that dont understand their numbers.

Jerry Puckett · Answer

Just a little perspective....

When wholesaling was my main gig, I had exactly 3 buyers on my buyers list who would buy 98% of anything I got under contract before the ink was dry.

I needed more buyers like I needed a hole in the head. I sent no email "blasts", I did not give them any numbers other than what I needed to get. I turned down dozens of people over time that wanted to be on my list.

Rather than giving up on wholesalers, I'd recommend finding...or making...a good one of your own.

Want to move to the top of the list? Meet in person, talk, PROVE YOU CAN CLOSE, won't waste time or tire kick. The good ones go fast.

Those 3 buyers became my friends and business partners, so wholesaling is not an accurate description of what I do now. I mention that just to say there are real people on the other side of the emails and their best deals are gone long before a blast goes out.

Meeting in person is the best way I have found to weed out the wannabes from the deal finders.

Yoann Dorat · Answer

@Sean H. I run a large wholesale operation in the Midwest and I also buy from other wholesalers from time to time.

I’m on the buyer list of probably +300 wholesalers in our markets and I have a VA filtering them out (too time consuming), 95% are junk we filter out in 2 minutes, on the residual 5% we squeeze 1 to 2 deals per months.

The stats were better pre-covid but nowadays everybody ask over retail, it’ll eventually get better once the market cool down.

Andrew Syrios · Answer

Given up? No.

Managed my expectations? Yup.

Anthony Caruso · Answer

Havent lost faith just yet, but its more important than ever for wholesalers to establish relationships with their buyers and vice versa. Too much fluff out there.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

go to your local REIA meetings or look up real estate meetups a pretty good number of folks that go to those do wholesaling

Jerry Puckett · Answer

@Sean H.

The suggestion I made in my post was to make contact.....real live personal contact...with potential business partners. "Assuming" is usually not a good business practice. You're talking about a major purchase, and you're asking for quite a lot; a discount one usually can't find anywhere else....at least not on market. A good wholesaler can be a valuable asset, so I'd recommend doing your due diligence on the person rather than the deal. It takes some time and energy like all good investments do. I find it rare that a neat little ready to eat treat falls into my lap. Finding deals is much more like farming than a vending machine. My experience has taught me that those who really succeed have figured this out. More on that below....@Arsen Atanasovski

I confess, I'm confused by what you wrote. Maybe something lost in punctuation or translation. My take away is that you dealt with someone whom you bought a couple of contracts from that either didn't treat you right, or no longer sends you deals, or both. Good riddance I say.

I've done business with hundreds of wholesalers of various caliber and I can tell you that one with real deal finding ability doesn't particularly like being nickel and dimed. I'm not saying that you did, but at some point in the three deals done, it sounds like he dropped you from his buyer's list for one reason or another. In my opinion, best practice for a wholesaler is to let the price be known, and the first to sign wins. But I can also tell you that I usually called those three buyers of mine in a particular order every time, and that order was based on speed, ease and trust earned over time.

As to respect, I find that best practice is to always take the high road and give respect even if none is received. People who treat people badly usually do not achieve great success, while those who treat others well usually grow. To extrapolate; bad wholesalers will washout early while good ones have longevity, respect (in local circles; IE, those who know them....public forums where anyone can say anything about anyone are another story) and tend to grow beyond wholesaling.

The only way I know to get to the top of a quality wholesaler's list is by relationship. That requires a lot more effort than putting a few quarters in a slot and pulling a lever.

Arsen Atanasovski · Answer

@Jerry Puckett

Your right, on many things. BUT what if I told you that I closed with a wholesaler 3 times? 2 of the deals he raised the price and literally became an auctioneer, and after those deals guy never sends me deals?

What if I told you a fellow BP member from Cali was buying in my area that I invest and happened to mention that the guy selling him the house has a few more deals that he needs off his plate and that guy was the wholesaler I dealt with. And in the end what if I say it doesn’t matter there is one thing you have Jerry and that’s respect nowadays I feel 90% of people general have no respect for anything. And the new thing is equality I love that you gotta treat people nice even though they treat you like trash. So I wish there was a great wholesaler local I even tried to hire cold callers to call properties so I can buy, but with Covid and ppl taking advantage of it I’ll just have to wait. I’m calling and doing as much as I can but with a family, job, running the business of rentals and rehabs there is just little time in the day to do it.

Sean H. · Answer

So, how does one find a quality wholesaler? Usually when a wholesaler approaches me online wanting to add me to their list, i just assume theyre a newbie with no deals or they just have a bunch of junk.

Who else has given up on wholesalers?

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