My first 12 months wholesaling houses in Charlotte! The truth!
Hi BP, I have not posted in a while and I wanted to tell everyone about my first 12 month wholesaling in Charlotte NC. I will tell you it was not easy. There were highs and lows. I did receive a 30k assignment fee and did about 5 other deals! I also lost a 30k deal that I thought I had, which was a big blow. I was doing every aspect of this business essentially by myself this entire year. I want to pull back the curtain and open myself to any wholesaling questions. I feel like I have learned a lot and want to help others in their journey.
I will get things started with the most common question that I get asked which is...How much money do you need to start out as a wholesaler? The answer everyone wants is 0 dollars, just hustle but I can say if you are going to do marketing you need to plan on spending 2,500-5,000 per deal in a competitive market(5,000 seed money will work if spent in efficiently) Hustle alone will not usually scale you fast enough. In my market of Charlotte NC it cost me 5,000 per deal on average. I have spent more than 25,000 in direct mail and we have plans to triple that number this year. At the same time, I am trying to be smarter about what/where we send and tracking areas that may be tapped out or unresponsive to investors at the current time.
OK BP, Ask me anything about wholesaling, I mean anything, Im an open book! I have learned so much from everyone on BP that I am ready to give back. Looking forward to sharing what I have learned over the past year.
@Ryan Battista I agree I (or someone I trust) would want to see the property before signing but how do you determine if you and the seller are in the ballpark? Say a 25 yo 1200 sq. ft. house the seller who has responded to a post card mailer says in a phone interview the house is in fair condition. Do you use a $10/sq. ft. for determining the rehab costs and then, if the seller seems amiable to a offer that is subject to a property visit?
Doug
Hey Doug,
For me, I try to get the sellers approximate price and then gauge their MOTIVATION and TIMEFRAME! This is usually the most important piece of the puzzle!
These older houses will need work. I try to find the as-is market value of the house and offer around 70% of that figure. Also, the price per square foot estimate is B.S in my area. It all depends on the area the house is located. For nicer areas, that number may be 60 per foot. Its not a universal calculation.
Ok everyone, I am going to shut down the question and answer portion of this thread but feel free to keep talking wholesaling. I love discussing wholesaling strategy. I will still give my input here and there, I just cannot commit to answering every question. I can say that I literally held NOTHING back. I answered everything as truthfully as possible an hope some of you got some value from this discussion. Good luck in your pursuits! Thanks everyone for reading and commenting! -Ryan
Originally posted by @Dan Marzec:@Joe Davalos "From what I've heard on multiple BP podcasts is that if you are able to find great deals as a wholesaler and price your deals attractively, you won't need to worry about a buyer's list."
From what I've seen it can go either way. The buyer list is one of the values that wholesalers bring to the market. OR you can find deals and the deals will find you buyers. For me the deals are the problem, not the buyers, because I would be a buyer myself of a good enough deal.
@Shawn Clark very true.....I think new wholesalers get stuck with the idea that they have to build a list. BP is an amazing platform as well as FB/Craiglist and others for marketing. I did not have a single buyer for my first deal. I just marketed the deal and the buyers came in droves. @Dan Marzec @Joe Davalos
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Developer
- IKEPTIT Real Estate LLC
Originally posted by @Ryan Battista: In my market of Charlotte NC it cost me 5,000 per deal on average.
Wow. That seems high. Most wholesalers I've heard from average about $7,000 per deal. How are you making that work? I haven't read the entire thread yet, but did anyone ask that question yet?
This is good info. I've only been dealing with rehabs but I do want to incorporate wholesaling in the near future and this helps. Thank you
Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:
@Shawn Ackerman here is what you need to run from NY to Milwaukee
http://cirrusaircraft.com/aircraft/vision-jet/
I had a deposit on one...
Sweet. I've had my license since 1988 but never bought anything. I'm partial to the Citation M2 myself. :)
Originally posted by @Shawn Clark:
Originally posted by @Ryan Battista: In my market of Charlotte NC it cost me 5,000 per deal on average.Wow. That seems high. Most wholesalers I've heard from average about $7,000 per deal. How are you making that work? I haven't read the entire thread yet, but did anyone ask that question yet?
Hey Shawn, Regarding my cost per lead. I am in a super competitive market and I market in middle/upper class areas where assignment fees can be 10-25k, so I can sustain a high cost per deal. Also, this was my first 12 months doing this so I am sure that 5k number will come down with more experience and getting better with my marketing.
Congrats Ryan. I’m a newbie investor with the goal of transitioning from a full time job to full time investor over the next couple of years. I lived in Charlotte for 3 years, still have family there and would love to move back. Right now, I’m researching the Atlanta or Charlotte markets planning on my first purchase in Q1. I’m positioned to go either way and am looking for any market advice I can get. Where are you finding most of your deals and where do you see the sprawl moving? Are the still deals in NoDa? Congrats again and thanks for any advice.
@Ryan Battista, yes, I’m new as well. I’m looking for a good affective script. Would love to here your technique. I’m a new wholesaler in the Milwaukee Wi area. Drive for dollars right now until I start my mailers and signs. You are differently an inspiration. Good to have help like you.
Sorry typo
@Ryan Battista I have just started with wholesaling and wanted to know, if I am not to late on the thread, if cold calling can suffice or should I as well send direct mailers? I am in the Raleigh, NC area. I am working tax delinquent homes. Although I have not come across a deal yet just want to make sure I am going about it right. Or what deals do you suggest trying to reach out to...ie probate, tax delinquent, or other areas.
Thanks for creating this thread.
Originally posted by @Kris Nicholson:
@Ryan Battista I have just started with wholesaling and wanted to know, if I am not to late on the thread, if cold calling can suffice or should I as well send direct mailers? I am in the Raleigh, NC area. I am working tax delinquent homes. Although I have not come across a deal yet just want to make sure I am going about it right. Or what deals do you suggest trying to reach out to...ie probate, tax delinquent, or other areas.
Thanks for creating this thread.
Kris, your marketing strategy will depend on what you re trying to accomplish. Are you trying to get 1 deal and do this part time or are you trying to build a full time business. A lot of things we are doing here in Charlotte like direct mail are only working for us on a LARGE scale. When we send out 2k postcards we get ZERO deals. We have to send 10-15k per month to keep deals flowing. I think Raleigh is similar as far as competitiveness right now. If you want to talk further you can pm me and I will give you my #, Thanks!
Ryan i just recently moved to charlotte and wanted to get into wholesaling I was wondering if you could give me some tips and pointers on how to go about killing it in the charlotte market, would love to make this a full-time job . i'll show shoot you an email if possible.